Facilitating the development of agency in first-year students. A Practice Report

Abstract

Open distance learning (ODL) requires students to take control of their study processes from the beginning in order to achieve study success. To achieve control, first-year students have to understand what agency requires of them and they have to know what to do to exercise agency. An online program was  developed at the University of South Africa (Unisa) to facilitate the development of agency in first-year students and a pilot program was conducted with a group of students who had failed an Economics I course to test the program. The data indicated that time management in a variety of contexts was the major debilitating factor for participants. Feedback from the users indicated that they were generally positive about the program structure and contents, as well as their experience in using it.