Investigating the Role of Course Exploration in College Students' Academic Experience

• In Event: The Role of Institutional Agents and Courses in Student Experiences

Abstract

The elective system in US higher education enables students to explore courses and create their own academic pathways. However, liberal-arts ideals of course exploration may be insufficient for student development, especially for those from marginalized backgrounds. This study developed a computational measure of course exploration that quantifies how different a student’s course choices are from their peers. Using the institutional records of nine cohorts of 29,138 undergraduate students at a large land grant institution, we found that early course exploration is positively associated with academic performance, whereas late exploration is not. Racially minoritized students explore more, but the academic benefit of early exploration is diminished. Implications for academic advising and future research are discussed.

Authors

• Youjie Chen, Cornell University
  Presenting Author

• Renzhe Yu, Teachers College, Columbia University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Rene Kizilcec, Cornell University
  Non-Presenting Author