Supporting Students in the Transition to Higher Education: Evidence from a Mobile App in Accounting Education

Abstract

High drop-out rates among students endanger the goal of improving the quality of higher education. In the student lifecycle, the "transition-in" phase is particularly critical, as most premature drop-outs happen in this phase. Thus, universities and society need to find solutions to help students manage the challenges of the "transition-in" phase. We examine whether a mobile learning application designed and developed for the particular needs of business and economics students at a German university can support these students in this crucial phase. Using two well-established models - the "five senses of student success" and "student approaches to learning" (i.e., strategic, deep, or surface learning), we document that the mobile solution proposed here is well suited to support success factors that are essential for the "transition-in" phase. Hence we could show that app usage can positively affect students' sense of capability, resourcefulness, and the strategic approach while mitigating the surface approach.

Keywords: Student Approaches to Learning, Five Senses of Student Success, Student Lifecycle, "Transition-in" Phase, Mobile Learning, Accounting Education

JEL Classification: I23