What Happens After Students Receive Help? Exploring College Students’ Perceptions of Receiving Academic Help

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Sunday 9:45 am
  In Poster Session: Social, Cultural, and Emotional Foundations of Student Learning and Motivation

Abstract

Although research highlights the importance of academic help-seeking as a self-regulated learning strategy, less is known about how students perceive the help they receive after seeking support. This study explores college students’ perceptions of receiving academic help and how these perceptions shape their confidence, satisfaction, and motivation. Survey data from 479 undergraduates reveal that students’ perceptions of support interactions—whether their help-seeking needs were met, and if they found the help-seeking experience to be adaptive or non-adaptive—play a critical role in shaping their self-efficacy and subsequent help-seeking tendencies. These findings underscore the importance of not just helping students recognize when and where to seek help, but to ensure that the help students receive align with their academic needs and success.

Authors

• Semilore F. Adelugba, Texas State University

• Carlton J. Fong, Texas State University