17 February 2011 1

Embracing non-formal learners in Economic and Management Environment

Rita Ndagire KizitoUniversity of South AfricaE-mail :kizitrn@unisa.ac.zaCell: 0823547458

Adolph Aluwani RasenganeUniversity of South AfricaE-mail :Rasenaa@unisa.ac.zaCell: 0720868578

National RPL Conference: “Bridging and expanding existing islands of excellent practice”.23 – 25 February 2011, KopanongConference Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa

2/24/2011 2

The study

The study is a comparison of the performance of pre-access students (non traditional) and students satisfying the standard university admission criteria (traditional students ,registered for the module: Introduction to the Economic and Management Environment A (INM1013) at Unisa.

INM103 , although an access course is also a (compulsory) module for any one registering for the Bachelor of Commerce of the Bachelor of Administration degrees at Unisa.

The sample of student cohort considered are those registered in 2005.

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Context : Entrance Requirements

at least 23 years of age before or on 31 December of the year of application)have at least five years’ working experience (this can be full or part time, consecutive or accumulated over a period). Candidates can only be assessed for learning from experiences related to the course or program for which they are applying.have completed at least Grade 9 or equivalent successfullyhave not completed and acquired a senior certificate or equivalent

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Context : Entrance Requirements

a) Be proficient in Englishb) Have basic mathematical computation and manipulationskills

RPL Proficiency Test [RPLMATH]

+ RPL Portfolio[RPL001Y]

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Alternative Pathway to Degree studies

Access programme as that for O level students

Application for matriculation exemption

Degree studies

RPL Assessment for entry into NQF level 5

Adult (over 23) with, grade 9 formal level of learning or equivalent, + 5 years working experience

Method of assessmentThe method of assessment will consist of:

1) an initial proficiency test (for literacy and numeracy skills)

2) RPL portfolio, which includes all the criteria for proficiency (entry to NQF Level 5) and the elements of performance. The RPL portfolio’s layout will contain:-narrative (life story)-career and educational goals-experiential learning cumulative assignments covering a specific field of interest/expertise -evidence of authentic examples (samples of candidate’s work form the relevant learning area).

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Statistics for 2005

169 students applied to enter the program. From those , 41 (24%) completed the RPLcomponent and moved on to the Access Programme( where INM1013) is housed

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Statistics for 2005

(17%)

(0%)(49%)

(7%)(27%)

(0%)

College of agriculture, and Environmental sciencesCollege of agriculture, and Environmental sciencesCollege of law

College of Economic & Management SciencesCollege of Science, Engineering & technology

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Total registrations

Cancelled Remaining students

First Semester 16703 1622 15081

First Semester 5880 674 5206

22583 2296 20287

% of RPL students = 0.0103%

Unisa asks : Is it worth our while ? Will comparing statistics of performance really help ?

Registrations for INM1013 in 2005

Looking at numbers

2/24/2011 9

Looking at people

RPLMATH

RPL001Y LSK0108 INM1013 1NM1024Student A pass 76 pass* 75 pass* 85 pass* 91 pass* 87B pass 71 pass 68 pass 53 fin can - fin can

C pass 84 pass * 50 fail 45 fail 47 fin can -D pass 79 pass 66 pass 66 pass 64 pass 64E pass 56 pass 50 pass 52 fail 38 pass 29

{Those getting into Access but not moving further}

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Looking at people

{Those progressing on to degree studies }

* Link to statistics in Excel document

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Looking at people

{Those progressing on to degree studies }

The progression is very slow...

•Where is the problem?•The assessment ? the distance learning context ?•Support for the students ? •Are we doing these students justice ?•Is this an ethical exercise ?

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Moving forward

• Qualitative interviews with participating students to establish actual problems.

• Similar analysis of RPL students registered in 2006 and 2007 .

2/24/2011 13

Moving forward

We thank you !!

RPL Students registered in 2005 who progressed on to the Bachelor degrees

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010Student RPLMATH RPL001Y LSK0108 INM1013 INM1024

F 50 59 41 52 46(2006)0 (2008)45(2008)0 (2008)47(2009)0 (2010)50(2009)0(2010)50

[BCOM]

G 71 71 64 83 66 ACN101M(59)p ACN201Q (0)s TXN211D(50)p MNF2023(45)s DPA101P(0)s

ACN102N(50)p ACN201Q (0)a MNE202V (30)f MNF2023(50)p DPA101P(40)f

CLA101S(64)p DPA101P (0)s MNF2023 (0)s MNG2016(51)p DSC1630(0)aCLA104V(63)p DPA101P (0)a MNG2016 (0)s ACN201Q(21)f FAC2602(0)s

DPA101P(O)a MNG2016 (0)s MNH202C (0)a ACN201Q(56)p FAC2602(53)pECS1016(45)s MNG2016 (0)a MNH202C (0)s DSC1630(0)s TXN203D(0)s

ECS1012(39)f QMG102Q(0)s MNT203R(0)s TXN203D(0)aMNB101D(81)P QMG102Q(0)a MNT203R(0)a

QMI101X(0)s TXN211D (0)s

H 54 72 55 50 50 ACN101M(33)f ACN101M(0)c

ECS1016(20)f CLA101S(0)c

ECS1016(0)c

I 71 74 61 75 59 CLA101S(29)f

CLA101S(64)p

ECS1016(32)f

ECS1016(36)f

MNB101D(63)p

MNB102E(34)f

J 71 63 53 47 39 ACN101M(0)fn ACN101M(0)s CLA101S(33)f

45 (2006)46 ECS1016(0)fn ACN101M(0)a CLA101S(40)s(2007)45 (2006)51 MNB101D(36)f ECS1016(0)s ECS1016(0)fn

(2007)68 QMG101P(0)f ECS1016(0)a ECS1016(50)pMNB101D(36)a FAC1502(0)fn

FAC1502(36)fMNB101D(40)s

MNB101D(60)p

PUP1018(0)fn

PUP1018(59)p

K* 91 73 75 94 83 ACN101M(82)p ACN102N(76)p MNH202C(67)p ACN306Y(53)p MNk302T(83)p

key:

p pass

f fail

a absent from exam

s suplementary exam

RPL Students registered in 2005 who progressed on to the Bachelor degrees

CLA101S(91)p DPA202T(84)P MNM202Y(69)p ACN3073(67)p MNF3015(79)p

CLA104V(72)p ECS203C(71)P ACN203S(79)p INM1013(-) e MNG302B(71)p

DPA101P (70)p ECS209J(61)p AUI2016(0)c INM1024(-)e MNI301J(0)a

ECS1016(83)p MNB102E(71)p MNE202V(50)p MNF3038(0)a MNI301J(78)p

ECS1028(64)p MNH202C(0)s MNF2023(57)p MNF3038 (85)pMNB101D(80)p MNG2016 (81)p MNG301A(70)p

QMI101X(85)p MNH3013(0)a MNH302F(75)p

MNK203R(67)p MNK301S(50)p

MNK301S(16)f MNk302T(37)f

MNK302T(0)a MNk302T(42)s

M 88 70 75 66 60 ACN101M(0)a

ECS1016(36)f

MNB101D(57)p

MNB102E(45)s

MNB102E(0)a

ENG104G(0)a

N 67 68 55 50 50 ACN101M(23)f MNB101D(0)a

ECS1016(28)f ACN101M(0)a

MNB101D(46)s ECS1016(0)a

MNB102E(0)fn

O* 70 64 TSK011U 75 80 ECS1016(56)p ACN101M(60)p MNC202M(62)P ACN201Q(53)p MNE302Y(72)p

85 MNB101D(83)p ACN102N(60)p MNE202V (67)P ECS203C(53)p MNE3033(52)p

MRL101F(53)p CLA101S(82)p MNF2023 (75)P MNE301X(78)p MNE3044(75)p

DPA101P (64)p MNG2016 (66)p MNG301A(68)p MNF3038(80)p

ECS1028(60)p MNK203R(63)p MNG302B(69)p MNI301J(67)p

INM1013e MNM202Y(59)p MNM3014(53)p MNW301J(67)p

INM1024e MNO202B(65)P

IOP101M(68)P TXN201B(65)P

MNB102E(71)p

P 62 52 61 63 51 ACN101M(26)f ECS1016(0)s

ACN101M(28)f ECS1016(24)f

CLA101S(52)p IOP101M(0)s

MNB101D(50)p IOP101M(39)f

MNB102E(37)f

Q 50 56 30 59 45 [ND: TOURISM] EUC131T(42)s EUC131T(36)f MTR101T(28)f ASK131U(68)p CBA111P(43)s

(2006)33 45 EUCPRAC(0)s MPR101T(26)f TDV101T(51)p CTR101J(55)p TDV201T(36)f

TTMM1T(67)p MTR101T(28)f TTP1M1T(22)f MAR111Y(54)p TTP1M1T(59)p

TTMM2T(62)p TTP1M2T(66)p TTP1M1T(66)p TTP2M2T(36)f

QMI101X(63)P TXN211D(0)s

RPL Students registered in 2005 who progressed on to the Bachelor degrees

[BA:COM.SCI]

R 82 68 63 61 TSKU11U CEM101A(0)s CEM101A(86)p

75 COM101X(61)p

COM102Y(77)p

ENG101D(63)p

ENN104G(66)p

IOP101M(61)P

MNB101D(76)P

[BBA]

S 59 67 75 52 45 ECS1016(19)f

64 ECS1016(32)f

MNB101D(60)p

MNB102E(51)p