Patterns and Outcomes of Online Help-Seeking Behavior for Students Underrepresented in STEM

• In Event: Facilitating Success and Persistence in STEM/STEAM

Abstract

Help-seeking has been associated with academic success in the past; however, its role in online courses has not been thoroughly investigated. In face-to-face classes, underrepresented (UR) students may face more barriers to help-seeking than non-UR students. We predicted that these barriers might be alleviated in online courses, which provide both greater anonymity and a normalized way to ask for help through required discussion forums. We analyzed the help-seeking behaviors displayed in discussion forums from an online course. We found that UR students asked for help more often than non-UR students, and women were more likely than men to ask for help explicitly at least once in the semester, but we did not find a relationship between help-seeking and final grades.

Authors

• Victoria Jay, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Genevieve M. Keyser, Saint Louis University

• Carolyn J. Anderson, University of Illinois

• Lawrence Angrave, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Nigel Bosch, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Destiny Williams-Dobosz, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Naj Shaik, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Suma Bhat, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Michelle Perry, University of Illinois