Page 19 - Secondary school students’ university readiness and their transition to university Els van Rooij

Chapter 1
Think:
- Problem formulation - Research
- Interpretation
- Communication
- Precision and accuracy
Know:
- Structure of
kn ow le d ge
- Technical knowledge and skills
Go:
- Contextual - Procedural - Financial
- Cultural
- Personal
Act:
- Ownership of learning - Learning techniques
Key cognitive strategies
Key transition knowledge and skills
Key content knowledge
Key learning skills and techniques
Figure 1.1 Conley’s model of college readiness (adapted from Conley & French, 2014)
Cognitive strategies are ways of thinking and working that are required in a postsecondary learning environment, such as critical thinking, analytical thinking, research skills, reasoning, and accuracy. ese are especially relevant for Dutch university education, as all universities are research universities and much of the learning content is research-based. Content knowledge is about students having to master the key knowledge and skills from the core subjects as well as overarching skills such as understanding the structure of knowledge. Important parts of key content knowledge are for example reading and writing skills, not only in Dutch, but also in English, since about one third of university programmes are taught in English (20% of all bachelor programmes in the Netherlands are completely taught in English and another 10% partly; VSNU, 2017b). e third key of readiness, learning skills and techniques, consists of academic behaviours and beliefs necessary for postsecondary success. ese can be described as habits of mind or academic behaviours and include motivation, time management skills, study skills, persistence, and self-e cacy. ere is an abundance of research con rming the importance of these aspects for success in higher education (e.g., Richardson, Abraham, and Bond, 2012; Robbins et al., 2004). Last, transition knowledge and skills refer to the information and skills that students need to actually start a degree, e.g., information about degree programmes and self-knowledge in order to make a suitable choice; nancial information; and the skills needed to navigate the new environment. e importance of this key cannot be underestimated, since research shows that many students drop out because they have made the wrong choice or because their expectations have not met reality, which caused them to be
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