Poster #72 - Daily Associations Between Class Respect, Peer Support, and Academic Efficacy for College STEM Majors

• In Event: 2-055 - Poster Session 06
  In Poster Session: PS 06 Section - Education, Schooling

Integrative Statement

Introduction. Research shows that academic self-efficacy, or beliefs about one’s academic abilities, decline across the school years (Schunk & Pajares, 2001) as schooling increasingly emphasizes normative grading (e.g. grading on a curve). Introductory STEM major courses, including prerequisite science courses, typically use normative grading, which reinforces performance goal structures and social comparison, lowering students’ academic efficacy (Maehr & Midgley, 1996; Linnenbrink, 2005). Academic efficacy is a strong predictor of motivation behaviors (e.g., choice, persistence, performance; Bandura, 1997), thus it is important to understand how to foster academic efficacy for students in STEM courses in an effort to support STEM major students and reduce STEM attrition. Research shows that both feeling respected within class and having supportive peer models can be sources of academic efficacy for students (Urdan & Schoenfelder, 2006). The current study explores (1) how daily feelings of respect in class, and (2) daily feelings of peer support relate to students’ academic efficacy.

Method. Participants were 233 college sophomores (43% Asian, 26% White, 20% Latinx, 1% Black, and 10% Multiethnic; 74% Female) enrolled as STEM majors. Five daily self-report surveys were administered across one week. Daily academic efficacy was measured using 5-items from the Revised Harter Self Perception Scale for College Students (Neeman & Harter, 2012). To measure daily class respect, students were asked how much they agreed with the following statement: I was treated with respect in my classes today (1 – strongly disagree, 5 - strongly agree; Harrell, 1994; 1997). To measure daily college social support, students indicated how supportive fellow students were that day in helping them to deal with college related problems (1 – not very supportive, 5 – very supportive; Dennis, Phinney, & Chuateco, 2005).

Results. Two hierarchical linear models were run to test associations between daily (1) feelings of class respect and (2) feelings of peer support, and academic efficacy (see Table 1). Results indicate that students who on average feel more respected in class also report higher daily levels of academic efficacy (B = .20, p < .001). Additionally, students who on average report feeling more supported by fellow students, also report higher daily levels of academic efficacy (B = .15, p < .01). No significant within person effects were found for both peer social support and class respect. Additionally, no significant ethnic group differences were found for the main variables of interest, thus ethnicity was removed from final models.

Conclusion. Feeling respected in class and supported by fellow students on a daily basis is related to greater academic efficacy, which can potentially impact students’ persistence and performance in STEM majors. In STEM courses, where coursework is often challenging and normative grading is prevalent, it’s important to consider how to create a classroom climate where students feel respected and supported, potentially boosting academic efficacy and subsequent motivation. Future directions should also explore how these associations vary across different STEM courses which may differentially emphasize normative grading (e.g., prerequisite vs. major courses).

Authors

• Shannon Peiffer, University of California, Davis
  Presenting Author

• Alysha Ramirez Hall, University of California Davis
  Non-Presenting Author

• Adrienne Nishina, University of California, Davis
  Non-Presenting Author