title: The Effectiveness of Academic Literacy Courses in a Higher Learning Institution in Ontario
Creators: name: Kapetanovic, Mira
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2024

description: Background: academic literacy classes in higher learning institutions are vital in advancing students' literacy skills, thus, enabling students' capacity to endure and prevail in advanced education. However, lowered literacy levels were an issue for many students who entered or attended postsecondary studies. Institutions note that some students need to meet the demands of postsecondary education as they lack basic knowledge and literacy skills. 
In postsecondary academic programs, students are expected to possess skills before beginning their studies and are expected to develop specific skills while completing their academic programs. However, students feel underprepared and unable to meet the academic literacy demands of Higher Education Institutions (HEI). Academic institutions in Ontario mandate that students attend and complete specific academic literacy courses to support student needs and provide students with the necessary literacy tools to cope with the academic requirements of higher learning programs. In response to this and to ensure student success, academic literacy courses were created to assist students in developing the literacy skills needed to participate in college and university programs. This study investigated a sizeable postsecondary institution in Ontario. It examined the structure of a fourteen-week academic literacy course held during the first semester through the lens of its students and an examination of its course content. 
The study focused on these courses, identifying gaps and developing a theoretical method of evaluating course effectiveness. Moreover, recommendations made to improve courses were established throughout this study and the examination of data collected. The first part of the study involved examining data collected from students through an online survey followed by a semi-structured interview. The second part involved examining the academic course content by investigating the course outlines. The third part of this study produced a theoretical measurement matrix, repurposing the measured academic skills of university students: a diagnostic assessment (MASUS) model to apply an evaluation method to future academic writing courses within the Ontario HEI. 
Aims: This study assessed the effectiveness of academic writing courses through the lens of students and examined why students in the Ontario HEI continued to struggle even after completing corrective studies. 
Method: the mixed-method approach was applied in the present study. Thirty-eight participants completed the online survey portion of the study. The online survey gathered data on basic demographics and prompted identifying specific features of academic literacy courses as the context for responding to the subsequent 15 surveyed questions. The study's second phase involved ten questions and allowed participants to expand on their responses. Participants from the online portion of the study could volunteer to continue to the semi-structured interview portion. Information gathered from both phases contributed to examining course content using course outlines. These phases were used to develop a theoretical evaluation tool to examine the quality and effectiveness of academic literacy courses in the Ontario higher education institution examined in this study. 
Findings: The findings showed that academic courses within the Ontario institution were ineffective in providing adequate literacy skills to students entering postsecondary institutions. This was consistent with the data and findings from other studies discussed in the literature review. These findings also provided insight into the inadequacies of course content and student aptitude and brought instructor teaching skills into question. Further, a thematic analysis of the semi-structured interviews uncovered three themes. The themes included inadequacy, lack of skill acquisition and under-preparedness. The outcome of this study provided an opportunity to explore remedies and solutions to develop and improve academic literacy courses within the Ontario HEI.
Conclusion: According to participants, academic literacy courses within the Ontario HEI could have been more effective. The Ontario HEI provided an environment to observe academic literacy courses, examine the gaps and provide viable solutions to improve these courses to support and prepare students to complete their academic studies. 

Keywords: academic literacy, effective writing, intervention strategies, first year literacy strategies, foundational strategies