Student experience and tertiary expectations

Factors Predicting Academic Literacy Amongst First-Year Pharmacy Students

Bibliographic Data

ID4097840
AuthorsKaren Scouller (The University of Sydney, corresponding author), Helen Bonanno (The University of Sydney), Lorraine Smith (0000-0002-3499-1514, The University of Sydney), Lorraine D Smith (0009-0006-0893-9372, The University of Sydney), Ines Kra (0000-0002-0466-9807, The University of Sydney), Ines Krass (The University of Sydney)
Year2008
Volume33
Issue2
Pages167-178
Publication date2008-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueStudies in Higher Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0307-5079 • E-ISSN: 1470-174X
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/03075070801916047
OpenAlexW1975023447
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited8

Enhancing student performance in the first year and increasing retention rates have become important priorities for universities, resulting in a focus on support, especially for students deemed ‘at risk’. Research suggests the importance of entry pathways into university and academic literacy for successful progression. However, there is little research on the relationship between academic literacy levels and students' self‐evaluation of their written communication skills. The current study, using a first‐year cohort in undergraduate pharmacy, investigated the relationship between students' academic literacy skills, their previous writing experiences and their self‐evaluations of their own literacy. As well as confirming the relationship between entry pathways and literacy performance, this study found length of text written before students entered the University of Sydney to be a salient variable. Students also were more realistic when evaluating specific literacy skills than when providing a more general evaluation of their written communication skills, which has implications for their preparedness to access available support

Higher education · Information literacy · Literacy · Mathematics education · Medical education · Pedagogy · Political science · Preparedness · Evaluation of Teaching Practices · Higher Education Practises and Engagement · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · Student Assessment and Feedback · Pharmacy

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