Learning and thriving in academic context: “Apprehend freshmen achievement process through cluster and multigroup analysis.”
(2013) 2013 BAPS annual meeting — Location: Louvain-la-Neuve (28.May.2013)
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- Abstract
- Hitherto, many theoretical approaches of academic achievement among first year university students have been developed in the literature and a host of predictors have been identified (Allen et al., 2010; Richardson et al., 2012). However, most of those studies evaluated the impact of these predictors one by one without taking their interrelations into account. Several surveys shed the light on the insufficiency of such single path analyses to understand the complex processes of academic achievement (Eccles & Wigfield, 2002; Pintrich, 2003) and advocated that developing a more inclusive approach will lend to incremental clarification of freshmen adaptation to the university. In this line, our research aims at developing an inclusive perspective that could deal with the complex relations between different predictors of academic achievement. Two complementary approaches were carried out to reach this goal. First, we focused on cluster analysis to classify 2178 freshmen according to their characteristics at the start of their first academic year. Six distinct profiles were identified representing different combinations of achievement predictors (highschool grade, socioeconomic status, informed-choice & self-efficacy beliefs) and displaying different odds of success. Second, we investigated, through multigroup structural equation modeling, the achievement process of these six profiles during the academic year. Results revealed significant differences in achievement process from one entrance profile to another. This inclusive perspective of freshmen adaptation to university could lead to a shift from undifferentiated promotion of achievement to the establishment of intervention tailor-made to fit with the particular needs of students according to their specific characteristics.
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De Clercq, M. (2013). Learning and thriving in academic context: “Apprehend freshmen achievement process through cluster and multigroup analysis.”. 2013 BAPS annual meeting, Louvain-la-Neuve. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/206639