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University curbs academic failure with tech

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 20 Feb 2017
UJ becomes the first university outside US to implement a solution that identifies students for academic support.
UJ becomes the first university outside US to implement a solution that identifies students for academic support.

The University of Johannesburg (UJ) will introduce an online tool to identify students that need academic support and help them complete their courses timeously.

Developed in the US, Blackboard Predict is a predictive solution that gathers data from multiple sources, analyses the data, and generates risk reports for lecturers to help students complete their courses.

Blackboard Predict makes use of an institution's existing student information and learning management systems to create a predictive model that provides early identification of students at risk of failure.

According to statistics from Education Framework, only 35% of the total student intake and 48% of contact students graduate within five years.

Thea de Wet, director of the Centre for Academic Technologies, says this technology is part of its mandate as an African-focused university, based in Johannesburg and committed to contributing to the fabric of society.

"We have a responsibility as a higher education institution to do everything within our means to ensure student success. Academic failure is just one of the reasons why students do not succeed at university: insufficient financial support, psychosocial challenges, poor career choice and under-preparedness are some of the contributing factors."

She adds: "Our academic structure is very different to the US, and Blackboard Predict's fully customisable model perfectly adapts to the SA environment and our specific needs."

De Wet notes the rollout of Blackboard Predict will be supported by a tailor-made intervention programme at UJ.

The university plans to roll out the platform in its blended learning programmes from the second semester.

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