As in most higher education (HE) systems, the Italian university organisation draws paths of credit progression in formal curricula, which aim at framing the acquisition of knowledge and competencies within each specific major. The resulting yearly syllabi therefore develop in a sequence of examinations that are to be successfully passed, and formal administrative registration allows access to the following academic year. In general, there is a divergence between formal and actual career progression because each university student can proceed at her/his own pace, sketching her/his own trajectories, free to depart from the formal progression. Even if applied to various HE settings, Markov chain models do not fit the aforementioned situation. A methodological extension has been introduced, whereby progression levels are considered as fuzzy states. Markov chains with fuzzy states identify the latter with specified academic years and express each student's situation as a relational link to present and past academic attainments. This link is operationalised by means of a membership function, which is here discussed with reference to the Italian HE system.

Crippa, F., Mazzoleni, M., Zenga, M. (2016). Departures from the formal of actual students' university careers: an application of non-homogeneous fuzzy Markov chains. JOURNAL OF APPLIED STATISTICS, 43(1), 16-30 [10.1080/02664763.2015.1091446].

Departures from the formal of actual students' university careers: an application of non-homogeneous fuzzy Markov chains

CRIPPA, FRANCA
Primo
;
MAZZOLENI, MARCELLA
Secondo
;
ZENGA, MARIANGELA
2016

Abstract

As in most higher education (HE) systems, the Italian university organisation draws paths of credit progression in formal curricula, which aim at framing the acquisition of knowledge and competencies within each specific major. The resulting yearly syllabi therefore develop in a sequence of examinations that are to be successfully passed, and formal administrative registration allows access to the following academic year. In general, there is a divergence between formal and actual career progression because each university student can proceed at her/his own pace, sketching her/his own trajectories, free to depart from the formal progression. Even if applied to various HE settings, Markov chain models do not fit the aforementioned situation. A methodological extension has been introduced, whereby progression levels are considered as fuzzy states. Markov chains with fuzzy states identify the latter with specified academic years and express each student's situation as a relational link to present and past academic attainments. This link is operationalised by means of a membership function, which is here discussed with reference to the Italian HE system.
Articolo in rivista - Articolo scientifico
fuzzy states; Italian higher education system; membership function; non-homogeneous Markov system; students' progression;
students’ progression; non-homogeneous Markov system; fuzzy states; membership function; Italian higher education system
English
2016
43
1
16
30
none
Crippa, F., Mazzoleni, M., Zenga, M. (2016). Departures from the formal of actual students' university careers: an application of non-homogeneous fuzzy Markov chains. JOURNAL OF APPLIED STATISTICS, 43(1), 16-30 [10.1080/02664763.2015.1091446].
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/92864
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