Page 224 - Secondary school students’ university readiness and their transition to university Els van Rooij

8.4 Directions for further research
8.4.1 Longitudinal research
To address the rst two limitations mentioned above and study the transition more
thoroughly, longitudinal research is necessary. ere are not many longitudinal
studies that include measurements both in secondary school and in higher
education, but they provide very valuable information. An example is a study by
Germeijs and Verschueren (2007) that mapped the study choice process of students
in grade 12. is study related the execution of this process to several outcomes
in the rst year in higher education, namely 1) students’ choice actualisation (i.e.,
whether they actually chose the study they had planned to choose in grade 12);
2) commitment to the chosen study; 3) academic adjustment; and 4) persistence
into the second year. ey found that students who were more certain of and
more committed to their choice in grade 12 were more likely to actualise their
choice. Moreover, students who actualised their choice had a higher chance of
persisting. In addition, students who did more in-depth exploration of several
degree programmes and were more committed to their choice in grade 12 were
more committed to their study in the rst year of higher education, which in turn
decreased the risk of dropping out. Self-exploration (what do I nd interesting,
what am I good at, what do I nd important, etc.) and commitment to the intended
choice in grade 12 were related to academic adjustment in the rst year, which in
turn decreased the odds of stopping or failing. Another longitudinal study that
focused on the transition is one by Kyndt et al. (2015). ey measured students’
motivation ve times during the last year of secondary education and the rst year
of higher education. eir ndings showed that during the transition autonomous
motivation increased and controlled motivation increased only slightly. As for 8 amotivation, this increased in secondary school and remained stable in higher
education, but was signi cantly lower at the start of higher education than at the end of secondary education. Both longitudinal studies provide useful insights into the transition, the rst by showing the importance of grade 12 students’ execution of study choice tasks, and the second by shedding light on the developmental trajectories of motivation. Comparable longitudinal studies – i.e., studies that relate secondary school students’ characteristics to success in university as well as studies that map the development of relevant factors across the transition – should be conducted that include other factors of importance, such as self-e cacy, self- regulation, academic interest, and engagement. Ideally, the rst measurement
Conclusion and discussion
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