Pathways program cited as “good practice”

Alternative entry at Avondale recognised Australia-wide

Dr John Cox
Editor, Reflections
Avondale Alumni Association
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia

A course offering an alternative entry to degree studies at Avondale College of Higher Education will graduate its 300th bachelor’s student this year.

The success of the Diploma of General Studies is recognised nationally, with the Australian Universities Quality Agency featuring the course on its good practice database. This is significant because the Commonwealth government, through its Review of Australian Higher Education Report, is seeking ways to improve access to higher education.

The Diploma of General Studies, a higher education award itself, provides an alternative entry into degree studies for three groups of students: school leavers whose entry score does not give them admission to the degree of their choice; mature-aged students who do not hold an entry score; and overseas students who may not qualify for normal entry to degree studies.

These students do not lack intelligence but rather motivation, or they may have been disadvantaged, says general studies convenor David Potter.

He gives an example of one student who failed a unit three times, but who, once admitted into a degree, finished in minimal time with an average grade of almost a credit. Another with a Universities Admission Index of 34, 11 below the notional entry level into the Diploma of General Studies, graduated in the top quarter of the graduation class.

The message to lecturers? “If you engage students, they will succeed.”

David develops study programs for each student according to their needs. Students typically study some units from the degree of their choice along with tuition in the skills needed to succeed in higher education, such as critical thinking and reading, essay writing and assignment presentation skills and information technology skills.

Students with entry scores close to the cut-off for their chosen degree may take as many as three or four units from that degree in their first semester. After one semester of successful study in the course, students may apply to transfer to the degree of their choice. Higher education units completed in the course are credited to the student’s degree.

Students entering degree courses through the Diploma of General Studies tend to do just as well as those who enter based on their school leaving scores. About 40 per cent of students finishing one semester of general studies complete a degree. A record equalling 18 per cent of the students in the graduation class this year will have entered their course through the Diploma of General Studies.

“The course is vital,” says David, noting current or former Diploma of General Studies students account for almost one-fifth of Avondale’s enrolment. “It’s good for the bottom line, but more importantly it gives students an opportunity to receive an education, students who in many cases have been told, ‘You’ll never make it. You don’t have what it takes.’”

David follows his students with interest, particularly once they transfer from the Diploma of General Studies. “I’m due to retire in the next few years, but I’m not looking forward to it. I’ll miss seeing the students succeed.”—with Brenton Stacey