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.
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.