Over the past forty years, scholars have been studying students’ choice of higher education programmes to unravel the complexity of the choice process. Recent studies have shown that students may... Show moreOver the past forty years, scholars have been studying students’ choice of higher education programmes to unravel the complexity of the choice process. Recent studies have shown that students may commit to a programme, i.e. they make a choice to enrol in that programme, when they find a programme that attunes well with their interests. Students may nonetheless decide to switch from one programme to another before final enrolment and research has not yet sufficiently explained why they do that. The present study therefore focused on the mechanisms underlying students changing their minds after they had previously committed to a higher education programme. Eighteen semi-structured interviews with Dutch pre-university students in their final year at school were held just before final enrolment: students retraced their higher education programme choice process over time with the help of a timeline and a storyline. Interviews were thematically analysed. We identified two mechanisms whereby students, sometimes quite suddenly, switched in their commitment from one programme to another and two mechanisms that could hold them back from committing to another programme despite having doubts. This paper provides detailed theoretical insight into how students make higher education programme choices over time and concludes with practical recommendations on how to support students. Show less
This dissertation describes several studies concerning the research-teaching nexus in the sciences. General, it is recognized that a strong nexus exist between research and teaching at university... Show moreThis dissertation describes several studies concerning the research-teaching nexus in the sciences. General, it is recognized that a strong nexus exist between research and teaching at university education, but it was not always clear in which ways this relation could be implemented to positively influence student learning. Connections between teachers__ intentions, teaching practice, and scientific research dispositions were studied in this dissertation. Associations between these factors and suggestions for teaching practice in higher education were described in the context of the nexus of research and teaching in bachelor science courses. The findings show that scientific research dispositions of academics can be characterized by six qualitatively different aspects, namely the inclination to understand, to achieve, to share, to be critical, to be innovative, and to know. Furthermore, it became clear that teachers__ intentions not always correspond to students__ perceptions of research activities during the courses. Teachers__ intentions on tangible elements of the nexus were relatively more congruent with the students__ perceptions, than teachers__ intentions about intangible elements. The results suggest at that intangible elements of the research-teaching nexus, such as the stimulation of a critical disposition or the creation of an innovative atmosphere, need to be emphasized, if we want that students develop realistic conceptions about the nature of scientific research. Show less
