A Teaching Intervention That Increases Underserved College Students' Success

Abstract

The challenge to provide equitable opportunities for college students to succeed is a critical priority for the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU (https://unlv.col.qualtrics. com/jfe/form/SV_9GOYyMonDPOfrX7);* students' self-ratings of three important predictors of success: academic confidence, sense of belonging, and improved mastery of skills that employers value (measured by Transparency Survey questions 4-6,8-11,22,24-25,32,34-35);* direct assessment of students' work as indicated by scored student work samples, selected randomly (addressed elsewhere in this special issue of Peer Review)-, and* short-term retention rates.RationaleThese measures of success and the rationale for our intervention intentionally align with several important past studies. Multiple researchers have demonstrated that increases in college students' academic confidence and sense of belonging are directly correlated with higher GPAs and persistence and retention rates, especially for underserved students. …