Step up to Saxion.

Selecting students for honors programs:The first results of a long-term quasi experimental study

CEEHEB Groningen 4-10-2012Saxion University of Applied Sciences

Step up to Saxion.

Research groupDr. Mark Gellevij Coördinator

Simone van der Donk MScJolise ‘t Mannetje MSc

Evaluation study

Janina Banis-den Hertog MSc Student selection

Dr. Karin Truijen Teacher profile

Strategic Human Resource Management (Dr. Maarten van Riemsdijk)

Step up to Saxion.

Overview• Honors at Saxion• Research goal, design and questions• Methods

– Literature– Questionnaire

• Results

Step up to Saxion.

Honors at Saxion• 13 honors programs (HP’s)• Most start in 2nd year• Most take 3 years• Extra curricular• Some disciplinary, some interdisciplinary• 9 HP’s started in 2011-2012 • 4 HP’s started in 2012-2013

Step up to Saxion.

8 HP’s 2011-2012• ABO = Excelleren is ondernemen• ABR = Sapere aude! Durf te denken• AMA = Excellent people management• APO = Academische Pabo• LA&S = Liberal Arts & Science• LED = Life Science, Engineering &

Design• MIM = Marketing & International

Management• TFNL = Talents for Natural Leadership

Step up to Saxion.

Honors at Saxion‘Design and content’

Focus of the honors programs

ABO

ABR

AMA

APO

LA&S

LED

MIM

TFNL

1

3

5

Focus on professionFocus on personal de-velopmentFocus on academical think-ing and working

Figure 1 Focus of honors program according to students

Step up to Saxion.

Honors at Saxion‘Student role’

Figure 2 Extent to which honors programs elicit student characteristics

Creativity

Communication skills

Eagerness to learn

Research attitude

High demands

Learning and thinking process

Motivation

Ambitions

1

3

5

ABOABRAMAAPOLA&SLEDMIMTFNL

Step up to Saxion.

Honors programs at Saxion‘Satisfaction with selection

instruments’

Figure 3 Students’ satisfaction with selection instruments

Application form

Assessment

Creative tests

CV

Essay

InterviewMotivation letter

Letter of recommendation

Previous education

Psychological tests

Study results

1

2

3

4

5

ABO ABR AMA APO LA&S LED MIM TFNL

Step up to Saxion.

Honors programs at Saxion‘Satisfaction with selection

procedure’

Figure 4 Students’ satisfaction with selection procedure

During selection procedure I was treated well

Selection procedure good

Selection procedure honest

Selection procedure offers oppurtunity to prove myselfSelection procedure strict

Selection procedure fits in well with nature of the HP

Selection procedure transparent

1

2

3

4

5

ABO ABR AMA APO LA&S LED MIM TFNL

Step up to Saxion.

Research goalWe aim to: discover characteristics that predict success in honors in order to develop a selection tool that can be used in the selection procedure.

Step up to Saxion.

Research design

Figure 5 Model of antecedents for the development of innovative behavior and honors performance

Step up to Saxion.

Research questions• On which characteristics do the selected honors

students differ from the regular bachelor student?• Which ingredients for developing proactive and creative

behavior do the 12 honors programs have?• Which student' characteristics predict proactive and

creative behavior in honors programs?• What effect do honors programs have on students’

proactive and creative behavior?• How does success in honors programs relate to creative

and proactive behavior?

Step up to Saxion.

Research question 1

On which characteristics do the selected honors students differ from

the regular bachelor student?

Step up to Saxion.

Methods literature • Characteristics for excellent professionals

Figure 6 Output variables for proactive personality

Step up to Saxion.

Methods • Pilot test (N=74) to develop questionnaire

• Honors students from 7 different programs (N=47)

• Control group from 9 different schools (N=119)

Step up to Saxion.

Methods questionnaire

Scales Sample items α

Proactive personality (8 items) I am constantly looking for ways to improve things .80

Locus of control (6 items) When I get what I want, it is usually because I have worked hard .68

Openness to experience (6 items)

I am curious about ideas that are critical of the social structure .80

Conscientiousness (9 items) I perform assignments with due care .85

Extraversion (6 items) I am often surrounded by a group of people .79

Creative self-efficacy (4 items) (If feel very insecure-very secure about) coming up with new ideas .79

Academic self-efficacy (6 items) (If feel very insecure-very secure about) attending additional classes on top of the regular classes

.76

Table 3 Seven scales of the questionnaire with sample items and reliability scales

Step up to Saxion.

Differences between honors students and non-honors students

  honorsMean (SD)

Non-honorsMean (SD)

F Sig Eta squared

Proactive personality 3.92 (.53) 3.78 (.49) 2.50 .116 .015

Locus of control 3.99 (.58) 3.84 (.52) 2.59 .110 .016

Openness to experience 3.88 (.67) 3.68 (.63) 3.37 .068 .020

Conscientiousness 3.99 (.57) 3.71 (.60) 7.11** .008 .042

Extraversion 4.02 (.73) 4.01 (.57) .01 .932 .000

Creative self-efficacy 3.62 (.73) 3.66 (.54) .14 .712 .001

Academic self-efficacy 3.95 (.65) 3.65 (.52) 9.43** .003 .055

** p <.01

Table 4 Differences in characteristics between honors and non-honors

Step up to Saxion.

There is more to come…

Step up to Saxion.

ContactSubject Name E-mail

Selection Janina Banis-den Hertog j.h.banis@saxion.nl

Teachers profile Karin Truijen k.j.p.truijen@saxion.nl

Evaluation study Jolise ‘t MannetjeSimone van der Donk

j.e.m.m.tmannetje@saxion.nls.e.vanderdonk@saxion.nl

Coördination Mark Gellevij m.r.m.gellevij@saxion.nl

Our other presentations:• Thursday 10.15-11.45 room A239

Factors for success in Honors• Thursday 14.15-15.45 room Aula

Implementation of the reflective professional profile in Saxion honors programs