The impact of student success courses on first-time-in-college students' perceptions of self-efficacy

Date

2019-05-06

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Abstract

Students entering college for the first time face a significant culture shock. They must learn to navigate a new environment often while managing other responsibilities. Students' perceptions of their own academic self-efficacy play an important role in determining whether students will complete their certificate or degree or drop out. Student success courses are designed to help students meet the challenges of college and be successful in their courses. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to measure students' perceptions of their academic self-efficacy at the beginning and at the end of a student success course designed specifically for developmental education students to determine if the student success course had a positive impact on the students' sense of self-efficacy. Students were also interviewed to determine specific aspects of the course that impacted their perceptions of academic self-efficacy. Three hundred forty-one students on three campuses of a large community college in Texas were surveyed using the College Academic Self-Efficacy Scales (CASES), and twenty-six semi-structured interviews were conducted in order to determine the aspects of the student success course that students found most helpful or effective.

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Keywords

Student Success Course, Developmental Education, Academic Self-Efficacy

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