UC Irvine

The goal of this three-study dissertation is to examine ways that institutions can support student success and college persistence with the goal of ensuring improved outcomes. Study 1 is a meta-analysis of theoretically-driven social-psychological interventions that aim to both improve the college experience for students and improve traditional markers of academic success such as course grades and college persistence. Overall, social-psychological interventions yield effects (d = 0.15) that are comparable to effects found in other interventions in the college context. Further, they are particularly effective for specific groups of students, such as students underprepared for college-level coursework and under-represented ethnic and racial minority groups. Study 2 is an evaluation of a two-year learning communities program for incoming biological sciences students at a large research university in California. The results suggest that the learning community program does indeed improve the student experience in college, as measured by sense of belonging and academic integration. Additionally, the learning community program impacts academic outcomes, affecting introductory first-year biology courses and cumulative GPA, for example. Lastly, Study 3 focuses on college instructors, evaluating the relative impact of different types of faculty on student learning and engagement outcomes. I find limited evidence supporting differences by faculty type overall with one notable exception: students who took their introductory course with tenure-track teaching faculty earn slightly better subsequent grades and accumulate more subsequent credits than otherwise similar students who took their introductory course with lecturers or research faculty.