Sciences Pacific Student and Community Support team: (L to R) Keenan Masina, Keilah Fox, Dr Vanisha Mishra-Vakaoti and Losana Taungapeau-Ikahihifo (absent, Associate Dean Pacific (Sciences) Dr Edmond Fehoko).
Supporting Pacific students with learning how to learn has earned the Sciences Pacific Support Team a speaking slot at the upcoming EPHEA (Equity Practitioners in Higher Education Australasia) Conference in Auckland.
The Sciences team will share their work developing and rolling out a series of dedicated learning workshops for Pacific science students over the last year.
Leading the development of these study-skill workshops, Dr Vanisha Mishra-Vakaoti, Teaching Fellow and Coordinator of the Pacific Student and Community Support Team, explains they are based on metacognitive strategies and delivered in a way that supports Pacific students learning.
“What we are doing is using these science-based strategies to develop these workshops that target various aspects of learning and studying,” Vanisha says.
“The workshops are simply learning about learning and thinking about thinking. They answer basic questions such as ‘why do we study, what’s the importance of note-taking, or what sort of learner am I?’.
“Many students, including Pacific students, who are new to tertiary education are not taught these basic but fundamental skills that are essential to succeed in an academic environment.”
The short sessions (between 30 and 45 minutes) are delivered in an environment that is comfortable and inviting for Pacific students. They cover and teach techniques for establishing good study behaviour and support individual approaches to learning.
After the workshops, students share food and use the opportunity to ask questions about the skills covered or engage with peers in general conversation about wellbeing and academic life.
Vanisha says the workshops to date have received great feedback from students.
“Based on evaluations, 100 per cent of our students said they would highly recommend the suite of workshops to their friends and peers.
“Also, students who miss the workshops often come in to learn the content in one-on-one sessions with the team.”
Division of Sciences Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor Richard Barker says this excellent initiative by the Division’s Pacific Support team is proving very beneficial for student learning.
“Providing support like this is important for students to thrive and it’s great the team are using science-based research to help students with their learning and academic success while studying at Otago.”
And for Vanisha, developing these workshops for Pacific students, receiving their feedback and now the opportunity to present the work at the EPHEA Conference is really satisfying.
“Developing these workshops after listening to what students were struggling with, delivering and modifying them, and now being able to share what we’re learning is working for students with other practitioners is exciting. We’ve come full circle.”
Vanisha and another team member are looking forward to presenting and sharing their work to a wide range of equity practitioners at the Auckland conference in November.
“We are eager to share the approach developed by our team that complements the work done by academic staff to enable Pacific students to achieve academic success,” Vanisha says.
“These approaches can also be used for all students striving for academic success.”
Kōrero by Guy Frederick (Communication Adviser Sciences)