[2008] Compuways has gained valuable insight by asking its students what they want and how they prefer to study. After some trial and error, the local IT training and recruitment company has learned that a significant number of students prefer courses after hours, and over longer periods of time than the normal 5 days.

“Interestingly, we discovered that some students prefer to keep their typical work day routines and study after hours,” says Arnold Graaff, MD of Compuways.

Typically, Compuways offers training courses that cover a full five days, averaging six hours of lectures per day, encapsulating a total of 30 hours over the full duration. However, after some research it has decided to offer a part-time option offering the same courses over a five-week period after hours, while still completing the full 30 hours of lectures.

“Structuring some courses after hours gives our students more time to do their homework and reading and we generally find they are well prepared for each lesson and perform better in their final exams,” adds Graaff.

Cramming is not always the best method of studying and these students found that courses that ran over longer periods enabled them to really master the skills required before moving to the next topic.

“As a method of teaching, students absorb information much better over longer periods of time, when they have time to process and think about what they are learning."

Compuways now effectively offers all of its courses over five-week periods, with enough practical exercises to keep students, from all levels of advancement, busy. The courses are structured to be completed either over five Saturdays or ten weekday evenings, as students prefer.

“We also got really positive feedback from students regarding the fact that now our lecturer is on hand for a five-week period as opposed to the original five days. We found this helped students improve their preparation questions for the next class".

Compuways caters for student convenience and is also unique in its course offerings because of its successful incorporation of Skype video conferencing to cater for its students in Cape Town.

“Innovations like this are really driving Compuways forward as an IT training company and are steering us towards our goal of making an impact in a skill-starved industry,” ends Graaff.."