The Effectiveness of Learning Intervention Program among First Year Students of Biomedical Science Program

Effective learning intervention should include early detection of problems in academic performance, strategies to help students develop better approaches for academic success and facilitation of self-directed learning. While the program incurred some hidden and indirect costs, the intervention can be significant, delivering the wanted result through the remediation service. The samples were 21 first year students who had poorly performed in their mid-semester assessment with average Grade Point Average (GPA) of 1.86 +/- 0.46. The students were given an intervention by giving motivational talks followed by Focus Group Discussion. They were also asked to self-evaluate their own weaknesses. They were divided into smaller groups and an academician was assigned to each group to assist and guide them by meeting the students regularly as part of the Academic Assistance Program. Their final examination showed an encouraging improvement by displaying an average GPA of 2.74 +/- 0.30. As the conclusion, learning intervention program whose main objective is to improve the academic performance of disadvantaged students helped them to improve and should be considered as a routine tool in the higher learning education. (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/ or peer-review under responsibility of Kongres Pengajaran & Pembelajaran UKM, 2010