TEP Start: A new initiative to enable enabling students at Charles Darwin University

To better prepare students for study in the Tertiary Enabling Program (TEP) at Charles Darwin University (CDU), the Week 1 curriculum for all TEP units at CDU this year has been dedicated to a new initiative called TEP Start. TEP Start was introduced to increase student engagement early in the semester, build student confidence and give students the skills they needed to succeed in their studies. With a student cohort consisting of ~80% of students studying externally, TEP Start was designed for the external learner with the expectation that students would engage and interact with the TEP Start learning materials online through Blackboard (CDU’s learning management system). This online engagement included classes, game-based learning activities and micro-lectures that focused on topics such as time management, prioritisation, motivation, learning online successfully, navigating Blackboard and academic integrity. Students could access and engage with TEP Start materials and activities two weeks before the semester started. This allowed students to ease into online learning and allowed them to begin working at their own pace.

The initial outcomes of TEP Start are highly encouraging. Feedback from internal and external students was overwhelmingly positive about their TEP Start experience. In particular, students found the online classes, the time management information and the opportunity to become familiar with Blackboard before their units started to be the most helpful aspects of TEP Start. The vast majority of students stated they felt more prepared and confident for study after completing TEP Start. In the weeks following TEP Start, there was a noted increase in the level of unit engagement, attendance in online classes and the completion of early assessment tasks in each unit.