Assessing students’ perceptions of fit between secondary and higher education: a validation study of the SPFQ

ABSTRACT

Supporting first-year students to adjust to their new academic environment is a crucial task in higher education. Investigating students’ perceptions of fit between secondary and higher education could give higher education institutions valuable information for student feedback and support, when captured in a reliable and valid way. This study examines the construct validity, reliability, and criterion-related validity of the Students’ Perceived Fit Questionnaire (SPFQ) by using a longitudinal dataset (N = 930, first-year students). The results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis supported a three-factor structure measuring students’ perceptions of: 1) the extent to which secondary education prepared them for higher education in terms of content knowledge; 2) resemblance in the teaching approach between secondary and higher education, and 3) the need to adapt to their higher education study programme. Concerning the criterion-related validity, it was found that first-year students who experienced similarities in teaching approach are more likely to persist in their studies. Furthermore, our results indicated that first-year students who experienced less need to adapt to their higher education study programme felt more self-efficacious regarding their own learning and, consequently, were more likely to persist in their studies.

KEYWORDS:

• First-year students
• validity
• academic integration
• self-efficacy
• persistence

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

D. Noyens http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4543-792X

T. van Daal http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9398-9775

L. Coertjens http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1209-5089

P. Van Petegem http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4078-7800

V. Donche http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9405-3896

Notes

1 The results of the analyses with CF-Facparsim and CF-Varimax rotation are available on request.