Year 13 or first-year university : a holistic learning design that attempts to combine elements of secondary and tertiary learning and teaching

For many years, Australian universities have been accepting students into their courses, including Science, with inadequate mathematical backgrounds. In addition to this lack of mathematical preparation, students are illprepared for the demands of independent learning as required by university courses. Thus many students are enrolling in university courses without basic numeracy skills and furthermore, they lack the ability to cope with the requirements of self-directed learning. This results in students being totally overwhelmed by their first few weeks experience at university which can result in significant 'drop-out' rates. This report describes a learning design used in the delivery of a firstyear mathematics unit that attempts to remediate numeracy skills and develop the independent learning skills required by the 'traditional' university experience.