Launch of the AOA and tutoring systemWelcome, Orientation and Accompaniment (AOA) to help students succeed in their Bachelor's degree
11 Oct 2018
As part of the NCU (New University Curricula) label obtained thanks to the SPACE project, UPPA has set up, in the first semester of the 2018 academic year, a Welcome, Orientation and Accompaniment (AOA) system for first-year Bachelor's students (L1).
Welcome, Orientation and Accompaniment (AOA)
The aim of the AOA system is to :
- to accompany students towards their success at university by enabling them to build (or reflect on) their study and career plans throughout their degree course,
- to offer individualised follow-up, from September onwards, to find out about any difficulties or constraints they may have,
- to set up appropriate actions to increase their chances of success from L1 onwards.
Individualised support
This individualised student support is provided by the teaching staff of each degree course, via the directors of studies and the relay teachers, in close collaboration with the university student support services (career guidance and integration service, preventive medicine, sports service, student centre, disability unit, etc.).
At the start of the L1 academic year, all students fill in a questionnaire on their prerequisites before L1, their status on entering L1, their personal situation, their activities outside the course and the time spent on them. This information allows us to know the student's previous career and study conditions in order to pre-identify the factors of non-success. Based on this information and on the continuous assessment marks, TD assessments and placement tests in certain subjects, the teaching team identifies, before the interview, the profile in terms of success during the Bilan Intermédiaire d'Accompagnement (BIA) and issues a pre-proposal for support:
- for those who excel, adjustments to the course are possible;
- for those who encounter disciplinary and methodological difficulties, peer tutoring is proposed to overcome them;
- for those who wish to change course, support for reorientation is provided to prepare their future application, while remaining in the course.
This proposal is then discussed directly with each student during an individual interview. Once both parties have agreed, the student signs a success contract with the teaching staff, which commits them both to the process.
A success contract with the student
To help with this identification and support system, UPPA has developed an internal and secure platform which allows:
- to facilitate the reading of the different decision elements from the evaluations and the questionnaire during the BIA to prepare the interview;
- archive this data to follow the students over their 3 years of the Licence;
- to sign the success contract directly with the director of studies and/or the relay teacher.
To date, 9 bachelor's degrees have offered this new system to their students. From the start of the 2019 academic year, all students enrolled in the first year of a Bachelor's degree at UPPA, on all campuses, will benefit from this support for success.
Contact: Eve PERE (eve.pere @ univ-pau.fr), Vice-president in charge of orientation and professional integration, in charge of the implementation of the AOA in the SPACE project
Peer tutoring
The SPACE programme is based on a peer tutoring service designed to provide help, support and guidance within the UPPA's bachelor's degree programmes and provided by more experienced peers. This tutoring is based on three major innovations.
- The first innovation is the prior targeting of first-year undergraduate students who are invited to take part in this scheme via the AOA (Accueil Orientation Accompagnement) platform and individual interviews.
- The second innovation concerns the support given to the tutors (third or even second year undergraduate students): the tutors have access to regulation sessions organised by a professor of educational sciences and pedagogical workshops organised by the University Pedagogical Service.
- The third original feature of the SPACE tutoring system is the enhancement of the tutor's action. Each tutor can, thanks to this system, validate a free UE or even an internship UE; he can also, at the end of his action/learning, be certified (which will appear as a supplement to his diploma) and then be paid during future tutoring campaigns.
To date, the SPACE programme has 44 tutors (potentially helping 6 students each) in 9 UPPA bachelor's degrees. From next year, it will be extended to all the UPPA's degrees.
Contact : Patrice Cassagnard (patrice.cassagnard @ univ-pau.fr), SPACE officer
