CIC is collaborating with the Academic Language and Literacy Team from IML and UTS International to support the development of academic literacy for UTS students.
All commencing UTS students are required to undertake the OPELA (Online Post-Enrolment Language Assessment), or an in-class written diagnostic task. This test provides students with a rating of their academic language skills. Academic language skills are an essential foundation for learning and ongoing language development at university, especially discipline-specific language and professional communication.
Students who are assessed as not meeting the standards required for their discipline are then supported by the ALL team to improve their skills, including through language development tutorials.
CIC’s data scientists are delving into the data from OPELA to uncover insights that will help direct the ongoing support for the program. This includes identifying how quickly students improve from repeating OPELA, comparing different university entry pathways, and the impact of writing support interventions.