Who's Helped by Help-Sessions in Developmental Education Courses? (2004)

Abstract Developmental education students who attended at least one optional help-session in an introductory biology course made higher grades, attended more lectures, and attended more labs than did students who did not attend any help-sessions. Attending more than one help-session correlated positively with additional, but smaller, improvements in grades and class attendance. These results indicate that the most successful students often maximize a variety of opportunities for interacting with and mastering course materials. A variety of studies have investigated how class attendance relates to academic success in developmental education (Launius, 1997; Moore, 2003; St. Clair, 1999). Although some of these studies have concluded that class attendance is not related to academic performance (Berenson, Carter, & Norwood, 1992; Hammen & Kelland, 1994; Thompson & Plummer, 1979), most studies have shown that high rates of class attendance correlate positively with higher grades (Launius, 1997; Moore, 2003). Although class attendance is important for the academic success of most developmental education students, other factors are also involved. Most studies of these factors have focused on characteristics that are not directly related to students' course-related behaviors (e.g., hours worked by students each week, whether the student or others pay for the student's education; see Devadoss & Foltz, 1996; Friedman, Rodriguez, & McComb, 2001). To determine what course-related factors are associated with the academic success of developmental education students, I studied how attendance at course-related activities correlates with developmental education students' grades. Given the unreliability of students' self-reported data (e.g., how much they studied, if they read the course textbook; see Sappington, KLinsey, and Munsayac, 2001), I studied behaviors that could be easily and objectively measured - namely, how students' attendance at help-sessions and labs relates to students' grades and class attendance. Methods This study included 402 developmental education students enrolled in several sections of an introductory biology course taught in General College at the Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota. All of the classes were taught by the same instructor, in the same way, in the same classroom, and with the same grading criteria. Additional information about this course is provided elsewhere (Moore, 2003). Before each of the four exams there was at least one help-session for students wanting help with course-related questions. Attendance at these help-sessions was optional; students received no points for attending, nor were they penalized for not attending any of the sessions. The dates and times of the help-sessions were announced again both orally and in the course syllabus on the first day of classes, announced again in class 1-2 days before each session, and posted on a classroom bulletin-board throughout the semester. On the first day of classes all students agreed that they would be able to attend at least one of the help-sessions. All of the help-sessions were conducted by graduate teaching assistants who had no knowledge of, access to, or input regarding exams. As a result, students who attended any of the help-sessions received no secrets about the upcoming exams. At the help-sessions, teaching assistants recorded attendance and answered students' questions, but did not present lectures. After final grades were submitted, I analyzed how attendance at help-sessions was associated with course grades and attendance in lecture and in a related laboratory-course. Results Attendance at help-sessions increased throughout the semester. The percentages of students who attended each of the four help-sessions were 8%, 14%, 16%, and 25%, respectively. Table 1 shows how attendance at one or more help-sessions related to students' final grades, attendance in lab, and attendance in lecture. …