Assessing the Impact of Outcomes-Based Education, Family Dynamics, and Psychosocial Stressors on Student Academic Adjustment in South Africa

This study aims to investigate factors that impact on students’ academic adjustment to higher education in South Africa. The research framework adopts qualitative methods based on focus groups with students attending the undergraduate programs at one of the nationally accredited academic institutions in Cape Town. The thematic analysis of focus group transcripts highlighted that the outcome-based curriculum in previous (secondary) education, family difficulties, and individual psychosocial stressors have a major influence on students’ abilities to adjust to a higher education program, especially in the first year of study. Based on these findings, the authors have developed the Multi-systemic Assessment Scale (MAS) for evaluating various challenges in the process of students’ academic adjustment to a higher education institution. The purpose of such a scale is to help both students and colleges search for meaningful strategies to enhance students’ cognitive abilities and emotional stability, thereby facilitating the development of more stable identities over the duration of their undergraduate studies.