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1. Coaching to Learn: Motivating Students to Adopt and Adapt Effective Learning Strategies

   Usdansky, M L; McDaniel, M A; Razza, R; Lopoo, L M; Tillotson, J W; Granato, R (March 2024, The learning assistance review)

   Abundant laboratory and classroom research demonstrate the superior effectiveness of effortful learning strategies based on cognitive science over re-reading, highlighting, and other strategies more widely used by college students. However, persuading 224 Usdansky et. al students to adopt and adhere to effective strategies is difficult. This article outlines a novel, peer-to-peer intervention rooted in the Knowledge, Belief, Commitment, and Planning theoretical framework (McDaniel & Einstein, 2020) that emphasizes the need for students to believe in, commit to, and plan to use effective strategies rather than simply “know” them. Opportunities for faculty and learning center personnel to incorporate elements of the intervention into existing programming and adapt them to local institutional needs are described. 

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2. Coaching to Learn: Motivating Students to Adopt and Adapt Effective Learning Strategies

   Usdansky, Margaret; McDaniel, Mark; Razza, Rachel; Lopoo, Leonard; Tillotson, John; Granato, Rich (April 2024, The learning assistance review)

   Abundant laboratory and classroom research demonstrate the superior effectiveness of effortful learning strategies based on cognitive science over re-reading, highlighting, and other strategies more widely used by college students. However, persuadingstudents to adopt and adhere to effective strategies is difficult. This article outlines a novel, peer-to-peer intervention rooted in the Knowledge, Belief, Commitment, and Planning theoretical framework (McDaniel & Einstein, 2020) that emphasizes the need for students to believe in, commit to, and plan to use effective strategies rather than simply “know” them. Opportunities for faculty and learning center personnel to incorporate elements of the intervention into existing programming and adapt them to local institutional needs are described. 

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3. A Systematic Implementation of Four Versions of a Course-Based Intervention to Reduce Attrition Among Civil Engineering Students: Overall Study Design and Implementation of First Version

   https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--42521  

   Wittig, Beth (June 2023, ASEE Conferences)

   This works seeks to develop and assess a retention intervention that addresses the key drivers of attrition and learns from existing interventions for engineering students. The resulting intervention addresses key competencies for the major and profession, and also addresses a gap in current approaches: the need to synergistically support students’ social-cognitive disposition with respect to attrition by training them in social-cognitive skills and strategies adapted from the theories of Sense of Belonging (SOB) and Self-Regulation of Learning (SRL). Because the degree of skills and strategies around SRL and SOB needed to make the largest impact to retention is unknown, four versions of the intervention are proposed: A base intervention which provokes students to think about their learning and belonging, an intervention augmented with specific training in effective SRL, an intervention augmented with specific training in SOB; and an intervention augmented with training in both effective SRL and SOB. An overarching research design plans the offering and assessment of each version of the intervention, including a numerical longitudinal analysis of retention at the end of the study, with the ultimate goal of identifying which version of the intervention has the largest positive impact to retention and other key metrics. After a general description of the intervention as a while, the focus was reoriented to the base version of the intervention. The detailed design was presented along with the assessment methods for short-term effectiveness and the preliminary results for its first offering in Fall 2022. Overall, students found the topics covered in the intervention to be helpful and used many of the skills and strategies from the intervention in other major courses. The impact of the intervention on performance in major courses taken alongside the intervention and their persistence rate in the major for another semester improved significantly for one major course but were inconclusive for a second major course. Recommendations were made to refine the materials provided to students and several of the activities in the base intervention; and the formative assessment tool. 

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4. Advancing Student Success Through Integrated Sociocultural and Academic Intervention Strategies

   Sudarshan Kurwadkar, Salvador Mayoral (June 2022, ASEE annual conference exposition)

   Promoting equitable undergraduate engineering education is an overarching concern at many minority-serving institutions (MSI). In addition, historical analysis of student performance in lower-division math and engineering courses at one of the largest MSI revealed an achievement gap in performance between the underrepresented minority students and other students. Furthermore, critical analysis of underlying factors overwhelmingly suggests that academic intervention coupled with sociocultural intervention may be a possible solution to help address this problem. Academic and sociocultural intervention strategies were designed and implemented in lower-division math courses through the National Science Foundation-funded project, “Building Capacity: Advancing Student Success in Undergraduate Engineering and Computer Science (ASSURE-US).” These strategies involved application-based math courses targeted explicitly at undergraduate engineering students. Results of academic intervention strategies in the lower-division math courses at one of the largest MSI demonstrate mixed effectiveness. The results of the academic intervention in lower-division Calculus I (N=150) show that 36% of students reported that the intervention was helpful and helped them learn math, while 38% were neutral. Overall, students reported having difficulty connecting the projects with the mathematics being taught. Similarly, only 10% of students expressed satisfaction with the redesigned intervention modules implemented in Integral Calculus II (N=90), while 52% were neutral. The sociocultural interventions include activities facilitated through the Student-Teacher Interaction Council. These activities include motivational speakers, exam preparation and stress-relief workshop, campus resources and college financial planning workshops, peer advising and learning communities, summer research, and faculty development and support. Results of the sociocultural intervention strategies show that 39% of students reported that the ASSURE-US project helped them identify role models in their discipline, while 34% reported that the project helped them identify and connect to a mentor. Students also reported higher awareness of campus resources, including mental health resources and academic support, with 89% and 90% of students reporting fully or partial understanding of these resources. The academic and sociocultural interventions of the ASSURE-US project were initially designed for in-person, hands-on, project-based, and student-faculty-involved activities; however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many of these activities were reimagined and redesigned for virtual instruction. The outcomes of this project so far were significantly impacted by the pandemic. 

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5. Advancing Student Success Through Integrated Sociocultural and Academic Intervention Strategies

   https://doi.org/peer.asee.org/41976  

   Sudarshan Kurwadkar, Salvador Mayoral (June 2022, Proceedings of the 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition)

   Promoting equitable undergraduate engineering education is an overarching concern at many minority-serving institutions (MSI). In addition, historical analysis of student performance in lower-division math and engineering courses at one of the largest MSI revealed an achievement gap in performance between the underrepresented minority students and other students. Furthermore, critical analysis of underlying factors overwhelmingly suggests that academic intervention coupled with sociocultural intervention may be a possible solution to help address this problem. Academic and sociocultural intervention strategies were designed and implemented in lower-division math courses through the National Science Foundation-funded project, “Building Capacity: Advancing Student Success in Undergraduate Engineering and Computer Science (ASSURE-US).” These strategies involved application-based math courses targeted explicitly at undergraduate engineering students. Results of academic intervention strategies in the lower-division math courses at one of the largest MSI demonstrate mixed effectiveness. The results of the academic intervention in lower-division Calculus I (N=150) show that 36% of students reported that the intervention was helpful and helped them learn math, while 38% were neutral. Overall, students reported having difficulty connecting the projects with the mathematics being taught. Similarly, only 10% of students expressed satisfaction with the redesigned intervention modules implemented in Integral Calculus II (N=90), while 52% were neutral. The sociocultural interventions include activities facilitated through the Student-Teacher Interaction Council. These activities include motivational speakers, exam preparation and stress-relief workshop, campus resources and college financial planning workshops, peer advising and learning communities, summer research, and faculty development and support. Results of the sociocultural intervention strategies show that 39% of students reported that the ASSURE-US project helped them identify role models in their discipline, while 34% reported that the project helped them identify and connect to a mentor. Students also reported higher awareness of campus resources, including mental health resources and academic support, with 89% and 90% of students reporting fully or partial understanding of these resources. The academic and sociocultural interventions of the ASSURE-US project were initially designed for in-person, hands-on, project-based, and student-faculty-involved activities; however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many of these activities were reimagined and redesigned for virtual instruction. The outcomes of this project so far were significantly impacted by the pandemic. 

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