The development of a pre-enrolment screening tool to inform targeted support services in the first year in health sciences

Abstract

Pacific students are from a minority group in New Zealand who like minority groups in other countries find transition to university difficult and success elusive. Nowhere is that successful transition more important at the University of Otago than in Health Sciences First Year (HSFY) which is a competitive entry pathway to health professional courses. Retention for Pacific students is similar to other students but poor academic achievement remains. Tinto argues that students’ pre-entry attributes are major contributors to success in first year of university study. The aim of this paper is to describe the development of an instrument which predicts the performance of prospective students in the first year at university. The purpose of the instrument is to inform the development of tailored interventions aligned with students’ needs. The instrument also provides an early proxy for student engagement and a benchmark for evaluating ongoing interventions.