A Digital Environment for University Guidance: An Analysis of the Academic Results of Students Who Practice Self-Assessment in Orient@mente, an Open Online Platform to Facilitate the Transition from Secondary School to Higher Education

Open online courses contribute to learning in different ways (remotely, blended), but they can also provide guidance in students’ choices. Orient@mente service at the University of Turin aims at facilitating the transition from secondary schools to higher education with an open platform that delivers automatic assessments. Students can test themselves in order to understand their capabilities and their attitude toward certain disciplines. Moreover, when appropriate, students can attend remedial courses to fill the gaps in their knowledge. Orient@mente first started in 2014, and, after years of continuous deployment, the online platform has collected many data from students interested in starting a university program. A natural question concerns the effectiveness of the action: Is there a difference between the academic results of students who practice self-assessment in Orient@mente and other university students? In order to answer, we considered the average number of ECTS acquired by university students during the first year, dividing students into two groups: those who attended Orient@mente and those who did not. We selected this measurable because national indicators evaluate the number of students who obtain more than 40 first-year ECTS. With proper joining rules, we put together data from different origins, such as platform logs and the university record system. The results of the analysis, viewed from different perspectives, confirm the positive impact of Orient@mente on the average number of ECTS and the average grade, with statistical significance.