The First-Year Baseline: Evaluating Student Readiness Supplemental Learning Pathways

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-823-8_19How to use a DOI?

Keywords

diagnostic assessment; grade inflation; massification; ZPD; adaptive test; talent management; remediation

Abstract

The transition from secondary school to higher education can be a critical milestone in a student’s academic journey, particularly in STEM fields. Without a precise understanding of entry-level competencies, the design of university curricula rests on uncertain foundations. This study examines the necessity of diagnostic entry assessments, highlighting that traditional parameters (such as admission scores and high school graduation results) fail to accurately predict readiness and do not provide precise information on whether a student is prepared to succeed in higher education. By implementing an adaptive measurement model, the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) successfully identified content-knowledge gaps among first-year students. Consequently, BME introduced structural interventions: implementing differentiated instruction and launching remedial courses designed to reduce dropout rates and shift the institutional focus from correction to prevention.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Brigitta Szilágyi
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/11/04
TI  - The First-Year Baseline: Evaluating Student Readiness Supplemental Learning Pathways
BT  - Proceedings of the Innovation in Engineering Education 2026 Conference (IEE 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 218
EP  - 232
SN  - 2667-128X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-823-8_19
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-823-8_19
ID  - Szilágyi2026
ER  -