First Year Students’ Perceptions of Academic Support Programmes in Rural Limpopo Universities

Abstract

The study aimed to investigate first year students’ perceptions of academic support programmes in, South Africa, particularly, in rural Limpopo  Province’s universities using Margaret Archer’s Realist social theory as the theoretical foundation. The population of the study were first year  students from Limpopo’s rural universities enrolled in different programmes. A quantitative research design was exploited, and 100 student  participants were purposively and conveniently sampled to complete a questionnaire. Findings of the study show that academic support  programmes motivate and encourage students to study hard, adjust to the new environment and, therefore, ease the transition between former  and current levels of study. The study recommends that universities make their academic support programmes more visible to first year students  and any other relevant stakeholders. The above recommendations were based on the study’s conclusions that: Teaching and Learning policies are  essential in guiding students in learning; first year students are interested in addressing challenges they experience with English as the medium of  instruction since it is an Additional Language (EALs) for them; they consider tutorial sessions as necessary for all modules and they would appreciate  more interaction between lecturers and students in the form of extra classes, tests, study groups and discussion of past examination  papers.