2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Facing institutional stratification in the higher education system, it is crucial to tackle the problem of participation through widening access to high-quality educational opportunities for students enrolled in non-elite universities, and increasing their likelihood of academic success through constructing supportive learning environments. The OIPI initiative (Open platform, Individualized pathways, Project-based learning, and Inductive tutoring) is a systematic educational design in this regard, seeking to broaden the participation of higher engineering education, specifically the electronic design, in China’s stratified higher education system. Open platform first means that all the high quality systematic learning materials are accessible to the public through the initiative’s website and social media; second, applicants with little or no prior knowledge can experience a pre-learning period before formal learning. Afterwards, they can choose continue to the formal learning or quit; and can withdraw at any time during the entire learning process. Individualized pathways refers to that the initiative offers three learning pathways with different learning contents and engineering tasks: the basic, the advanced and the super. Candidates can start with the pathway most suitable for their personalized needs and determine study frequency and time allocation according to their specific conditions. Project-based learning includes ‘modularized tasks’ and ‘integration of knowledge into practices’. To complete their electronic design, candidates have to complete a series of modularized engineering tasks, which consist of the complete project in electronic design. In addition to the knowledge coherency between previous and later tasks, every modularized task is a chance for candidates to apply the acquired theoretical knowledge to engineering practices. Inductive tutoring comprises ‘Socratic guidance’ and ‘procedural monitoring’. This initiative facilitates candidates’ learning through teaching assistants. Notably, teaching assistants aim to induce candidates’ agency in self-regulating their learnings.
Drawing on the narratives from students with registration status in non-elite universities who achieved academic success in the OIPI initiative, this study use qualitative method with semi-structured interviews to present the dynamic chain of the conversion processes from accessing valued learning opportunities to achieving desired learning outcomes, with the capability stance and social cognitive view of self-regulated learning as the interpretive lens. Specifically, the external conversion factors, including the learning condition, context and climate, act as the background that support candidates’ internal personal processes of enhanced disciplinary abilities and bolstered self-efficacy. Such internal conversion factors, act as accelerators, promoting candidates’ self-regulated learning strategies in motivation and engagement. This study first advances the theoretical discussions on participation in higher education through the capability stance; second it enriches the application of the capability approach in higher education by revealing the conversion dynamics from a social cognitive view of self-regulated learning; and third, this study offers practical implications in providing students effective opportunities to achieve desired learning outcomes through enhancing their self-determining learning agency. The article is limited by its small, biased sample of successful non-elite students. Future studies should include a broader, more diverse participant base for more comprehensive understanding.