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Transition from high school to university: a person-centered approach to academic achievement

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Abstract

Although a vast body of studies regarding the variables related to students’ achievement exists, only a handful has investigated how these variables combine and interact together. Such an investigation might make it possible to more accurately illustrate the heterogeneity of students enrolling in university and assess the impact of this diversity on academic achievement. The current study focused on the person-centered approach and investigated the possibility of determining significant subgroups of freshmen in the very first week of the academic year in the Belgian educational context. Using k-mean clustering, 2178 freshmen were classified according to their past performance, socioeconomic status, study choice process, and academic self-efficacy beliefs at the beginning of the first year at university. Analyses of variance were also conducted to analyze the relationship between these student clusters and academic achievement outcomes. Six distinct profiles of students were identified representing different combinations of achievement predictors. Results revealed different odds of success among these profiles. The implications of our approach to the understanding of the heterogeneity of freshmen and the first-year achievement process are discussed.

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Notes

  1. The Belgian tertiary educational system is qualified as an “open access” system because there is no standardized testing of students or admission criteria and the successful completion of comprehensive secondary school allows any student to enter any university program without passing an entrance test (except in engineering).

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Gentiane Boudrenghien, Sandrine Neuville, and Julia Schmitz for their help with data collection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Institute of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Psychology and Education, Université Catholique de Louvain, 10 Place Cardinal Mercier, 1348, Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium

    Mikaël De Clercq

  2. Department of Psychology, Université Catholique de Louvain, 10 Place Cardinal Mercier, 1348, Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium

    Benoît Galand & Mariane Frenay

Authors
  1. Mikaël De Clercq
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  2. Benoît Galand
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  3. Mariane Frenay
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Correspondence to Mikaël De Clercq.

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Mikaël De Clercq. Université Catholique de Louvain, Research Institute of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Psychology and Education, 10 Place Cardinal Mercier, B-1348 Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium. Phone: 00 32 (0)10 47 86 27; URL: mikael.declercq@uclouvain.be, Web site: www.uclouvain.be/mikael.declercq

Current themes of research:

Mikaël De Clercq is a Ph.D student at the Université catholique de Louvain.

His research interests focus on the predictors of academic achievement among first-year university students and on the impact of motivation on students’ learning processes.

Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education:

De Clercq, M., Galand, B., Dupont, S., & Frenay, M. (2013). Achievement among first-year university students: an integrated and contextualised approach. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 28(3), 641–662. doi: 10.1007/s10212-012-0133-6

De Clercq, M., Galand, B., & Frenay, M. (2013). Chicken or the egg: longitudinal analysis of the causal dilemma between goal orientation, self-regulation and cognitive processing strategies in higher education. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 39(1), 4–13. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2012.10.003

De Clercq, M., Galand, B., & Frenay, M. (2013). Learning processes in higher education: providing new insights into the effects of motivation and cognition on specific and global measures of achievement. In D. Gijbels, V. Donche, J. T. E. Richardson & J. D. Vermunt (Eds.), Learning Patterns in Higher Education: Dimensions and research perspectives: Taylor & Francis.

Benoît Galand. Department of Psychology, Université Catholique de Louvain, 10 Place Cardinal Mercier, B-1348 Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium. Phone: benoit.galand@uclouvain.be; Web site: www.uclouvain.be/benoit.galand

Current themes of research:

Benoît Galand obtained a Ph.D. degree in psychology from the University of Louvain in 2001. He is a professor in the department of Psychology of UCL. His research interests revolve around the effects of instructional practices on student motivation, learning, and psycho-social adaptation. He lectures in educational psychology, pedagogy, and research methodology to graduate and undergraduate students.

Mariane Frenay. Department of Psychology, université Catholique de Louvain, 10 Place Cardinal Mercier, B-1348 Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium. Phone: mariane.frenay@uclouvain.be, Web site : http://www.uclouvain.be/mariane.frenay

Current themes of research:

Mariane Frenay is a professor at the Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium

(Dean of the faculty of Psychology and Education) and received her PhD in Instructional Psychology in 1994. She is an active researcher in the field of higher education teaching and learning and faculty development. She has been a member of the UNESCO Chair of university teaching and learning at her university since 2001 and has been teaching for several years in Master’s and Doctoral programs in Psychology and Education.

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De Clercq, M., Galand, B. & Frenay, M. Transition from high school to university: a person-centered approach to academic achievement. Eur J Psychol Educ 32, 39–59 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-016-0298-5

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