A&S is aiming to provide enhanced academic skill-building and peer support opportunities for students in identified first-year courses with high DFW rates. Through First Assessment, First Feedback (FAFF), students will have the opportunity to build on the academic performance of their first course midterm exam by completing a reflection guide, attending FAFF academic skill-building workshops and meeting one-on-one with a peer mentor. The program is available to all students in the designated courses, with targeted faculty invitations to students who achieve 60% or less on the first midterm exam. This program is based on the FAFF program by Kethia Wilson (Lizzio & Wilson, 2007, 2013) launched at several Australian Universities that found students reported higher levels of motivation, confidence, help seeking behaviors, a greater awareness of the expectations of tertiary assessments, and a better understanding of their own approach to learning. A&S is piloting this program in the Winter 2025 term in PSY100: Introductory Psychology and ECO101: Principles of Microeconomics.
Outcomes
This program is intended to support students’ ability to assess academic shortcomings and identify a plan to improve their academic performance on subsequent course assessments. Through improved performance, this program is intended to reduce the number of students who achieve a grade of D, F, or withdraw from the course, and decrease the number of students who repeat the course. In addition, the program is intended to increase student confidence, sense of belonging, and use of campus resources through their participation.