Data Driven Counseling Intervention
for Students on Academic Probation
1
Ryan Fernandez MPH , Melanie Purdy PhD
1
2
Office of Institutional Research, 2 Counseling Department Truckee Meadows Community College
Research Questions
Does using group process facilitate positive behavior change of students on academic probation?
What happens to get students on academic probation?
Academic probation occurs when degree seeking students who have ATTEMPTED 12 or more credits drop below a 2.0 GPA.
Student Learning Outcomes
One Way ANOVA Using SPSS
Fall 2010 Persistence Comparison (Example SPSS Output)
Descriptives
Hypotheses:
persisted
- There will not be a difference in the average GPA’s for each cohort (control and treatments) at the start of the intervention.
- There will be a difference in the average GPA’s for each cohort at
the end of the intervention.
- There will be a difference in the 4th term persistence rates for
each cohort.
Help students gain awareness of their issues related to being on academic probation.
Provide an environment for students to create a success identity and to choose behaviors leading to academic
success.
Decrease the number of students below 2.0 GPA.
95% Confidence Interval for Mean
Control
Intervention
Online
Workshop
Total
PersisN
tence Rate
385
6%
96
46%
214
68
763
Std. Deviation
.24673
.50088
Std. Error
.01257
.05112
Lower Bound
.0402
.3568
Upper Bound
.0897
.5598
Minimum
.00
.00
Maximum
1.00
1.00
.50098
.50175
.44288
.03425
.06085
.01603
.4185
.3344
.2359
.5535
.5773
.2988
.00
.00
.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
49%
46%
27%
Test of Homogeneity of Variances
persisted
Levene Statistic
379.756
df1
df2
3
759
Sig.
.000
Multiple Comparisons
Dependent Variable:persisted
SPSS Code:
95% Confidence Interval
Mean Difference (I
(I) group
(J) group
-J)
Dunnett T3
1.00
2.00
-.39340*
3.00
-.42105*
4.00
-.39095*
2.00
1.00
.39340*
3.00
-.02765
4.00
.00245
3.00
1.00
.42105*
2.00
.02765
4.00
.03010
4.00
1.00
.39095*
2.00
-.00245
3.00
-.03010
*. The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level.
ONEWAY CumulativeGPA BY group
/STATISTICS DESCRIPTIVES HOMOGENEITY
/MISSING ANALYSIS
/POSTHOC=LSD T3 ALPHA(0.05).
Method
Std. Error
.05264
.03648
.06213
.05264
.06153
.07947
.03648
.06153
.06982
.06213
.07947
.06982
Sig.
.000
.000
.000
.000
.998
1.000
.000
.998
.999
.000
1.000
.999
Lower Bound
-.5344
-.5177
-.5588
.2524
-.1912
-.2094
.3244
-.1359
-.1567
.2231
-.2143
-.2169
Upper Bound
-.2524
-.3244
-.2231
.5344
.1359
.2143
.5177
.1912
.2169
.5588
.2094
.1567
Exit Survey
Students on probation were notified of their status by Admissions and Records.
Mandate to attend a group session (or maintain a registration hold on student account) was identified in the
letter.
Students self-select to attend the group session (or not), and are required to complete an on-line activity following the session.
Group Session Format
Approximately 8-10 individuals per group.
One counselor to facilitate.
1.5 hour timeframe.
One session only, with follow up on-line activity.
Follow up individual sessions offered.
“Please identify the factors that you think contributed most to you getting on academic probation.”
Very true of me…
Very not true of me…
Working Full Time
Took too many drugs/alcohol.
Had Family Emergency
I don’t want to be in college right now.
Do not know what I want to study.
Took 12 credits for financial aid.
Setting priorities is a big issue with students as is finding motivation to complete academics.
It seems students do want to be in college, and are not feeling distracted by
“partying” too much.
Components of the Intervention
Conclusions
Examination of the problem. This is set up so students discover and process the reason(s) for their academic
difficulty.
The starting GPAs for the 3 treatment cohorts were not statistically different. In other words, all three treatment cohorts began the
treatment with the same GPA. However the control cohorts
tended to have a lower starting GPA compared to the treatment
cohorts.
The counselor leads a group discussion where students introduce themselves, and identify the reasons they
are on probation, and the successes they are currently having.
Counselor expands on the topics given from students, and facilitates group input.
Students complete a “Wise Choice” process form (identifying an ideal they want to establish to help with
their success); a difficulty assessment; and a goal setting activity (in pairs). They watch a goal setting video
prior to attempting the activity.
Wrap up – counselor identifies relevant policies, resources, and processes the emotions of the individuals at
the completion of the workshop.
The control cohorts' final GPAs tended to be lower compared to
all other treatment cohorts. We attribute this difference to the
effectiveness of the Counseling intervention.
The 4th term persistence rates for the control cohorts were always much lower compared to the treatment cohorts (by +30%;
see chart “Comparison of Persistence Rates…”)