Academic competence – the role of institutional support and student diversity (StuFHe)

Research group funded by the BMBF funding line "higher education research / research on the qualitiy pact of teaching"

Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) from 2014 to 2018, the StuFHe research project is located at the Faculty of Education of the University of Hamburg. To investigate the Quality Pact for Teaching it focuses on the recently introduced first-year interventions in German higher education that are designed to support the transition into higher education.

By examining individual and institutional factors that influence student learning and study success, StuFHe seeks to contribute to the research on the transition into higher education. The findings are intended to promote academic development, i.e. to improve the first-year curriculum and support services in recognition of student diversity.

In cooperation with four institutions of higher education, the project examines the different backgrounds, skills and study goals of first-year students, the individual development of the students’ academic competence in the course of their studies and the role of institutional support programmes. At the end of the project, StuFHe expects to offer the cooperating institutions information about the individual profiles and development of academic competence as well as insights into the effects of support programmes.