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The first TLC workshop, which was organised as a large event session, was designed to

welcome the entire commencing cohort and provide an overview of the semester-long

intervention. The first session was intended to signal a normative environment, considered essential in the guiding framework to highlight numerous and relevant activities and to assist interactions in supporting all students. The content of the first session was non-threatening and included instructions on reading of the timetable, understanding differences between lectures and tutorials, how to make contact with staff and the use of student emails. In addition, highlighting timely content, as devised and delivered by support and academic staff, reinforced its relevance to their weekly unit content and semester assessment tasks. Furthermore, acknowledging the lack of student familiarity with their new surroundings and university expectations, the TLC program was positioned to gradually develop academic skills, assist timely submissions and support regular interactions with others. At this point, students were encouraged to talk amongst themselves about what would be most valuable to them and why this would be so. Across the rest of the first week, first year academic staff decoded unit outlines and reinforced the importance of ongoing participation in the TLC workshops.

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Content of the second TLC session was, in part, driven by a university process requiring staff to provide students with feedback within the first six weeks of semester. As such, the second TLC session immediately focused on Effective Reading and Note Taking to prepare students for participation in class activities and ready them for the first individual assessment task due in week five. During the same week, mini-technology sessions, catering for 10-12 students at a time, were offered by returning students in the open library space, enabling commencing students to make social connections outside the classroom space.

Week two, as informed by the framework, encouraged numerous interactions for campus staff and peers in and out of class times. Multiple sessions were also considered necessary to address pilot findings of significant reductions in personal, peer and lecturer connectedness and well-being and academic behaviours during the latter part of first semester. However, determining the impact of the TLC intervention, to alter the direction of connectedness and behaviour changes, would require student-centred evidence.

With the first small assessment task of a short written submission only three weeks away, the third TLC session, delivered by a member of the academic skills unit, introduced standards of

writing skills (sentence construction, paragraphs and essays). The same week, during a class

tutorial activity run by the lecturer in charge (LIC), students drafted their first individual submission and clarified understandings about task requirements. During the second hour of the same tutorial, students, supported by library staff, completed a Library Information Literacy (LIL) session. This LIL workshop was the first reasonable opportunity to differentiate the TLC content as Education and Nursing students were required to locate two relevant two online journal sources for inclusion in their first submission.

The fourth session was a large group session on referencing (selection and styles) which was scheduled to support the first individual assignment due in early in week five. Also during week four, additional sessions were available, outside of scheduled TLC time, at the drop-in student space in the library. This learning space was an informal area where students could meet with staff and year level mentors outside of class time. The first of two sessions was a repeat of the Library Information Literacy (LIL) session from the previous week; the second was a twilight event run by second and third year students to assist first year students with assignments. To this point, the first four weeks of the TLC intervention provided an inclusive program which successfully delineated previous support boundaries. In addition, the program

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mainstreamed the development of learning skills and assisted social interactions for all students within and outside of outside class settings. Also during this week, academic staff teaching first year units informed students of the opportunity during the following week to participate in the first of two data collections to inform future support programs for commencing students.

During week five, separate course workshops were scheduled for the two first year cohorts. The group meeting assisted maximum student participation in the first data collection. Discounting the first week of unit introductions, students, had at this time completed a full month of regular classes, had access to one month of TLC activities and already submitted a few small assessment tasks. Following the data collection, a course-based workshop was delivered by the course coordinator. The session included an introduction to professional conduct, and students were urged to submit their Working with Children (WWC) and National Police checks in readiness for semester two professional placement activities22.

The sixth TLC session shifted focus slightly to introduce a workshop on Self-Management

Strategies as a way to address pilot findings of reduced student well-being during the first

semester at university. Delivered by the campus counsellor, one week before the semester break, this session introduced suggestions about how students can successfully manage university life, group work and family responsibilities. The extra activity this week was another drop-in session dedicated to referencing.

After the one week mid-semester break, session seven of the TLC program focused on

Effective Presentation Skills, to support the second assessment task due week nine. During

the second half of the workshop, students completed a feedback sheet regarding the nature and content of the TLC sessions to date, and student suggestions were sought for future sessions. This information assisted the working party, where possible, to refine the remainder of the program. During class tutorials in the same week, a focus on effective group work was delivered by the campus counsellor to assist with group expectations. This session was not part of the original program, but in light of the poor student participation in the week six

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Given significant connectedness decreases for personal, other student and academic staff in the pilot data and decreased student well-being during the latter part of first semester activities supporting social interactions were sustained during weeks 7-12. The extended nature of the program was also considered necessary given the same pilot data reported non-progression of student academic behaviours during the same period.

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workshop (Self-Management Strategies), this was a timely opportunity to establish guidelines for effective and harmonious group work.

The TLC session in week eight introduced the first of three technology workshops to support final assignments due in weeks 11 and 12. Students had been working in Expert Learning Groups (ELGs) in their tutorials to prepare for their next group assessment which included a technology component. The first workshop offered to the entire group, by the campus Technology Officer, provided information regarding access to existing university software. The second workshop focused on techniques to enhance presentations and the third was a trouble-shooting session to assist students encountering technology or software difficulties. Also during week eight, a Mini O-Week, involving four sessions, was offered in the library drop-in space to assist first year students requiring further assistance.

With multiple assignments during the final three weeks of semester, student were offered a second chance library skills session and the campus student association organised a celebration of events to acknowledge student achievements and to encourage students for the remainder of the semester. Activities included a free BBQ lunch for first year students and staff, a movie evening on campus, and a first year dinner for students living in residence.

Staff knowledge of declining student attendances, later in the semester, when students prioritise their time to meet assignment deadlines, informed the 10th workshop to be course- based to support a range of individual and group needs. The Ask-Me sessions were delivered by two first year academics, study skills personnel and some second year students. At this time no new information was introduced, it was considered a time of consolidation for semester activities and an opportunity to fine tune their technology assignment in the form of a penultimate presentation to their tutor.

During week 11, the TLC program continued with the course-based workshops focusing on

examination revision techniques to accommodate for course assessment differences. Content

delivered by study skill personnel, and with the assistance of a first year academic staff member, also detailed the process for special examination applications. Additional drop-in sessions for exam revisions, assisted by 2nd and 3rd year students, were scheduled in the library space and during the same week. The twelfth and final week of the TLC program included a one hour large group session to deal with administrative and course queries, some

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of which included re-enrolments, electives, credits, field placement details, collection of final submissions and the release of results. In addition, interest was gauged regarding TLC workshops during second semester, opportunities to become mentors for mid-year intake students and a reminder of the next data collection scheduled in semester two. The final library drop-in session, assisting with exam preparation and assignment refinement, supported by study skills staff and student mentors, concluded the 12-week intervention.

Student feedback, regarding the usefulness of the program, was collected informally in the large group session in week seven of program, and formally in both data collections where participants were provide an opportunity for additional comments. In addition, regular feedback from academic, administration and support staff was overwhelming positive, regarding the TLC program; comments included importance of having time to getting to know other students socially, and working with others closer to the time assessment tasks were due. Less positive input, although sparse, indicated some transfer students had already completed similar activities at another university while late changes to the timetable prevented a small group of out of phase students from attending sessions.