Undergraduate Engineers\u27 Preference for a Range of Professional Roles

This paper reports on a personal preference test which aligns students to a range of professional roles based on their attitudes towards performing particular tasks. The 10-item test was administered to 109 first-year engineering students at TU Dublin, Ireland and 159 third-year engineering students at KU Leuven, Belgium in September of the 2018/19 academic year. The test had two purposes: • to align students to three professional engineering roles based on their preference for performing certain tasks; • to allow students to reflect on an initially tacit model of professional roles. In this paper only the first purpose is considered, followed by an evaluation of the reliability of the test. Preliminary results indicate that the majority of students at TU Dublin and at KU Leuven wish to work in roles which involve the development of radically new products and services, while a much smaller proportion of students wish to work with product and process optimisation. The data also indicates that, in general, students have less favourable attitudes towards working in client-centred roles. These findings present a unique challenge for engineering educators and employers alike in Ireland and Belgium, as industries in these nations shift towards services and away from manufacture. So too do the skills requirements to work effectively in the modern engineering sector

Translating international HIV treatment guidelines into local priorities in Indonesia

Objective: International guidelines recommend countries to expand antiretroviral therapy (ART) to all HIV-infected individuals and establish local-level priorities in relation to other treatment, prevention and mitigation interventions through fair processes. However, no practical guidance is provided for such priority-setting processes. Evidence-informed deliberative processes (EDPs) fill this gap and combine stakeholder deliberation to incorporate relevant social values with rational decision-making informed by evidence on these values. This study reports on the first-time implementation and evaluation of an EDP in HIV control, organised to support the AIDS Commission in West Java province, Indonesia, in the development of its strategic plan for 2014–2018. Methods: Under the responsibility of the provincial AIDS Commission, an EDP was implemented to select priority interventions using six steps: (i) situational analysis; (ii) formation of a multistakeholder Consultation Panel; (iii) selection of criteria; (iv) identification and assessment of interventions’ performance; (v) deliberation; and (vi) selection of funding and implementing institutions. An independent researcher conducted in-depth interviews (n = 21) with panel members to evaluate the process. Results: The Consultation Pa

Translating international HIV treatment guidelines into local priorities in Indonesia

Contains fulltext : 189873.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access

Implications of Training in Incremental Theories of Intelligence for Undergraduate Statistics Students

This chapter documents the effects of training in incremental theories of intelligence on students in introductory statistics courses at a liberal arts university in the US. Incremental theories of intelligence examine the beliefs individuals hold of knowledge and how it is attained. An individual with an incremental theory of intelligence believes that intelligence can be developed. The research examined differences by gender in mastery of statistics and attitudes toward statistics for students who received growth mind-set training. A pre-test, post-test design utilised the Students’ Attitudes Toward Statistics© instrument and the Comprehensive Assessment of Outcomes in a first Statistics course. An ANCOVA revealed that females gained more than males on their value of statistics (F(1, 63) 9.40, MSE 3.79, p .003, η2 P 0.134) and decreased less for effort expended to learn statistics (F(1, 63) 4.41, MSE 4.07, p .040, η2 P 0.067). Females also gained mastery of statistical concepts at a greater rate (F(1, 63) 5.30, MSE 0.06, p .025, η2 P 0.080) indicating a possible path to alleviate the under-representation of females in STEM

The reciprocal effects model and educational choice. A longitudinal study on academic self-concept, achievement and (post)secondary educational choice

Maarten Pinxten, The Reciprocal Effects Model and educational choice. A longitudinal study on academic self-concept, achievement and (post)secondary educational choice. Doctoral dissertation submitted to obtain the degree of Doctor in Educational Sciences, 2013. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Bieke De Fraine Co-supervisors: Prof. Dr. Wim Van Den Noortgate Prof. Dr. Jan Van Damme This doctoral dissertation consists of two sections. In the first part, Manuscripts 1 3, we focus on the role of academic self-concept in explaining student achievement. The second part, Manuscripts 4 and 5, centers around educational choice. The academic self-concept is generally considered both as an important predictor of academic achievement and as a valuable outcome variable in itself. The central focus of the first part of this doctoral dissertation is on the longitudinal relation between academic self-concept and achievement and four aspects of this relation were explored in greater detail. The results of Manuscript 1 showed that there exists a certain developmental trend in the longitudinal relation between both variables in a way that only by the end of secondary education, this relation becomes reciprocal. Thus, supporting the premises of the Reciprocal Effects Model (REM), academic self-concept positively affected achievement and vice versa. Furthermore, small gender differences were observed in this longitudinal relation. However, given the small effect sizes, the results of this first study should be interpreted carefully in the light of the articulated methodological limitations. Manuscripts 2 and 3 center around the delicate balance between conceptualization of psychological constructs on the one hand and their measurement on the other. The results of Manuscript 2 clearly showed that the type of measurement of academic achievement (standardized tests versus teacher ratings) substantially influenced the causal pattern of cross paths observed in REM studies. Thus, the type of achievement indicator used moderates the relation between academic self-concept and achievement. Different conceptual connotations of tests and teacher ratings affect the outcomes of the quantitative modeling of REM relationships. A similar conceptual issue emerged in Manuscript 3. The multidimensionality of academic self-concept in terms of domain-specificity has been widely accepted but its multidimensionality in terms of motivational properties (the so-called affect-competence distinction) is still under debate. In evaluating one s own subject-specific or general academic abilities, both affective reactions (e.g., enjoyment) and cognitive evaluations (i.e., rational competence evaluation) are at stake. The question then arises whether these affective responses should be rather considered as a subcomponent of the academic self-concept or as a separate latent construct. Based on both a within-network approach (confirmatory factor analysis) and a between-network approach (relations with external outcome variables), the results of Manuscript 3 clearly argue in favor of the latter. Math enjoyment and math competence could hardly be considered as combined indicators of a higher order factor math self-concept . Additionally, differential longitudinal relations between both constructs on the one hand and math achievement and math effort expenditure were observed. In the second part of this dissertation, we tried to gain insight into the socio-cognitive determinants of the choice of study program in the academic track of secondary education (Manuscript 4) and the choice of a major in the first year of university (Manuscript 5). Different theoretical models stipulate educational choice processes as being complex and multifaceted phenomena wherein a large number of student and school level factors come into play (e.g., gender, SES, prior achievement, prior subject uptake, occupational interests, future aspirations and self-concepts of one s abilities). On the basis of multilevel and ordinary multinomial logistic regression (in Manuscripts 4 and 5 respectively), the joint effect of each of the aforementioned variables on the type of study program chosen was thoroughly investigated. The results of our analyses clearly showed that almost all of these variables significantly contributed to the choice of a particular study program. Choice of a study program in secondary education and major selection in university still followed a gender-stereotypical choice pattern with girls and boys rather opting for language/humanities and science/mathematics majors respectively. Different interest patterns (especially the higher interest in science of boys) between boys and girls accounted for a substantial part of this gender-stereotypical pattern. Furthermore, negative choice mechanisms were identified in secondary education in a way that students with a lower SES were less inclined to choose a study program with Latin or Greek, even after controlling for prior achievement and interests. Similarly, it seemed that students opting for a humanities study program were primarily pushed away from the other study programs based on lower achievement rather than an increased interest for humanities. Finally, students SES did not influence the type of major chose in the first year of university.status: publishe

The Transition to STEM Higher Education: Policy Recommendations Conclusions of the readySTEMgo-Project

For Europe to remain at the forefront of scientific and technological development, the current shortage of persons trained in these fields at secondary and higher education has to be overcome. The readySTEMgo project aims to improve the retention rates of higher education STEM programmes by the identification of at-risk students in an early stage. We successfully identified a number of key skills that are essential for first-year achievement in a STEM programme. Additionally, we investigated which intervention tools can support at-risk students and evaluated their effectiveness. Based on the output of this research project four policy recommendations are formulated.status: publishe

Early identification of at-risk students in science and engineering programmes

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The early identification of at-risk students. The outcomes of the readySTEMgo project

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Wie kiest welke studierichting in het secundair onderwijs? En welke rol speelt de school bij deze studiekeuze?

Leerlingen in het Vlaams secundair onderwijs maken voortdurend keuzes. In het huidige systeem kiezen ze voor een bepaalde onderwijsvorm en daarbinnen voor een bepaalde studierichting. Er is een enorm brede waaier aan studierichtingen, vooral in de derde graad. Er zijn twee belangrijke collectieve keuze-momenten: op het einde van de eerste graad en op het einde van de tweede graad. Heel wat studies onderzochten welke leerlingkenmerken van invloed zijn op de studiekeuze. Zo kiezen jongens doorgaans anders dan meisjes. Ons secundair onderwijs kent een aantal typische jongensrichtingen (vb. nijverheidstechnische studierichtingen) en een aantal typische meisjesrichtingen (vb. zorg). Ook de sociaal-economische thuissituatie (SES) is van invloed. Leerlingen uit hoge SES-gezinnen kiezen vaker voor studierichtingen met meer wiskunde en wetenschappen. Uiteraard spelen ook de prestaties een belangrijke rol. Een leerling die goed is in talen, zal vaker een studierichting kiezen waarin talen belangrijk zijn. Daarnaast werd onderzocht in hoeverre de studiekeuze bepaald wordt door psychologische kenmerken zoals academisch zelfconcept, plezier in een bepaald vak, waarde-oordeel over een bepaald vak, en interesse. Dat laatste kenmerk “interesse” is erg interessant in het licht van de nakende hervorming secundair onderwijs, waar de onderwijsvormen plaats zullen maken voor belangstellingsgebieden. Het staat vast dat de bovenstaande leerlingkenmerken van invloed zijn op de studiekeuze. Maar daarnaast kan ook de school een belangrijke rol spelen. In sommige scholen bijvoorbeeld, maken leerlingen minder gender-typische studiekeuzes. En in sommige scholen is er een sterk verband tussen prestaties en studiekeuze, terwijl dat in andere scholen een stuk minder sterk is. In deze studie worden twee onderzoeksvragen bestudeerd: 1) Wat is het effect van leerlingkenmerken (geslacht, prestaties, …) en van schoolkenmerken (% meisjes op school, …) op studiekeuze? En daarbij aansluitend: hoe belangrijk is de interesse eigenlijk bij het maken van een studiekeuze? 2) Zijn er verschillen tussen scholen met betrekking tot de studiekeuzes van hun leerlingen? Met andere woorden: verschillen studiekeuzeprocessen van school tot school? De verschillende studiekeuzedeterminanten werden onderzocht via complexe analyses (multilevel multinomiale modellen) op de gegevens van het LOSO-onderzoek. Door de enorme diversiteit aan studierichtingen bleek het té complex om die gehele waaier te onderzoeken. We beperkten ons noodgedwongen tot een aantal studierichtingen in het ASO. Voor de studiekeuze in het derde middelbaar werd een groep van 2518 leerlingen in 22 scholen onderzocht. Voor de studiekeuze in het vijfde middelbaar werden 2871 leerlingen in 24 scholen bestudeerd. De resultaten geven aan schoolkenmerken een beperkte rol spelen, maar dat geslacht, prestaties en SES duidelijk samenhangen met de studiekeuze. Ook interesse hangt vaak samen met studiekeuze. Hoe hoger de interesse van een leerling in literatuur, hoe groter bijvoorbeeld de kans dat deze leerling in het derde middelbaar klassieke talen zal kiezen. In het vijfde middelbaar stelden we vast dat het effect van geslacht op studiekeuze volledig wegverklaard wordt wanneer we rekening houden met de verschillen tussen jongens en meisjes qua interesse voor wetenschappen. De keuze voor humane wetenschappen daarentegen hangt niet samen met een grotere interesse in het sociale domein. Dit lijkt dus eerder een negatieve keuze … We besluiten dat het huidige ASO (en in het gehele secundair onderwijs) gekenmerkt is door een sterke hierarchie tussen studierichtingen die weerspiegeld wordt in de recrutering van deze studierichtingen in termen van prestatieniveau en SES. We stelden vast dat daarnaast de interesse toch ook nog een rol speelt. Kortom: studiekeuzeprocessen zijn ingewikkelde puzzels die de moeite waard zijn om te ontrafelen, om er informatie uit te halen voor de hervorming van het secundair onderwijs.status: publishe

Comparison of first-year student conceptions on their future roles as engineers between Belgium and The Netherlands

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