The first year in higher education: the role of individual factors and the learning environment for academic integration

Schaeper, Hildegard

doi:10.1007/s10734-019-00398-0

Cited by 64 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Today, the SAC framework is still widely adopted to examine freshmen’s academic adjustment to HE (e.g., van Rooij et al, 2018 ; Larose et al, 2019 ; Sheehan and Iarocci, 2019 ) and has proven its utility in, for instance, predicting to some extent students’ study success (e.g., review study by Credé and Niehorster, 2012 ). Nevertheless, the SAC framework has also received severe criticism for its lack of a strong theoretical grounding based on the paucity of information provided by the authors thereupon (see Taylor and Pastor, 2007 ). Indeed, the work of Baker and Siryk (1984 , 1986) does not make explicit which theories they relied on for their model.…”

Section: The First-year Academic Experience In Academic He Contextsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Entering Higher Professional Education: Unveiling First-Year Students’ Key Academic Experiences and Their Occurrence Over Time

2021

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To date, little understanding exists of how first-year students in professionally oriented higher-education (HE) programs (i.e., those that provide vocational education to prepare students for a particular occupation) experience their academic transition process. In the present study, we first argued how the constructs of academic adjustment and academic integration can provide complementary perspectives on the academic transition of first-year students in (professional) HE. Next, we examined what first-year students in professional HE contexts perceive to be the most important experiences associated with their academic transition process in the first semester of their first year of higher education (FYHE). To this end, we adopted the fundamentals of the critical incident technique and asked 104 students in a Flemish (Dutch-speaking part of Belgium) university college (which offers professional HE programs, such as nursing) to complete “reflective logs” with open questions at the start of the second semester of their FYHE, wherein they reflected on three critical academic experiences during their first semester. An inductive, cross-case content analysis of the collected narratives showed that students reported on nine themes of academic experiences, which relate to five adjustment themes (dealing with the organization of the study program, organizing study work, committing to the study, following class and taking notes, and processing learning content outside class) and four integration themes (feeling competent, feeling stressed, feeling prepared, and feeling supported). Further analyses showed that although some of the nine themes of academic experiences appear to be more important at different times in the first semester, they all seem to be meaningful throughout the whole semester.

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Section: The First-year Academic Experience In Academic He Contextsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Entering Higher Professional Education: Unveiling First-Year Students’ Key Academic Experiences and Their Occurrence Over Time

2021

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“…More precisely, a conceptual framing of the achievement process can be proposed from the integration of previous works and theories on the first-year experience. Recent work embedded in an adapted approach of Tinto's model of student departure also suggested that both individual backgrounds, psychological attributes, and perceived institutional factors should be considered together when addressing the first year in HE (Schaeper, 2019). Another recent research grounded in the self-system model of motivational development (Skinner, Wellborn, & Connell, 1990) and social cognitive theory of career and educational choice (Lent & Brown, 2019) posited that student achievement will be directly influenced by psychological factors (engagement and motivation) which are, in turn, impacted by the experience of the learning environment (De Clercq et al, 2020).…”

Section: Toward a Conceptual Framing Of The Achievement Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Among the first year at the university, the institutional context (mesosystem) can be influential in several ways. Schaeper (2019) proposed that it could impact student experience as an objective reality and as a subjective shared perception of the learning environment. The proposed framework therefore encompassed both objective and subjective dimensions of the context: the above-mentioned experience of the learning environment and the organizational characteristics of the institutional context such as course timetable, class size or composition of student body.…”

Section: Toward a Conceptual Framing Of The Achievement Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Allen and colleagues (2010) found that some psychosocial factors could have some effect sizes comparable to those of background factors. Moreover, recent research insisted on the added value to move beyond backgrounds variables and to consider the experience of the learning environment in the investigation of the first year in HE (Schaeper, 2019). This experience could have a strong impact on academic achievement (Schneider, & Preckel, 2017).…”

Section: The Role Of Background Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, the subjective experience of the environment was only measured by perceived teaching practices. This could be further investigated by adding the social layer of the environment (Schaeper, 2019) and the nature of the learning tasks composing the program (assessment, perceived workload). Finally, despite the multifactorial approach of academic achievement, complementary variables could have been considered at the individual level.…”

Section: Limitations and Further Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Bridging contextual and individual factors of academic achievement: a multi-level analysis of diversity in the transition to higher education

Clercq

Galand

Hospel

et al. 2021

FLR

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The transition to higher education has been extensively documented in the literature. In this line, many individual variables were identified as strong predictors of academic achievement. Yet, this literature suffers from one main limitation; contextual factors have often been left out of the investigation. The majority of studies have tested the impact of individual characteristics assuming that the effects are the same in different programs. However, differences between institutions or programs could result in specific learning contexts leading to different adjustment processes. As an attempt to overcome this limitation, the current study has investigated the impact of both individual and contextual factors on academic achievement through a multifactorial multilevel analysis. The analyses were carried out on 1,173 freshmen from 21 study programs. Results highlighted that 15% of variation in students’ achievement was found between programs. Aspects of curriculum organization that contributed to academic achievement were gender ratio, opportunities given for practice and class size. Besides, seven individual factors were also predictive of academic achievement in the multifactorial approach: past performance, socioeconomic status, self-efficacy beliefs, value, mastery goal structure, study time and paid job. Finally, significant random effects were identified for peer support, course value, attendance and external engagement (i.e. commitment in extra-academic activities). The implications and limitations of this study are discussed. By connecting individual and contextual predictors of academic achievement this study intends to endorse a frontline approach regarding the transition to higher education.

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Students’ experiences of a first‐year block model curriculum in higher education

Ambler

Solomonides

Smallridge

2021

The Curriculum Journal

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The first year in Higher Education (HE) is an international priority because of its importance to the retention of students. While initiatives to improve students’ commencing experience continue to develop one area that has received limited consideration is the first‐year curriculum. The aim of the research reported in this paper was to enhance the student experience in HE by expanding understandings of the first‐year curriculum. Focus groups and an online questionnaire were the research methods used to, explore students’ experiences of learning in a newly developed First‐Year Block Model (FYBM) curriculum, implemented at a university in Australia. Findings from the research revealed that features in the design of the FYBM framed and permeated the students’ experiences of learning. The students explained that a sense of familiarity, curriculum leadership, teaching and teachers and curriculum customisation influenced their engagement and achievements. The study highlights that HE requires staff who possess deep knowledge and expertise in the first‐year curriculum because this valuable asset can positively influence student learning and success.

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The first year in higher education: the role of individual factors and the learning environment for academic integration

Cited by 64 publications

References 55 publications

Entering Higher Professional Education: Unveiling First-Year Students’ Key Academic Experiences and Their Occurrence Over Time

Entering Higher Professional Education: Unveiling First-Year Students’ Key Academic Experiences and Their Occurrence Over Time

Bridging contextual and individual factors of academic achievement: a multi-level analysis of diversity in the transition to higher education

Students’ experiences of a first‐year block model curriculum in higher education

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