Encouraging college student success: the instructional challenges, response strategies, and study skills of contemporary undergraduates

Journal of Instructional Psychology, March, 2004 by James Kuo, Chris Hagie, Michael T. Miller

Almost three-quarters (74%) of the students were over the age of 25. The largest group consisted of 40 students ranging in age between 26 and 40 years old. This is followed by 23 students with an age range of 41 to 60 years old. The remaining quarter of the respondents (26%) were 25 years old or younger.

Table 1 also provides a summary of the information regarding the students' self-report grade and employment. The majority of the students (92%) reported an average overall grade within the range of 3.00 to 4.00 on a 4.0 ("A") grading scale. Regarding employment, 81 (92%) reported that they worked outside of the home at the time of the survey.

Study Skills

Fourteen questions were used to explore students' opinions about study skills. Each student was instructed to answer each question by using a 6-point Likert-type rating scale in which a score of "1" indicates 'never," and a score of "6" indicates "always." Table 2 provides a summary of these 14 survey questions in mean, standard deviation, and range. Students were found to study primarily at home (mean score of 5.19) and study alone (mean of 5.09). Students sometimes work on a group project in or out-of-class (mean of 3.82), and once in a while, these students use study resources on a computer (mean of 2.82), visit college library (2.58), study in a small group (2.45), meet instructor out of class (2.43), and miss a class due to work (2.23). These students seldom complete a course by independent study (1.96), study at the college (1.93), use study assistance away from the college (1.90), make use of a college skill center (1.32), use of a peer tutor (1.28), and use of other tutors (1.17).

College Student Challenges

Fourteen statements were used to investigate each student's opinions about the challenges of being a college student. Each student was instructed to rate each statement by using a 6-point rating scale in which a score of "1" indicates "minimal challenge," and a score of "6" indicates "major challenge." Table 3 shows the response summary of these 14 statements in mean, standard deviation, and range. The three major challenges for students in this study were balancing academic and personal life (mean of 4.32), paying for college (4.01), and academic success (3.30). Five statements received a mean challenge score between 2.0 to 3.0. They are statements regarding thinking about the future, making lifestyle choices, finding personal direction, finding career direction, and making choices about health issues. Six statements received a mean challenge score below 2.0, suggesting minimal challenges: finding spiritual direction, finding support for attending college from family, making choices about campus involvement, finding support for attending college from friends, being accepted on campus, and finding transportation to campus.

Coping with Challenges

Thirteen questions were used to study subjects' opinions about how they cope with the challenges. Each participant was instructed to rate each statement by using the same a 6-point rating scale with a score of "1" indicating 'never" and a score of "6" indicating "always." Table 3 provides a summary the responses of these 13 survey questions in mean, standard deviation, and range. The four most popular methods that the subjects used to cope with their challenges are participate in physical exercise (4.07), consult with a family member (3.78), participate in prayer or meditation (3.61), and consult with a current college instructor (3.02). Students in the study rated four statements with a mean score between 2.0 to 3.0. They are statements about use of college academic advising, use of college financial aid services, consult with a former instructor, and decrease credit hour course load. Students rated five statements with a mean score below 2.0. They include statements regarding consulting with friends from high school, consulting with high school teachers or administrators, taking a semester off, using college counseling services, and using library resources for resolving personal issues.