Teniell L. Trolian

Influencing Academic Motivation: The Effects of Student–Faculty Interaction

Using data from the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education, we examined the influence of student–faculty interactions on student academic motivation over 4 years of college. Results suggest that several forms of student–faculty interaction, such as quality of faculty contact, frequency of faculty contact, research with faculty, personal discussion with faculty, and out-of-class interactions with faculty, have a positive influence on academic motivation, even when controlling for a host of student background characteristics and institutional characteristics, including a precollege measure of academic motivation.

Engaging with Diversity: How Positive and Negative Diversity Interactions Influence Students’ Cognitive Outcomes

ABSTRACT Although a growing body of research has demonstrated the value of interacting with diverse peers, a number of questions remain about the relationship between the quality of students’ diversity interactions and their cognitive development. In a longitudinal study following 3 cohorts of students from entry into college through the end of their 4th year, we examined how students’ positive and negative diversity interactions were related to 2 different outcomes: need for cognition and critical thinking skills. The results indicated that negative diversity interactions were strongly related to both outcomes, and that was the case for students of color and their white peers. Positive diversity interactions, on the other hand, were related to students’ need for cognition but not their critical thinking skills, and these interactions disproportionately benefitted white students. We conclude by considering the implications for understanding students’ cognitive development and implementing policies and practices that can facilitate positive outcomes on college campuses.

Are There Cognitive Consequences of Binge Drinking During College

For this study we considered the influence of binge drinking behavior in college on students’ critical thinking gains. Findings suggest that binge drinking has a negative influence on students’ critical thinking gains over 4 years of college and that this effect was driven by students with the lowest levels of precollege critical thinking. In both a general binge drinking model, which compared students who binge drank during college with those who did not binge drink, and in a frequency of binge drinking model, which compared students who binge drank at varying frequencies during college with those who did not binge drink, students with lower levels of precollege critical thinking who engaged in binge drinking tended to have significantly lower critical thinking skills than those who did not binge drink.

How Collaborative Learning Enhances Students’ Openness to Diversity

ABSTRACT We investigated the influence of collaborative learning on students’ openness to diversity in the 1st year of college. Even in the presence of a host of potential confounders, we found that exposure to collaborative learning activities positively influenced students’ openness to diversity, regardless of their individual background characteristics. Further, this relation was mediated through students’ interactional diversity experiences. That is, exposure to collaborative learning led to a greater frequency of students interacting with others who were different from themselves, which in turn led to greater openness to diversity.

The Relation Between Binge Drinking and Academic Performance: Considering the Mediating Effects of Academic Involvement

Abstract:Using longitudinal data from multiple institutions, we focused on the relation between binge drinking and academic performance. Binge drinking exerts a negative influence on grade point average, even after accounting for a host of precollege confounding variables. Furthermore, the number of times a student binge drinks in college is less consequential than whether a student binge drinks in college. Academic involvement accounts for 20% to 30% of the influence of binge drinking on GPA. In general, the influence of binge drinking on GPA is the same across gender groups, although there are some differences, which we report in the article.

A Holistic Approach to Estimating the Influence of Good Practices on Student Outcomes at Liberal Arts and non-Liberal Arts Institutions

Many higher education administrators and researchers have considered certain “good practices” of institutions as an instrumental way to improve student outcomes. Chickering and Gamson’s (1987) seven principles of good practice has been particularly salient in defining these practices. Often, prior studies only select some of the seven principles for their analysis. Even studies that consider several principles of good practice on student outcomes typically examine the net effect of each principle instead of assessing how these principles holistically influence student outcomes. Using structural equation modeling, we test a basic conceptual framework where we investigate the contribution of the seven principles on a global measure of good practices (GP), as well as the influence of GP on a multitude of student outcomes. We further test whether liberal arts colleges promote an institutional ethos of good practices as compared to non-liberal arts colleges. Overall, the majority (but not all) of the principles affect GP. Moreover, we find partial evidence that liberal arts colleges foster an institutional ethos of good practices. Although a commitment to foster good practices may create a supportive environment that influences student outcomes, this commitment may lead to unintended consequences for those with little exposure to these good practices.

Connecting college and work: examining the relationship between students’ college employment experiences and their professional and career attitudes

ABSTRACT This study examined the relationship between U.S. students’ employment experiences during college/university and their fourth-year professional career attitudes as defined by the Wabash National Study Professional Success Scale, including obtaining recognition from one’s colleagues for contributions to their field of expertise, having administrative responsibility for the work of others, working in a prestigious occupation, making a lot of money and becoming successful in a business of one’s own. This study considered three types of employment experiences (on-campus work; off-campus work; and completing an internship practicum, field experience, co-op or clinical assignment), as well as the number of hours spent engaged in on-campus and off-campus employment, and whether these measures of student employment were associated with students’ fourth-year professional career attitudes. Results suggest that on-campus work experiences, off-campus work experiences; and completing an internship practicum, field experience, co-op or clinical assignment, as well as the number of hours of employment during college have the potential to influence students’ fourth-year professional career attitudes.

Moderating Influences of Student–Faculty Interactions on Students' Graduate and Professional School Aspirations

There is an inverse relationship between lifetime unemployment rates and attainment of advanced college degrees, as well as a positive relationship between levels of human capital and graduate degree attainment (Carnevale, Cheah, & Strohl, 2012). This suggests that there is a need to better understand college experiences that may promote students’ interests in pursuing graduate or professional education. Interactions with faculty members in college influence a host of college outcomes (Kim & Sax, 2017; Mayhew, Rockenbach, Bowman, Seifert, & Wolniak, 2016; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005), but less is known about whether these interactions influence students’ aspirations to attend graduate or professional school and whether this influence is the same for all students. In this study, we examined the relationship between five measures of students’ interactions with faculty in college and students’ aspirations to earn a graduate or professional degree. Additionally, we considered whether this relationship is similar for all students or whether it is moderated by students’ sex or race/ethnicity.

Shaping Students' Civic Commitments: The Influence of College Cocurricular Involvement

Abstract:Drawing on social capital theory, this study examines the extent to which several college cocurricular involvement experiences during college contribute to students’ civic commitments toward social and political involvement at the end of college. Results are based on longitudinal data from the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education and control for a host of potential confounding influences. Both students’ participation in religious groups and peer education groups were observed to have a positive and sizable influence on cultivating students’ civic commitments toward social and political involvement.