REACH: Research on Educational Success, Academic Language, and Curricula in Higher Education
Universiteit van Amsterdam: Sible Andringa, Josje Verhagen, Caitlin Meyer, Jelke Bloem, Sybren Spit, Afon Khari (PhD candidate on the project), Agnieszka Kluska (PhD candidate on the project)
Hogeschool Rotterdam: Jacqueline van Kruiningen, Tamar Israel, Kim van Haperen, Mariska Okkinga
In the REACH project we investigate language in higher education, focusing on the relationships between curriculum design, academic literacy, and academic achievement. Higher education is linguistically diverse but academic success is not equally distributed. We look into language as a potential factor contributing to these degree-awarding gaps. How do students’ academic experiences differ depending on their language background? Do program curricula accurately support the development of academic language skills?
REACH is a data-driven project. We use administrative and textual data to understand the relationships between students’ backgrounds, their language skills, and the design of the programs they study. Our goal is to contribute to evidence-based language policies in higher education, thus increasing students’ chances of obtaining their diplomas.
This project is funded by an NKO grant and conducted in collaboration with Hogeschool Rotterdam.
Want to know more? Interested in collaboration? Please reach out to Agnieszka Kluska (a.l.kluska@uva.nl) or Afon Khari (m.khari3@uva.nl).
Logo by Andrei Pacea @glazedhands