December 6, 2022 Cindy Stevens Research Methods MGMT 2200 Katalina Cinelli, Becker Elaywan, Carla Santana, Anthony Van Student Success at Wentworth Institute of Technology
Abstract
To provide its diverse community of learners with access to educational programs
responsive to evolving market needs, is the mission statement of Wentworth Institute of
Technology. The end result of following through on this promise should be students who are
well equipped to enter the work force. But how is this achieved? How does Wentworth, or any
school for that matter, ensure their students grow into their roles? All of the literature referenced
agrees on one main point: students benefit from support systems. Having support systems help
ensure the wellbeing and performance of students throughout their educational career. The
question is, is which ones are effective, and why?
Definitions
Academic success: The product of maintaining and improving a students grades, ability to learn,
and to graduate.
Outside support systems: Any school provided support system outside of a classroom
environment such as tutoring, advisors, counceling, etc.
Outside Support Systems
Thangavelu, Partridge, Carey, O’Sullivan, & Lutvey et al. (2019) wrote of the importance
to use all available resources. The study in University of Southern Queensland focuses on how it
impacts students having support when course enrolment and how the integrated service model
reduces student attrition. In the study, a program dubbed “Enrollments Sessions” was executed,
where strategically allocated computers throughout the campus and other important existing
services for the student. Then, they added Support Staff to be for the first three weeks of the
semester where the student could go and find the specific help, they might need for course
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enrollment and more. The program was heavily advertised through social media, printouts, and
student announcements. From this project and case of study, the author noted four main themes:
Adaptation and learning, student enrolment experience, identifying student needs, and enhancing
student success through flexibility, integration, and awareness.
Ratledge, & Wavelet et al. (2021) note that long term support programs lead to the best
graduation rates. Research guided by MDRC concluded that one of the most effective ways to
increase retention in educational institutions is the multifaceted student support programs which
include “a proactive, holist coaching or advising model with additional supports, enrollments
messaging, and other supports.” To keep students engaged and increase graduation rates it is
necessary to have these support systems throughout the student’s time in the institution. Constant
monitoring over students and their success can help recognize and evade student failure. More
importantly, students will have a system they can fall back on and reach out to when they need
this help.
Perry, Lausch, McKim, & Weatherford et al. (2020) note that students may have issues
finding the correct resources to aid them in their academic career. The article notes that Russell
et al. (2008) gives insight on why learning programs go underutilized, and found that in a study
of Australian international students “51.5% of respondents stated they simply did not know
where to go.(Russell et al. (2008))” This shows us that the lacking use of support programs can
occur simply because of poor or miscommunication. If students aren’t informed of the resources
that are available, they do not know what to look for or where to look.
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Stelnicki, & Nordstokke et al. (2015) note that in a study, students were asked to describe
the most important factors in reaching or not reaching their goals. “In total, 6,446 responses were
obtained when participants were asked to provide five words that described what helped them
reach their goals, and 6,124 responses when asked for five words describing what kept them
from reaching their goals.” In reaching their goals “Academic skills (e.g., studying, attending
class, detail-oriented) 291 students or 21.1%” and “External support (e.g., encouragement,
receiving help) 289 students or 52.6%.” Half of the Q-group promote that external support makes
a successful student.
Fischer, Belikov, Ikahihifo, Hilton, Wiley, & Martin et al. (2020) A study was done on
2,574 students and 1,157 staff members across ten institutions I order to understand the influence
of textbook costs on student academic behavior and the viability of faculty adopting open
educational resources (OER) as a solution” to this problem. Through a series of surveys, it was
found that “adjunct professors were more likely to require a traditionally copyright-restricted
textbook. Approximately 90% of participants indicated they would be willing to use suitable
OER for their course, and almost half of the survey participants expressed a desire for help
finding these resources”.
Ruzegea, M., & Msonde, S. et al. (2021) write that studies found that students’ academic
success was not directly linked to e-resources and that can have a negative impact. Ways to
improve this problem included strengthening the sources provided and ensuring that they are
useful. It was also suggested that research methods such as using metrics for data be used. This
would allow institutions to monitor research usage and improve it for the future in using their
findings.
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Students and Professors
Jankowski et al. (2017) claims that a study done by the American Council on Education
makes an argument that subject matter and learning environment are important parts of student
success. Apart from their study, they have 5 areas of intersection between instruction and student
outcomes which are transparency, pedagogical approaches, assessment, self-regulation, and
alignment. “Transparency is based upon the idea that students must have a clear understanding of
where they are going as well as the criteria by which they will be assessed as to whether they
have arrived. (Frederiksen and Collins 1989). Making teaching and learning visible is important
for all students, especially in the design and presentation of assignments (Winkelmes et al.
2016).1 John Hattie (2009) further argues that “teaching must be visible to the student and
learning must be visible to the teacher” (25). Making connections between teaching and learning
visible is important; John Tagg (2008) claims that there is a clear consensus that institutions are
not able to coherently describe their learning goals for students let alone indicate that students
have learned, making success difficult to define for students.” Transparency can be obtained and
maintained when students meet with their professor(s). This improves the communication and
coordination between a student and their professor(s), and can improve a student’s academic
performance. Constant assessments contribute to monitoring student success and academic
performance. Self-regulation is a key piece of keeping this transparency, as it usually falls to the
student to reach out and create transparency.
Chen et al. (2017) notes a Stanford experiment where one group of students was
reminded that there was an exam regularly and one group was not reminded regularly that there
was an exam, what to expect, and what resources they would use to study effectively. The
difference was a 3.5% to 4.7% increase in test scores when students used their resources
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effectively. This shows that professors who communicate more and more consistently increase
the chances for students to succeed.
Sharma et al. (2017) writes that according to a survey conducted by Gallup, the most important
element for college graduates’ long-term success is “emotional support: [the] feeling that they
[have] a professor who [makes] them excited about learning, [cares] about them as a person,
and… encourage[s] them to pursue their goals.” The survey raises the question of whether our
institutions are simply spaces we inhabit for four years to get a bachelor’s degree or whether they
are genuinely spaces of academic growth and development. Although it is a professor’s
responsibility to make themselves available as mentors, to some extent, this distinction is the up
to control of the student.
Osamika, B.E., Lawal, T., Osamika, A. E., Hounhanou, A. J. V., & Laleye, M. et al.
(2021)Write that when an individual is strong-minded and persevering, they are naturally more
likely to be successful. That is what this study done on 214 Nigerian undergraduates found. This
study was accomplished through a survey that focused on factors such as “sociodemographic
information, personality profile, psychological well-being, and academic success”. The findings
were able to conclude that: "agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience had a
significant positive relationship with psychological well-being", “agreeableness,
conscientiousness, and openness had a positive relationship with academic success”,
“neuroticism had a negative relationship with academic success” and personality characteristics
did not independently but jointly [predict] psychological wellbeing”. The study confirms that
students that have a more openminded mindset, as well as more thorough thinking were most
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likely to succeed. This is important because openminded individuals work better in groups and
more importantly, are more receptive to outside help.
Güngör et al (2021) mentions a study that was done on the variations of attitudes in
students correlated with success in conjunction with their individual characteristics and social
settings. The finding included “a strong positive correlation...between university students’
attitudes towards learning and success orientations" And “only between avoidance from learning
and performance-avoidance, a negative correlation has been found... Effort for learning impacts
performance-avoidance orientation positively while avoidance from learning impacts it
negatively. Effort for learning impacts success orientations positively while avoidance from
learning impacts it negatively.” The study confirms that proactive students who address their
tasks and have more positive attitudes are more likely to have academic success than students
who withdrawal and avoid learning. This likely means that students with more positive attitudes
are better at dealing with obstacles and better problem solvers. They may focus on a problem
affectively and seek out outside help when needed.
Ben Kissam et al. (2022) notes that student success correlates with positive relations
between professors and students “An analysis of 46 studies found that positive teacher and
student relationships enhanced nearly every measurable aspect of academic success. Students
were more likely to attend class, get higher grades, and graduate when they knew—and cared
about—their professors (Ben Kissam et al. 2022)” Ben Kissam makes it clear that professor can
play a large roll in student wellness. But more importantly, this shows that for student success to
be optimal, communication is key.
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Ludewig et al. (1992) notes that professors have reason to help their students. Students
that are well educated and prepared for future endeavors are the mark of a good professor.
Ludewig writes to his audience that “successful students reflect well on the efforts of any
teacher… Join forces with your instructor, they are not an enemy, and you share the same
interests, and the same goals - in short, your teammates(Ludewig et al. (1992)).” Students should
reach out to their professors and seek help. Students and professors share the same interests of
success through the student.
Findings
The overall message from the literature cited is that the aid of support systems helps
students in their academics. Support systems such as tutoring and student monitoring do benefit
students, in that their academic success is carefully monitored and bolstered. Long term support
systems that monitor student well-being and records are the most effective means of aiding
students academically. The literature also makes it clear that professors do have a role in student
performance, in that if there is a bridge between them and their students, their students will be
more likely to succeed. The final point made is that for this to be possible, students must be open
minded and have positive attitudes to better overcome obstacles. Being openminded makes
students more receptive to help and more importantly, helps them accept and look for assistance.
To sum up, support systems are effective in ensuring the academic success of a student who is
open to help.
Research
We created a form to collect essential data on Wentworth students only from all types of
majors and years to deepen the research and have a better understanding of how the student use –
or not use, the academic resources. In the survey, we ask demographic questions like expected
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graduation and gender. Then, we have introductory questions about whether the students struggle
in a semester or not and how much they struggle. After that, we collect data on whether the
student uses the resources or not and if they have, what have been their experiences. Then, we
finalize it with getting to know other resources that have been better or convenient for them.
Limitations and Biases
Biases would include the dramatic underuse of a specific resource. This is because a
resource that is underused would not have enough applications to fairly verify it’s effectiveness
and its potential impact on students. Limitations would be the number of responses that our
surveys get. If too few responses are recorded, we are not fairly reflecting the effectiveness of
student resources or the general consensus of the students at W.I.T
Sample Survey
Our target population is Wentworth Students from all types of major and years, female, male, or
non-binary who has struggle in a semester and have or have not use the Success studio,
professor’s office hours, tutoring, or group study.
Observation study (Findings)
For our observation study, we chose to monitor the average amount of students that work
in the Success Studio. We monitored the success studio for one hour a day, for seven days and
recorded the number of students that were there on average. We noted what students were doing,
whether or not they seemed productive, if they worked in groups, and their demeanor.
Observation Study Results
The average number of students within the Success Studio over the seven days was 5
students. We found that the population number was very consistent with very little fluctuation.
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This is because the Success Studio is usually used when reservations are made, so the number of
students within the success studio is somewhat controlled.
Average # of students per day
7
6 Average # of students
0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Day
Figure 1
Students generally seem to work independently, with the vast majority of students
keeping their heads down towards their own work. On average, 40% of students seem to work
either in a group or with a faculty member. Students that work with others seem more engaged
and animated compared to individuals, and more specifically, students working with faculty
seem to be the most productive. That being said, only 13% of students in the Success Studio
work with faculty.
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Student work style
13% 27%
60%
With faculty Individual In groups
Figure 2
Survey Results
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Figure 3
The survey further shows that the Success Studio is underutilized. Figure 3 shows that
three quarters of the respondents say that they never reach out to the Success Studio for
assistance. Figure 3 also shows that 46% of the respondents, when they sought out outside help,
saw a 10-20% increase in grades. Despite the clear lack of use of the Success Studio, Figure 4
shows that roughly 70% of the respondents would recommend using W.I.T’s student support
services. Finally, figure 5 shows that tutoring was beneficial to the respondents for their classes.
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Figure 4
Figure 5
Summary and Conclusions
To conclude, the research mostly proved the hypothesis correct, albeit there is some
inconclusive data. W.I.T’s support systems do have an overall positive effect on students
academically. Specifically tutoring was given the best feedback. The Success Studio on the other
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hand, is an underutilized tool that doesn’t have enough data to rate it fairly. Whether or not the
Success Studio is an effective tool, it is ineffective due to the lack of use.
Recommendations
The primary recommendation would be to have further research on why the Success
Studio is poorly used. Specifically, why few students use it, what can be done to make it more
available, and how to improve student retention. Another recommendation would be to take a
further dive into how effective resources such as tutoring are, observing GPA increases and
decreases and how they correlate with W.I.T’s support systems, as well as student wellness
Business opportunity:
The business opportunity that can be taken is having walk-in sessions for 2 hours every
day in the Success Studio, where students are served in a first-come-first-served model. There
can be a group of tutors that are specialized in specific majors that can work with students on
class related problems. Students will be able to make full use of the Success Studio and therefore
improve.
Bibliography
Ben Kissam, The importance of professor and student connection. The Importance of the
Professor and Student Connection - Azusa Pacific University, 2022, February 11
This Comprehensive Review Aims To Explore The Existing Body of Literature and Studies Related To The Coping Mechanisms Employed by Students in Response To The Return To Face
This Comprehensive Review Aims To Explore The Existing Body of Literature and Studies Related To The Coping Mechanisms Employed by Students in Response To The Return To Face
