Abstract:
Despite meeting admittance standards, there are many college students who struggle to be academically successful, which sometimes results in them being placed on academic probation. Colleges implement various programs and interventions to help probationary students achieve success at their institutions. Student success courses (SSC) are one type of intervention used; however, much of the literature on the efficacy of SSCs focuses on first semester freshmen. Currently, there are only a few empirical studies on the effectiveness of SSCs with probationary students, but the results of these existing studies are promising. At Copper University (CU), there were limited college-wide supports available to students on probation, leaving them at great risk for academic failure. In an attempt to better support probationary students, a semester-long SSC called Dynamics of Student Success (DOSS), for first- and second-year students on academic probation was piloted in the fall of 2016. DOSS was designed to assist probationary students gain the college success skills necessary to increase their grade point averages. This study assessed the effectiveness of DOSS by comparing the archival data of probationary students who participated in DOSS in the fall of 2016 to those who did not participate. Participants in the treatment and control groups saw gains in their semester GPAs after the fall 2016 and spring 2017 semesters; however, the results of two simultaneous multiple regressions revealed that course participation was not a significant predictor of semester GPA at either point in time. As a result, the researcher concluded that it was other factors, not DOSS, that positively influenced the changes in semester GPA demonstrated by the sample.
Description:
Dissertation completed in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Psychology degree in School Psychology at Alfred University, Alfred, NY.
