Comparison between bridging students and traditional first-year students in engineering technology

ABSTRACT

To stimulate a flexible lifelong learning system students can enter university via lateral entry. Unlike traditional first-year students, lateral entrance students are not well-studied. Therefore this study focuses on comparing first-year students with a specific group of lateral entrants, namely bridging students at the Faculty of Engineering Technology, KU Leuven. Using Astin’s Input-Environment-Outcome model resulted in (1) Input variables, namely prior education and initial learning and study strategies, (2) Environmental influence, measured with a questionnaire focussing on perceived transition to university, and (3) Outcome variables, namely dropout and academic achievement. Analyses resulted in similarities for the outcome variables, but differences in terms of secondary education. Regarding the input (LASSI) and environmental questionnaires, for only two of the 13 scales a moderate effect was found (perceived preparedness and test strategies). Consequently, research findings of first-year engineering students can be compared, taking into account their specific differences, to the context of bridging students.

KEYWORDS:

• STEM
• bridging students
• academic achievement
• transition
• pre-university

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Lynn Van den Broeck has a master in Engineering Technology (Chemical Engineering). Her Ph.D. focuses on predicting the study success of bridging students by setting up a validated positioning test for STEM professional bachelor students at University Colleges, who are thinking about bridging to University. The second goal is to develop interventions and to investigate their effectiveness.

Tinne De Laet is a tenure track professor and head of the Tutorial Services at the Faculty of Engineering Science at KU Leuven. Since August 2014, she is the head of the Leuven Engineering and Science Education Center (LESEC).

Marlies Lacante is a professor at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational sciences at KU Leuven. Her research focuses on educational career development (e.g. drop out, transition secondary higher education).

Maarten Pinxten is a Research Associate of the Educational Support Services at the Faculty of Engineering Technology, KU Leuven, Belgium. His main research topics are the academic self-concept, educational choice, and the transition from secondary to higher education.

Carolien Van Soom is an associate professor and head of the Tutorial Services at the Faculty of Science at KU Leuven. Her research focuses on academic self-concept, motivation, and achievement of freshmen bachelors in STEM programs. She is a member of the steering committee of the Leuven Engineering and Science Education Center (LESEC).

Greet Langie is a vice-dean of Education at the Faculty of Engineering Technology at KU Leuven. Her research focuses on the transition from secondary to university STEM-education. She is a member of the steering committee of the Leuven Engineering and Science Education Center (LESEC).

Notes

1. http://www.minedu.fi/export/sites/default/OPM/Koulutus/koulutusjaerjestelmae/liitteet/finnish_education.pdf.

2. http://eng.uvm.dk/Education/Overview-of-the-Danish-Education-System.

3. https://iiw.kuleuven.be/english/readystemgo.

Additional information

Funding

This work was co-funded by the Onderwijsontwikkelingsfonds [OOF2014/14] of the Association KU Leuven.