Poster #28 - Why Distinctiveness Matters: The Impact of a Social-Psychological Intervention on Academic Success and Persistence

• In Event: 31.094 - MTCC Poster Session Six
  In Poster Session: 31.094-6 - Relation of Beliefs, Goals, Emotions, and Educational Interventions to Academic Outcomes

Abstract

Adult learners enrolled in online degree programs sometimes face challenges with engagement and degree completion. Here, we address this concern by administering a social-psychological intervention to assist adult learners in viewing achievement behaviors as opportunities to assert their distinctiveness within digital learning environments. In a large, ethnically diverse sample of students (N = 3,590), half were randomly assigned to a distinctiveness intervention. Multilevel models revealed that intervention students (1) earned grades that were two percentage points higher than control condition students, and (2) were more likely to enroll in school the following term. Additional qualitative analyses provide an in-depth look at how students discuss distinctiveness as affirming identities and serving as a critical driver of their achievement behavior.

Authors

• Tamika McElveen, North Carolina State University

• DeLeon Gray, Michigan State University

• Alexander Olosu, North Carolina State University

• Matthew Braslow, Kaplan University