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Comunicació presentada a EDULEARN2018, 10th International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies (July 2-4, 2018, Palma, Mallorca, Spain). The subject "Chemistry II (QU910)" is taught at first academic year (second semester) of the Degree in Chemistry at the University Jaume I. Some of its specific and general competencies are selflearning and writing and oral communication, regarding the main chemical concepts: chemical reactions, elements of the periodic table and calculations of the concentrations of the formed products and the remaining reagents in acid/base, complex, precipitation and redox reactions. We have noticed that 65% of the students have not studied any chemistry subjects (or only one) in High School or Professional Training before undertaking the Degree in Chemistry. The present project aims firstly to help these students to overcome their lack of background, secondly to compare the academic results of the students with and without previous contact with chemistry and finally, to establish actions to solve this prejudicial situation. This objective was reached by the implementation of a zero course, a course including the basic content of chemistry taught in the last years of High School, the month before the beginning of the first academic year. After the first year, students having attended chemistry before university obtained only 0.75/10 points more than the others. The Virtual Classroom, the emails and tutorial played an important role in the achievement of this zero-course.

Students can be classified into various types according to their general characteristics and traits. Typologies of students are useful to provide a better understanding of students” behavior to assist an institution in the development of programs to maximize students” experiences and achievements. This study used a typological schema to differentiate 315 freshmen at the time of entry into the American Degree Transfer Program (ADP). Data were collected over three semesters using the Cooperative Institutional Research Freshmen Survey (CIRP), developed by the University of California, on students during their first day of the orientation week. Data reduction was done by exploratory factor analysis and K-means cluster analysis was used to obtain categorical typology of students. We identified seven distinctive and meaningful students” types, namely Leaders, Status Strivers, Scholars, Undecided, Uncommitted, Artists and Social Activists. The Uncommitted and Undecided represented the largest subgroups of freshmen standing at 28% and 25% respectively. Uncommitted students scored negatively on all variables pertaining to career success, self-confidence, social concern, academic matters and artistic abilities. Undecided students reported their choice of the ADP was largely influenced by their parents, school teachers and school counselors. The findings of this study can be leveraged to academic interventions and special guidance to specific at-risk subgroups so as to produce positive outcomes at the exit point. It can also inform institutional marketing to focus on those people who play a significant role in a student”s choice of a university.

Straipsnyje pristatomo tyrimo tikslas yra nustatyti Lietuvos kolegijose studijuojančių studentų tipus bei jų dinamiką priklausomai nuo studijų kurso ir formos. Tyrimo rezultatai atskleidė, kad studentų tipai gali būti išskiriami pagal studento integracijos į aukštąją mokyklą lygmenį ir studento studijavimo tikslą. Vertinant pagal studento integracijos į aukštąją mokyklą lygmenį buvo nustatyta, kad Lietuvos valstybinėse kolegijose yra didžiausias procentas bendradarbiaujančio, akademinio ir profesinio tipo studentų. Nustatyta, kad bendradarbiaujančio tipo studentų procentas kiekvienais studijų metais palaipsniui mažėja, o profesinio – didėja. Bendradarbiaujančio ir profesinio tipo studentai yra labiau linkę rinktis nuolatinę studijų formą, o akademinio ir nekonformistinio – ištęstinę. Vertinant pagal studento studijavimo tikslą nustatyta, kad Lietuvos kolegijose didžiausia dalis studijuojančių studentų yra profesinio tipo. Tyrimo rezultatai atskleidė, kad pereinamojo ir profesinio tipo studentų tolygiai mažėja didėjant studijų kursui, o „atsitiktinai įkritusio“ tipo studentų daugėja. Nustatyta, kad nuolatinę studijų formą yra linkę rinktis pereinamojo ir profesinio tipo studentai, o ištęstinę – „atsitiktinai įkritusio“, eksperimentinio bei žvalgomojo tipo studentai. The aim of the research was to identify the types of students and their dynamics depending on form of studies and year in Lithuanian colleges. The results of the research have showed that a student could be ascribed to different student type depending on the learning aim and the level of student’s integration into a higher education institution. It has been carried out that depending on the student’s integration into a higher education institution the biggest part of students in Lithuanian colleges belong to collegiate, academic and vocational types of students. The results of the research have showed that the percentage of collegiate type students is decreasing with every study year and vocation type of students is increasing. Collegiate and professional types of students more often choose full-time studies, while academic and non-conformist types of students choose part-time studies. The research results have showed that depending on the learning aim the biggest part of students in colleges belong to vocational type of students. It has been established that the numbers of transfer and vocational type of students are decreasing with every study year and "drop-in", experimental and exploratory types of students are increasing. Transfer and vocational type of students are more likely to choose full-time studies, while part-time studies are more often chosen by "drop-in", experimental and exploratory types of students.

Degree completion is an issue for stakeholders and others concerned with higher education (Astin, 1997; Braxton, 2000; Porter & National Institute of Independent Colleges and Universities, 1990; Selingo, 2001). The research on degree completion in American higher education is extensive. Studies have been conducted on differences in degree completion by demographics (Pascarella, Smart, & Stoecker, 1989; Pritchard & Wilson, 2003), high school performance (Lewallen, 1993; Stage & Rushin, 1993; Tracey & Sedlacek, 1987), and college performance (DesJardins, Ahlburg, & McCall, 2002; Hu & St John, 2001; Tinto, 1997). Other work in higher education however has looked at how to classify students using student types. Astin developed one of these approaches. Despite the voluminous research conducted on persistence, no one has examined the issue of degree completion using Astin's (1993) student typology. The purpose of this study was to explore degree completion among college students. It employed Astin's (1993) student typology to explore differences between degree completers and dropouts. Specifically, it examined differences between degree completers and dropouts within and across Astin types by demographic characteristics, high school academic performance, and college academic performance. The data analyzed in the study were collected from entering freshmen, by cohort, from 1994 to 1997 at three different institutions: a public master's institution in the northeast; a private liberal arts institution in the northeast; and, a public research extensive institution in the mid-Atlantic. There were two sets of data employed in the study. The first set included responses to the Annual Freshman Survey (AFS) of the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) (Sax, Lindholm, Astin, Korn, & Mahoney, 2002). The second set included institutional student data records consisting of demographic characteristics of participants and high school and college performance measures. This study examined degree completion among college students using Astin's (1993) student typology framework. The results of this research contributed to the existing body of literature on degree completion. This study was complex and yielded a mix of statistically significant findings. However, four key findings emerged from this study. First, degree completers are more likely to earn better high school grades than dropouts. Second, middle and high-income students are more likely to graduate from college than low-income students. Third, for Status Striver type students, other (non-academic) background variables predict college academic performance in terms of college GPA and total college credits. Fourth, for Social Activist type students, other (non-academic) background variables predict grades earned in college. These findings present a new direction for research on degree completion and research-based student typologies. Ph. D.