The IDEALL approach to Learning Development: a model for fostering improved literacy and learning outcomes for students

An increasingly accepted viewpoint in tertiary education today is that the diverse student population entering university at first year level requires support with the transition process from previous education contexts to that of tertiary education. While Learning Centres were initially developed to assist that transition, the support they offered was limited: it was remedial in the sense of 'fixing-up' the students who were diagnosed (either by themselves or their lecturers) as needing 'help'; it was inequitable, assisting only a very small proportion of the students population; and it was generic in that the learning support was offered outside of the disciplines being studied.