ANR EUS-BC (en)

Entering University Studies: Beliefs and Contracts

EUS-BC, project n°ANR-24-CE41-0456

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Summary :

This research concerns understanding the causes of the difficulties experienced by first-time university students in scientific fields, by focusing on misunderstandings between teachers and students about study and teaching practices that promote learning. These misunderstandings may concern cross-disciplinary aspects independent of the knowledge in question as well as aspects related to this knowledge; we hypothesize that they may differ according to the fields and according to gender. Postulating that these misunderstandings may arise from different beliefs and expectations between teachers and students, we articulate the concept of beliefs with that of the didactic contract. We are interested in the differences between the beliefs and expectations of students and teachers and their evolutions during the first year of university. With regard to these differences and evolutions, we pursue three articulated objectives: (1) identify them; (2) identify specificities of certain groups of teachers and students (depending on the discipline and gender in particular); (3) explain some of the developments and differences that remain at the end of the first year, in particular through the impact of gender. Our survey adopts a mixed methodology. We will submit questionnaires to students and teachers (3000 students, 500 teachers). In order to access beliefs and expectations that cannot be explained in questionnaire responses (in particular regarding the impact of gender), based on the results obtained by questionnaires, we will carry out classroom observations and interviews. This will allow us to identify factors that cause differences to diminish or persist, and therefore promote or not the establishment of a shared didactic contract between teachers and students during the first year of university.

Keywords  : Beliefs, didactic, education, scientific university courses , gender, pedagogy
Project dates : from 06/01/2025 to 05/01/2028 (36 months)

Partners :

Études sur les Sciences et les Techniques (EST), Université Paris-Saclay

Centre de Recherches sur l’Éducation, les Apprentissages et la Didactique (CREAD), Université de Bretagne Occidentale

Formation Apprentissages Professionnels (FOAP), ENSTA Bretagne

Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Sciences de l’Éducation et de la Communication (LISEC), Université de Lorraine et Université de Strasbourg

Institut de Recherche sur l’Éducation (IREDU), Université de Bourgogne Europe

Contacts

Ghislaine Gueudet  ghislaine.gueudet@universite-paris-saclay.fr

Isabelle Bournaud  isabelle.bournaud@universite-paris-saclay.fr