Chand, Rajni K. and Goundar, Raveena and Raj, Pratish (2022) Semester Zero: an innovative orientation and nurturing program. [Conference Proceedings]
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Abstract
The current Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has affected many universities’ orientation as well as study programs.
While some are still contemplating whether to open their doors for F2F studies, others face the challenge of fewer
students enrolling due to travel restrictions. The University of the South Pacific (USP) will face a different kind of
challenge. USP is a regional university co-owned by twelve South Pacific countries. Campuses and sub-campuses are
situated in all these countries. Usually, orientation programmes are held at all campuses, but the majority of students
travel early to USP’s main campus in Fiji for the orientation program. Due to COVID-19, students’ travel will be
restricted, and the orientation programme will be a very small-scale event this year. Additionally, due to delays in
Year 13 external examinations for one of its member countries (Fiji), USP will be forced to begin Semester One later.
This means more than 3000 provisional students will have to wait for the university to begin in late March instead of
the usual mid-February start. To keep these potential students engaged for close to two months, USP initiated an online
orientation programme called "Semester Zero." The aim of the programme is to introduce these potential new students
to USP using a Moodle platform instead of a traditional F2F orientation program, while at the same time incorporating
basic numeracy, literacy, and digital skills necessary for new students.
This paper shares the planning, designing, and feedback from students about this program. Semester Zero employs
technology and innovations that have a low carbon footprint.
| Item Type: | Conference Proceedings |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | L Education > L Education (General) T Technology > T Technology (General) |
| Divisions: | Centre for Flexible Learning (CFL) School of Law and Social Sciences (SoLaSS) |
| Depositing User: | Ms Shalni Sanjana |
| Date Deposited: | 19 Oct 2022 00:54 |
| Last Modified: | 19 Oct 2022 00:54 |
| URI: | https://repository.usp.ac.fj/id/eprint/13776 |
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