Developing Academic
Accountability and Leadership
Among Student-Athletes
Jennifer Sturm
Learning Specialist
& Tutor Coordinator
Mike McCall
Learning Specialist
& School Psychologist
University of South Carolina
Academic Enrichment Center
Session Outline
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Foundations
Description
Results
Considerations
Discussion
Study Skill Development
Cooperative Learning
Peer Mentoring
FOUNDATIONS
Study Skill Development
• More practical and experiential than researchbased
• Learning and Study Strategies Inventory
(LASSI)
• Pauk, W. & Owens, R. J. (2005). How to Study
in College (8th ed.). Boston, New York:
Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cooperative Learning (CL)
• “instructional use of small groups so that
students work together to maximize their own
and each other’s learning” (Johnson, Johnson,
& Smith, 1998, p. 1:14)
• Elements:
– Positive interdependence
– Individual and group accountability
– Use of interpersonal and small group skills
– Promotive interaction
CL: Promotive Interaction
• Johnson, Johnson, and Smith (1998)
characterized PI as students:
– Assisting each other
– Sharing resources (info, materials)
– Providing constructive feedback
– Enhancing decision-making and insight
– Improving each other’s accountability
CL: Educational Principles
• Chickering & Gamson (1987) outlined good
practice in undergraduate education:
– Encourages cooperation among students
– Encourages active learning
– Emphasizes time on task
– Respects diverse talents and ways of learning
CL: Education Principles cont.
Hansen and Stephens (2000) on student
centered learning
• Learning as socially interactive
– “a social act that makes students accountable to
others” (p. 47)
Peer Mentoring (PM)
What Is It?
• Terrion and Leonard (2007) define PM as a
model where a more experienced person
serves to work on career (academic) functions
and/or psychosocial functions
• Mentors have relevant experience to pass on
to mentees (Sanchez et al.)
• Peer tutoring can be seen as a form of peer
mentoring
Elements of Peer Mentoring
• Small or large groups (1:1 to 20:1)
• Mentor should be similar to mentees
• Mentor should be older but share experience
with mentees
• Mentors should regularly meet with mentees
• Mentors should undergo training
• Mentors should follow a plan
Peer Mentor Communication Skills
Mentors:
– Need to be able to give constructive feedback
– Need to listen to mentees and show empathy
– Need to be able to teach a variety of skills through
multiple modalities
– Need to instill trust in mentees
– Need to lead by example
– Nee to be enthusiastic
Peer Mentoring and Academics
• It is cost effective
• Benefits both mentors and mentees
• Increase instructional opportunities since
professors mostly lecture
• Offers opportunities to respond and check
knowledge
• Mentees experience empathy, praise
(feedback), and attention
A study on Peer Mentoring Freshmen
• Sanchez, R. J., Bauer, T. N., & Paronto, M. E.
(2006). Peer-mentoring freshmen: Implications
for satisfaction, commitment, and retention to
graduation. Academy of Management Learning
and Education, 5, 25-37.
• Based on Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), which
states behavior is influenced by attitudes towards
engagement, influence from social situations, and
commitment to the organization
A study on Peer Mentoring Freshmen
• This study evaluated mentoring of freshmen
business majors
• Results indicated that brief peer mentoring
can be effective for improving student
outcomes
• Students who were mentored reported more
satisfaction with the university
• Improved attitudes towards the university can
result in higher retention rates
Rationale
Participants
Measures
Sessions
DESCRIPTION
Rationale
• Academic skills workshop for 1st year studentathletes
• Promote academic accountability and
engagement in a specific course
• Student-athlete leader/mentor
Participants
• Students (N=7)
– 6 males, 1 female
– 5 freshmen, 2
sophomores
– 6 football, 1 track & field
– GEOL 101
• Leader (N=1)
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Female
Senior
Track & Field
Accounting, 3.6
Measures
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LASSI – pre and post
BASC-2 – pre and post
Reading – pre and post
Session evaluations – weekly
Student questionnaire – post
Measures – LASSI
• www.hhpublishing.com/_assessments/LASSI/scales.html
• 10 scales
– Attitude
– Motivation
– Time Management
– Anxiety
– Concentration
– Information Processing
– Selecting Main Ideas
– Study Aids
– Self-testing
– Test Strategies
• Factors that significantly contribute to success
in college
• Can be modified through interventions
Measures – BASC-2
• Goal was to assess attention problems, test
anxiety, and school maladjustment
• Measure – Behavior Assessment Scale for
Children – 2nd edition, college self report
• There are 16 scales derived from 185 items
• T-scores above 60 are at-risk, and T-scores
above 70 are clinically significant
• Measure is sensitive to changes in behavior
Measures – Reading
• To measure change, the assessment tool must
be sensitive
• Nelson Denny Reading Test and WoodcockJohnson III reading measures lack sensitivity
for a short-term intervention
• Reading Curriculum Based Measurement (RCBM) is quick and sensitive to improvements
Measures – Reading cont.
• Students read orally for 1 minute
• Assess accuracy (number of words read
correctly/total words attempted)
• Assess fluency (Words read correctly per minute)
• Any text can be turned into a reading probe by
visiting
http://www.interventioncentral.org/htmdocs/too
ls/okapi/okapi.php
• Oral reading fluency for adults should be able to
read more than 150 words correctly per minute
with above 90% accuracy
Measures – Session Evaluations
• Student self-evaluation and leader’s evaluation of
student
• Likert Scale (1=Poor, 5=Excellent)
– Student’s preparation for today’s session
– Student’s attention during today’s session
– Student’s effort during today’s session
• Report to advisor:
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Present
Book
Notes
This week’s goal
Goals for next week
Measures – Student Questionnaire
• 6 Items
– 7-pt Likert Scale (1=Not at all, 7=Significantly)
• 8 Items
– Open-ended questions
• Specific questions in results section
Sessions
• One evening per week, 1hr session
– During football study hall
• Private study room
– Conference table with chairs
– White boards
• Note taking, reading, discussion, goal setting,
test preparation
Sessions – General Agenda
1. Check for book, notes, and last week’s
goal/assignment (5min)
2. Review last week’s assignment (10min)
3. Brief discussion of new course material
(5min)
4. Activity (20-25min)
5. Chapter quiz (10min)
6. Set goal/assignment for next week (5min)
Sessions – Sample Activities
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Current event
Read section, answer questions, and share
Read, identify 5 facts, teach group
Read, create quiz questions for group
Read, choose 1 concept and relate to real life,
share
Teams given 2 topics to research and present
Individual outlines, compare, discuss differences,
create master outline
Flashcards
Chapter quizzes, ways to recall information
Participants
Leader
RESULTS
LASSI
• Increases of more than 6pts:
– Self-Testing: 47.9 – 54.5
– Selecting Main Idea: 37.9 – 45.7
• Decreases of more than 6pts:
– Study Aids: 69 – 57.1
• Individual Improvements
– Participant 4: 6/10 categories
– Participant 6: 8/10 categories
– (Participant 3: 1/10 categories)
BASC-2 College Self Report
• One student remained at-risk for attention
problems on both pre and post tests, but the
student reported reduced school maladjustment
• One student reported reduced test anxiety but an
increased school maladjustment
• One student reported reduced attention
problems but increased test anxiety
• One student had a reduced report of attention
problems due to treatment for ADHD
• Three students reported no significant changes
Conclusions About Changes in
Behavior
• A few students reported reduced test anxiety, which
could indicate that students felt more comfortable
during test due to a better understanding of how to
take tests
• The student who experienced increased test anxiety
may have increased awareness of testing difficulties
due to increased study efforts and test taking strategies
(i.e. more responsibility for test performance)
• The student with the increased school maladjustment
score generally had a poor attitude towards
participating in the group
Reading Curriculum Based
Measurement
• WRCM Range 91-150
– All of the readers need to improve their fluency on the
Geology material
• Three students improved fluency (1, 4, and 13
words)
• Accuracy range 97.2% to 99.3%
– All students were sufficiently accurate readers
• Accuracy was similar or slightly lower for all
students (91%-98.7%)
– Second reading probe was slightly more difficult than
the first probe
Reading Results cont.
• Overall, students did not make significant
improvements to their reading rate
• Overall, students accuracy was sufficient on the pre
and post test
• Although improving reading was a goal, we didn’t
specifically target fluency as much as comprehension
• The number of skills we attempted to include may have
limited the impact of each skill due to lack of time to
practice
• Difference in probe difficulty may have limited findings
though passages graded out similar according to
reading difficulty calculations
Session Evaluations
PARTICIPANT
PREPARATION
ATTENTION
EFFORT
1
3.3 | 3
4.7 | 4.25
4.7 | 3.75
2
4.4 | 4.6
4.8 | 4.6
4.4 | 4.6
3
4 | 3.9
4.5 | 4
4.8 | 4.4
4
3.7 | 3.7
4.3 | 4.1
4 | 4.4
5
3.75 | 3.4
3.75 | 2.6
3.75 | 2.8
6
3.8 | 4
4.2 | 4
4.5 | 4
7
4.8 | 3.5
4.8 | 3.3
4.8 | 3.5
•Leader rated better – green
•Within 0.3 – blue
•Student rated at least 1pt higher – salmon
Student Questionnaires
QUESTION
1 to 7
How much did the GEOL Study Group help your study skills?
4.7
How much did the GEOL Study Group help you perform better in the class?
5.5
How helpful was it to study with other student-athletes?
3.8
Rate your effort towards the GEOL Study Group.
4.6
Rate your effort towards the GEOL class as a whole.
5.8
How helpful was it to work with an upper-class student-athlete?
6.1
Student Questionnaires cont.
• What skills did you work on during this semester?
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Highlighting (6)
Notetaking (4)
Flashcards (4)
Outlining (3)
Identifying important information (2)
Reading (2)
Time management (1)
Test taking (1)
Student Questionnaires cont.
• What parts of the GEOL Study Group helped
your performance?
– Read section and teach important parts (4)
– Read and do quiz questions (3)
– Going over the material (2)
– Visual learning (1)
– Highlighting (1)
– Flashcards (1)
– Knowing more information for each exam (1)
Student Questionnaires cont.
• What would have helped you do better in Study
Group?
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Nothing (2)
More closed-off area (1)
Being more prepared (1)
Focusing better (1)
“Regular” people (1)
More visual aids (1)
More homework (1)
Less distracting group members (1)
More meaningful activities (1)
Student Questionnaires cont.
• What would have helped you do better in
GEOL class?
– Pay better attention (3)
– Take notes (2)
– Start study group earlier (2)
– Take advantage of i-clicker questions (1)
– See notes before class (1)
Student Questionnaires cont.
• What study skills do you want to improve?
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Studying (2)
Reading comprehension (2)
Notetaking (2)
Identifying/highlighting important information (2)
Focusing (1)
Organization (1)
Writing (1)
Reading (1)
Flashcards (1)
Student Questionnaires cont.
• What did the Study Group leader do that was
helpful?
– Show different ways of studying (3)
– Break down information (2)
– Relate to us (2)
– Printing off online quizzes (2)
– Hints on how to remember information (1)
– Kept control (1)
– Very encouraging (1)
Student Questionnaires cont.
• What could the Study Group leader do
differently?
– Nothing (2)
– Give notes (1)
– Organize the first few sessions (1)
– Write on board (1)
– Stricter on football boys (1)
– Be a GEOL major (1)
Student Questionnaires cont.
• Any final comments?
– Thanks for helping me pass this class (1)
– Glad I did it (1)
– Made me go over the information (1)
– Keep doing it for first year students (1)
Leader Results
• Weekly Journals
• Researcher Observations
Weekly Journals
• Journals contained:
– Session activities – successful or not
– Student behavior
– Goal/assignment for next week
– Additional comments
• Introduction/bio provided her with an “in”
• Study tips well-received
• Sessions went smoother as weeks advanced
Researcher Observations
• At first, unsure of what she could contribute to
the sessions
• As sessions progressed, she developed more and
more into role of leader
• During sessions, she maintained a good
demeanor
• Connected with students immediately because of
her similarity to them, and earned their respect
because of her academic success
• Students listened to her study suggestions
Before
During
After
CONSIDERATIONS
Considerations – Before
• Initiating group with students who are beyond
1st semester
• Scheduling
• Finding a leader
• Choosing a course
• Number and diversity of students
• Skills to target
Considerations – During
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Students’ responses to activities
Cannot follow a strict schedule
Professor’s presentation of material
Students did not want to complete work
outside of sessions
• Misinterpretation by staff of the purpose of
the group
• Rescheduling session time
Considerations – After
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Start with 1st semester freshmen
Late start in the semester
Number of skills – less may be more
Number of students
More diverse group
QUESTIONS/COMMENTS??
THANK YOU!!
Jennifer Sturm – sturmj@mailbox.sc.edu
Mike McCall – mccallmw@mailbox.sc.edu