Profiling First-year Students: An Interdisciplinary Challenge for Curriculum Design and Accompaniment Strategies

The first-year transition is essential for student retention and success in higher education. This transition involves lifestyle changes, managing academic requirements, experiencing new situations, building networks with peers, and enhancing competencies for the learning process. In this context, it is important to design and develop strategies for student accompaniment to facilitate the adaptation process and strengthen their technical skills according to their discipline.Designing strategies to meet students' needs means recognizing their entry-level status. In assessing competencies' performance and attitudes towards the learning process it is crucial to use standardized instruments to collect accurate information for mapping a set of actions to support students' academic experiences.Based on this, the School of Engineering at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana has implemented a strategy for the first-year transition focused on profiling students' competencies and attitudes toward mathematics and science. The instruments considered the PISA framework and other validated scales.Since 2021, instruments for assessing mathematical competencies and attitudes have been applied to approximately 2100 first-year students. The instruments conducted for science have been completed by around 600 first-year students in the second term of 2023 and the first term of 2024. Adjustments have been included in line with the obtained results during the instruments' application.A first approach to the data gives guidance on the strengths and difficulties in mathematics and science areas. Most students need to build up interest, motivation, self-efficacy, and self-concept. Furthermore, students require reinforcement of numerical and geometry knowledge, problem-solving and representation competencies as well as explaining scientific phenomena.Considering the exploratory results, a challenge has been declared for different departments and units at the university in the curriculum design process and the accompaniment strategies. To cope with this challenge, a committee with representatives from academic and non-academic units has been set up to discuss students' entry-level characteristics and needs, and pedagogical strategies used in the teaching process.