Formulating new ways of working : transforming the role of academic support services in higher education

Academic support services including assistance with academic writing and other study skills make an important contribution to the university learning environment. However, there is a need to look continually for ways to improve services so that they meet changing needs and are at the same time cost-effective and efficient. This paper, based on a study conducted in an Australian metropolitan university, uses the tools of cultural-historical activity theory to consider ways of transforming learning assistance services on socio-spatial, temporal, moral-ideological, and systemic-developmental dimensions.