Coaching learning, cultivating confidence: Insights, reflections  and takeaways on first-year student support

Herman Van de Mosselaer

doi:10.56433/44rnvs30

Coaching learning, cultivating confidence: Insights, reflections and takeaways on first-year student support

Authors

Herman Van de Mosselaer Retired at AP University of Applied Sciences and Arts Antwerp

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.56433/44rnvs30

Keywords:

success factors, learning coaching, learning strategies, feedback tool, teacher design teams

Abstract

In this vignette, I reflect on some insights for first-year student support I gathered in 45 years of experience. Supporting student learning in the first year of contemporary higher education involves a wide range of staff in a variety of roles. This wasn't the case when I started teaching in higher education. As universities in Flanders grew larger, more and more supporting tasks were transferred to specialists. I experienced this development as department head of education and through visitation committees. When we organized in 2010 an EFYE conference in Belgium, almost all Flemish universities were represented, showing that the time was ripe to intensify research and practice regarding first-year student support. A few years earlier we had started a practice-oriented research project on how to support first-year students (FYS) starting with the research question: Which characteristics of FYS determine their chances of success? Based on the results, we started various actions and further research. This led to the development of Lemo, an online self-assessment feedback tool on learning competences and motivation. We explored how the tool could best be used to effectively support students' learning. Student advisors and mentors can play an important role in this, but they indicate themselves that it remains difficult to reach and effectively support students who do not know how to manage their learning process.
The first and best place to support students in taking up their own learning process is the classroom. There, teachers can address the specific challenges students face and build their confidence in how to study.This requires professionalization of the teachers and also sufficient teaching time for the core subjects of the first year. Regarding professionalization, we don't strongly believe in standalone workshops, especially not separate from the teachers’ contexts. We had positive experiences with teacher design teams.

References

Donche, V., Van Petegem, P., Van de Mosselaer, H. & Vermunt, J. (2010). LEMO: een instrument voor feedback over leren en motivatie. Mechelen: Plantyn. Donche; V., & Van Petegem, P. (2011). Vlotter doorstromen in het hoger onderwijs: Invloeden van leerpatroon en leeromgeving. Antwerpen: Garant.

Handelzalts, A. (2009). Collaborative curriculum development in teacher design teams.Doctoral dissertation. Enschede: University of Twente.

Morgan, M. (2013).Supporting Student Diversity in Higher Education- a practical guide. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203551783

Van de Mosselaer, H., Van Petegem, P., Donche, V. &Ottoy, W.(2006). Welke eerstejaars doen het beter? Instroom-Doorstroom-Uitstroomproject (IDU) van Plantijnhogeschool. Delta: tijdschrift voor hoger onderwijs, 2, 37-43.

Van de Mosselaer, H., Donche, V. & Jansen, N. & Van Petegem, P. (2012). De Lemo-testen: Wat, waarom en hoe? In Van de Mosselaer, H., Van Petegem, P., van Dijk, D. & Michiels, L. (Ed.), Goesting in Leren en Werken. Antwerpen-Apeldoorn: Garant-Maklu. 31-60.

Vanthournout,G., Van de Mosselaer, H., Donche, V. &Vansteenkiste, M. (2016). Discovering and strengthening learning strategies and motivation using the Lemo-instrument. In Bonne, P. & Nutt, D.(Ed.), Ten times the first year: Reflections on ten years of the European First Year Experience Conference. Tielt: Lannoo Campus, 53-70.

Vernon-Dotson, L. J., & Floyd, L. O. (2012). Building Leadership Capacity via School Partnerships and Teacher Teams. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies. Issues and Ideas. 85(1), 38-49. https://doi.org/10.1080/00098655.2011.607477.

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Published

2026-06-09

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 2 (part 3) (2026): EFYE Special Issue

Section

Vignette

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