The ANR EAU-CC (Entrée A l’Université -Croyances et Contrats) project, in which IREDU is a partner, will start in January 2025, and run for three years. It is supported by a consortium of four laboratories: UR EST (Études sur les Sciences et les Techniques, Université Paris-Saclay), CREAD (Centre de Recherche sur l’Éducation, les Apprentissages et la Didactique, Université de Brest), IREDU (Institut de Recherche sur l’Éducation, Université de Bourgogne) and LISEC (Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Sciences de l’Éducation et de la Communication, Université de Lorraine).
The aim of this project is to contribute to understanding the difficulties encountered by students entering university in science courses (mathematics, biology, chemistry and physics). On entering university, in the absence of clearly defined standards, misunderstandings can arise between first-year students and teachers about study and teaching practices, leading to difficulties. These misunderstandings concern both aspects independent of the knowledge at stake, such as students’ attitudes during lectures, and aspects strongly linked to students in their study practices, or their personal work. Novice students enter university with beliefs and expectations shaped by the secondary institution. These beliefs and expectations differ from those of university teachers. Students’ experiences during their first year at university lead to changes in their beliefs and expectations about study and teaching practices. The project will aim to answer the following questions: What differences between students’ and teachers’ beliefs and expectations regarding study and teaching practices likely to promote learning emerge in the case of students at the start of their first year? At the end of the first year?
Can we identify specific populations by gender and field or discipline, in relation to these differences? What factors explain the differences that persist at the end of the first year for certain populations?