Successful transition into higher education is considered crucial both for the student as well as for the educational institution (Tinto, 2015). It is regarded more as a complete phase, rather than a single event (Coertjens et al., 2016). This transition may become a stressful period for many freshman students, while they have to deal with a number of serious challenges, such as the need for developing novel learning patterns and also the adaptation of the already existing learning strategies in the new academic environment (Vermunt, 2005). Students show difficulties in academic adjustment that mainly are due to ineffective learning strategies and unsatisfactory self-regulation (lack of ability to monitor learning progress, difficulty to adapt behavior to the demands of the new learning situations, Zimmerman & Schunk, 2008). Also, students have a difficulty to understand the difference between studying at University and studying at an upper secondary school or the demands of the university level teaching-learning environment (Haharala-Muhoven et al. 2016). Current research emphasizes the need for further investigation of the variables contributing to students’ well-being, learning and persistence in studies as for some students transition phase may be challenging and for others full of stress (Coertjens et al., 2016). Some of these factors are: motivation (Deci & Ryan, 2000), executive functioning (Gioia et al., 2000), individual characteristics (self-efficacy; Bandura, 1997), personality dimensions (resilience; Cassidy, 2015), sense of coherence (Antonovsky, 1993), anxiety (Spielberger, Gorush, & Lushene, 1970), other factors as academic emotions (Schutz & Pekrun, 2007), explicit and implicit emotion regulation (Gyurak, Gross, & Etkin, 2011) and mental-health factors. In line with the need for further exploration of the relations underlying the above variables to enhance students learning, this project aims to develop an on-line diagnostic tool/platform that comprises cognitive/learning and psychological constructs contributing to students’ psycho-educational profiles and academic success. According to their scores, students will be given feedback followed by guidance and coaching guidelines will be available to teachers on demand. The design of the platform will be based on modern web development tools following previous experience in Flanders (Vanthournout et al., 2012). It will be a new improved tool developed and tested in three different countries and languages ensuring the transferability of it. It will enhance students’ awareness of their pros and cons, strengths and weaknesses, increasing their resilience and self-development that will enable them to engage with learning and regulate their progress in order succeed. The ultimate goal at policy level in higher education is to develop a supportive learning environment for better quality of mental-life, well-being, learning and academic success in a highly complex society (Barnett, 2000).
International studies focus on the successful transition of students from secondary to higher education, a stage which is considered crucial for their academic adjustment. The majority of students’ withdrawals occur during the 1st year of studies, a year that appears to play an important role in students’ future academic achievement and well-being, and consequently in their future professional success and their personal development. Thus, this initial phase of higher education sets the stage for either to earn a degree or dropout from university and still remains a major political concern in Europe. Within the framework of an Erasmus+ KA2 programme, an online platform has been developed to predict the progress of students' studies in order to identify those who are "at risk" of becoming stagnating students or dropping out. The partners of the Project were the University of Ioannina (Greece) (coordinator), the University of Turin (Italy) and the University of Antwerp (Belgium) consisting of highly acknowledged academic members. Through research tools exploring psycho-emotional and cognitive factors, feedback is provided to first-year students to reflect on their studies and on dimensions of their psychosocial adjustment. After piloting stages and main studies, the sample of the final study consisted of 910 first-year students who were studying in Social Sciences departments at the Universities of Antwerp, Turin and Ioannina. The cluster analysis revealed two distinct student profiles, differentiated in terms of the qualitative characteristics of the variables. More specifically, the "adaptive" profile, includes students with high self-efficacy and resilience, very good self-regulation, while the "non-adaptive" profile, includes students with low self-efficacy, self-regulation, and resilience, and difficulties in emotion regulation. The students who completed the questionnaires were given feedback followed by guidance and coaching guidelines which were available to teachers on demand. In order to better coordinate the Project, three transnational meeting were organized. During these meetings, there was a close monitoring of all activities and outputs of the project. The partners shared ideas and perspectives, solved problems and discussed following steps. In addition, four LTT Activities were organized where the trainees had the chance to familiarize themselves with the PAS Project and similar initiatives around Europe and understand the platform's value for the students and the University policy-making, reflecting on alterations ensuring transferability and adjustment of the PAS to different educational contexts. Also the postgraduate students who took part in the "Spring School" had the opportunity to broaden their horizons and build new academic networks in order to "move along with" their research and future career plans, get to know people and educational systems from other European countries, exchange practices, interact and work in teams to create project results, thus contributing their own special cultural characteristics. In order to share the intellectual results of a project with a large audience, 5 Multiplier Events were held either face-to-face or online due to Covid-19 restrictions. The University students, teachers, and stakeholders were informed about the development and use of the particular platform for the enhancement of students' learning along with guidance for self-development. Its use as a diagnostic tool for the prediction of dropping-out was presented along with the theoretical issues underlying its development. Also, the use of coaching guidelines for teachers were presented as extra support for the enhancement of students' well-being, quality of learning and academic success. The dissemination activities, either internal (informative sessions within partners' Institutions and Career Offices) or external (online communication and Mass Media or face-to-face events and conferences), followed the Dissemination Plan which included a detailed description of all the activities and actions that the partnership carried out throughout the project. The partners were committed to meeting the quality requirements within all the project actions and activities which were evaluated according to the criteria established in the Quality Assessment Plan. Overall, the Project had a considerable impact on a number of people involved in the learning process in Higher Education. The Platform development has positively affected HE students by enabling them to enhance their self-awareness and improve their well-being through the use of the feedback. Additionally, through its sustainability it aims to enhance the quality of teaching and learning in HE in long-term, and reduce the number of students at risk for dropping-out. The formation of synergies with stakeholders from the very beginning could guarantee that the project and its outputs are up to date with the latest legislation and trends.