Promoting Self-Efficacy Through Goal Attainment and Service-Learning
Project Lead: Ying-Chiao Tsao
This project will address a high decline in matriculation rate and insufficient timely graduation rate of undergraduate students majoring in communication sciences and disorders (CSD). It will focus on increasing the competitiveness getting into a graduate school by addressing some of the challenges (e.g., loss of motivation, overstretching, lack of sense of belonging or support system, etc.) that many students may face. Accordingly, this project will pilot a peer-mentoring program designed to promote students’ self-efficacy; it consists of six sessions of goal-attainment motivational interviews and at least three service-learning activities.
This project consists of two phases. For the first phase, two student assistants who have taken COMD 478 (Counseling skills in communication disorders) will be recruited and trained, and will meet with faculty (PI) weekly to prepare for leading each MI training session, and assisting with data collection and analysis. For the second phase, a group of 10-12 freshmen, sophomores, and/or 1st year transfers will be recruited to a mentoring program led by two trained student mentors under the supervision of the PI. First generation college students or those from underprivileged communities will be strongly encouraged. The peer-to-peer mentoring program consists of six ‘goal- attainment’ sessions with the following themes: greeting and establishing affinity, selfexploration and goal setting, self-reflection on one’s SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis, self-evaluation and goal-revision (individual consultation), taking on challenges, and show-and-tell.
In addition, the student participants will be required to participate in at least three service learning (S-L) activities (e.g., speech and hearing screenings, character education, nursing home visit, etc.). They will also be encouraged to participate in an outreach to minority communities program with PI, through which students will introduce speech-language and hearing services to the communities and recruit individuals to the field of speech-language and audiology. The anticipated outcomes of this project are as follows.
- Increased self-efficacy in achieving their goals (e.g., better GPA, time management, being empowered to take on challenges, increased self-esteem, etc.).
- Increased self-confidence in doing well in class or being inspired to pursue their dreams of becoming a speech-language pathologist or an advanced degree.
- Increased sense of belonging as civic and global citizens who aspire to help one another and contribute to the community.
- Increased rates of retention, timely graduation, and graduate school admission
This project will improve students’ self-efficacy and persistence to increase retention and timely graduation rates as stated in the Goal Two of the 2013-2018 Strategic Plan. It will also inspire students to reach higher with an increased graduate school admission rate through gaining a sense of belonging and promoting global citizenship. By doing so, it will meet the missions of groups #2 (Wellness & Belonging) and #7 (High Impact Practices, HIPs) and achieve the targets of GI 2025.
