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Impact of Reflective Practices on Academic Recovery

Leah Evans

EDL 654: Research Methods in Higher Education

Dr. Erica Campbell

November 27, 2022

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Introduction

The interest in this area of study comes from a need to address the boundaries students

face in academic success and a desire to shift away from traditional study skills courses. Using

the Motivation and Empowerment Model along with a needs based approach, I want to

understand how interventions and self reflective practices influence academic performance and

confidence. The arts based elements in this study allow students to exercise self expression and

reflect on their identity and how it impacts their academics. Research may also address

strategies for advisors and student affairs professionals to be proactive when working with

students who are at risk for academic probation or suspension.

Literature Review

Academic Probation and Recovery

Academic intervention programs and standings such as Alert or Probation were

developed as a response by the institution to help students improve their academic performance

(Barouch-Gilbert, 2016). Students on Academic Probation come from a variety of disciplines,

backgrounds, and identities. They are required or encouraged to participate in different types of

academic interventions in order to raise their grade point average. Barouch-Gilbert recognizes

two themes when gathering narratives from students on probation: “You can do it” and “I can do

it” (2016, p 157). These themes show the impact that encouragement, guidance and learning

from others, as well as improved self esteem from positive performance, raise students grades

and emotional states. Advisors and other student affairs professionals want students to persist to

graduate, and therefore “have a moral obligation to ensure that students being admitted to their

institution are given the best possible chance to succeed” (Hamman, 2018, p 163). To promote
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success, institutions must identify and eliminate the physical, emotional, and academic barriers

students face.

Motivation and Empowerment Models

Understanding a student’s motivation and purpose behind earning a degree is an

important piece of moving toward academic recovery. Academic advisors are typically trusted

professionals and the first point of contact for students who have discovered they are on

academic probation. They can help a student process the situation, make a plan, and feel a sense

of control (Demetriou, 2011). Kamphoff et al. lists four topic areas of the Motivational

Empowerment Model: personal responsibility, positive affirmations, goal setting/life planning,

and self management (2007, p 399-400). Through these four areas, academic intervention

programs can give students a sense of empowerment and personal growth, rather than solely

providing recommendations for study skills.

Impact of Self-Reflective Practices

While definitions of self reflection may vary, they “share similarities in that they

emphasize purposeful critical analysis of knowledge and experience so as to achieve deeper

meaning and understanding” (Lew & Schmidt, 2011, p 530). Self reflective practices in this

study may allow students on academic probation to better understand themselves as well as the

barriers that lowered their success. “Diaries are being increasingly employed to investigate

social, psychological, and physiological processes within everyday situations in work, education,

and vocational training” (Travers et al., 2015, p 225). Through art and journaling, participants

can also form short and long term goals based on their reflections. Travers et al. discovered that

after a six month follow up, the participants showed that “even academically indirect goals may

contribute to academic performance by encouraging actions that facilitate good study outcomes”
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(2015, p 238). The combination of Empowerment Models used by advisors and others in the

campus community, as well as personal self reflection, may provide students with an opportunity

to connect emotions and self esteem with their academic performance.

Research Purpose

The purpose of this study is to better support students of various identities on Academic

Probation and allow them to explore self reflective practices. The end goal would be for students

to be able to clearly communicate what their needs are and to have an outlet for self expression

and reflection. Participants will also be able to form short and long term goals related to their

aspirations inside and outside of the classroom.

Research Questions 

1. What are the barriers present in achieving good academic standing?

2. How does student motivation and empowerment improve academic performance?

3. How do active and consistent self reflection processes impact academic performance?

Research Design

This project will combine Qualitative and Arts Based (ABR) methods. Qualitative

research examines “how people engage in processes of constructing and reconstructing meanings

through daily interactions” (Leavy, 2017, p 129). Participants will do their constructing and

reconstructing through reflective journaling. They will be given a journal, where they can write,

create a collage, or other artistic expressions, based on their experiences and/or related to the

weekly prompts given by the researcher. Throughout the semester-long research period,

participants will also have three semi-structured interviews to discuss their journals and feelings

towards their academics. Leavy emphasizes that the “cornerstone of ABR practice is that it

follows a generative and emergent process, open to the unexpected–to surprises, new insights
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and bends in the road” (2017, p 191). The flexibility of ABR will center the student and their

needs without prescribing assumptions about what students need. The participants will be able to

openly express themselves through their journals and narrative interviews.

Sampling and Participants 

Participants will be students who are on academic probation after their first semester at

their institution. Students can be recommended through their academic advisor. Academic

Probation is generally considered to be students who earned a 2.0 GPA or lower on a 4.0 scale.

Participants may be from any discipline on campus.

Interested participants will be given an explanation of the process and will be able to be

in the study if they are able to meet the certain time requirements. These requirements include:

commitment to approximately one hour per week of mindful self reflection and three spaced out

narrative interviews over the course of the semester.

Site of Research 

The participant sample will be taken from Miami University, a midwestern public

institution with under 20,000 students. Interviews will be done on campus in a secure, private

location or via Zoom. This research site was chosen because of the accessibility of the researcher

to this population and to specifically understand the needs of Miami University students.

Completing a replication study at similar institutional types across a regional area could be an

opportunity for further research.

Data Generation 

In their journals, participants will be given weekly prompts or guiding questions

(Appendix A) connected to their academic standing and academic performance that they can
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express through creative writing or art. Some prompts may be repeated to show if feelings have

changed and to see how a student may progress throughout the semester.

Students will also participate in three narrative interviews: beginning of the semester,

around midterms, and finals. These narrative interviews will include reflecting on their journal

entries and attitudes towards their academic standing, motivation, self esteem and their own

academic performance.

Data Analysis and Interpretation Strategies   

Since Arts Based Methods can take participants in a variety of paths, the data analysis

will mostly be done through narratives during qualitative interviews. Participants will be asked a

number of questions: to describe their artwork, if they followed the optional given prompts or

created their own, how the artwork made them feel, specifically towards themselves and their

academic performance, and what their views are on their current state of being

(positive/negative).  

Qualitative analysis will take place after each of the three interviews during the research

process. The interviews will be recorded with the researcher transcribing each interview

afterwards. Manuscripts will be sent to participants and they will be able to provide feedback or

clarity as needed, to ensure their thoughts are being represented correctly. Since my goal is to

identify barriers, incorporate motivation and empowerment models, and see the impact of self

reflection, I will be looking for those themes in my analysis of the interviews with student

participants. Final conclusions could also be drawn by seeing if the student is placed back into

good standing, they are continuing probation, or if they have been suspended.

Ethics Statement 
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The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) protects the privacy of student

records, including grades. In this study, participants would not be disclosing their numerical

GPA, but they would need to disclose their academic standing classification. These standings

would remain confidential and only be used to see potential growth when the semester in which

the study is taking place is over.

The biggest ethical consideration when doing narrative research is control and power

dynamics between the participants and the researcher. This project aims to give voice and

empowerment to students who are typically viewed through a deficit lens by their institutions.

By allowing participants to have a voice in the process, they are given the power and feel in

control of the way their story is told.

As a researcher and student, I have never experienced what it is like to be in bad

academic standing by the university. However, I have worked specifically with students who are

on Alert or Probation and have a lot of experience with the systems and processes that may help

or hurt them in their attempt to recover.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this study aims to empower students facing academic challenges through

artistic expression and narrative interviewing in order to express their stories and barriers most

accurately to their experience. From the findings of this study, the hope is for advisors and other

academic and student affairs professionals to take a philosophy of Motivation and Empowerment

when working with these student populations.

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Appendix A - Arts Based Prompts

These questions and prompts will be given to participants at the start of each week during the
study. While not prescriptive, they should guide the participant in whatever they choose to write
or create in their journal. If students are unsure of what to create in a given week based on the
prompt(s), they are encouraged to write or create whatever they are feeling at the time.
Connections to the existing literature are noted in italics and parentheses.

● Week 1: Who are you? What is your background? How did you get to this point in your
life?
● Week 2: What are your strengths? What do you need to be able to use these strengths?
(Self Regulated Learning Strategies, Renzulli, 2015; Positive Affirmations, Kamphoff et
al., 2017)
● Week 3: How do you best receive support? Who is in your support network (family,
friends, faculty members, staff members, coworkers, etc.)? How can you ask for this ideal
support from that network?
● Week 4: What is your major or academic program? Are you happy there? What is your
end goal? Do you think your major will help you achieve your end goal? (Goal
Setting/Life Planning, Kamphoff et al., 2017)
● Week 5: How do you plan your time and balance responsibilities you have? Are there any
methods you have tried that have or have not worked for you? (Self Management,
Kamphoff et al., 2017)
● Week 6: Think about a time when you faced an obstacle. Did you overcome it or are you
still working through it? (Personal Responsibility, Kamphoff et al., 2017; Problem Based
Learning, Lew & Schmidt, 2011)
● Week 7: What would you say to yourself 10 years ago, 5 years ago, 1 year ago, 1 month
ago, yesterday, etc. What is your self talk like (positive or negative or mix)? What outside
forces influence your self talk? (Positive Affirmations, Kamphoff et al., 2017)
● Week 8: Describe how you are feeling at this point in the semester physically, mentally,
emotionally, and/or academically. (Self Regulated Learning Strategies, Renzulli, 2015)
● Week 9: Discuss how you are feeling about your classes as you approach/just finished
midterms. Are you feeling better or worse than past semesters? What factors do you think
influenced or caused these feelings? (Personal Responsibility, Kamphoff et al., 2017;
Problem Based Learning, Lew & Schmidt, 2011)
● Week 10: What has been your proudest moment? (Positive Affirmations, Kamphoff et al.,
2017)
● Week 11: What factors have contributed to your success or struggles in the past? How did
you identify these factors? How did these factors affect you? (Attribution Theory,
Demetriou, 2011)
● Week 12: How have you received help or support this semester from professionals on
your campus? What does this look like and how has it impacted you?
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● Week 13: Talk about a risk you have taken or a time when you stepped out of your
comfort zone. This can be school related or in life, but try to relate back to risks you may
or may have not taken as a student. (Reasonable Risks, Renzuilli, 2015)
● Week 14: What have you improved on over the course of this semester? This can be
academically, socially, mentally, emotionally, etc. (Positive Affirmations, Kamphoff et al.,
2017)
● Week 15: At the conclusion of the semester, how are you feeling about your classes?
What is your outlook on your academic future at this time?
● Week 16: Who do you see yourself becoming? What are your goals? What have you
improved in? (Goal Setting/Life Planning, Kamphoff et al., 2017)
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References 

Barouch-Gilbert, A. (2016). Academic probation: Student experiences and academic probation:

Student experiences and self-efficacy enhancement. Journal of Ethnographic &
Qualitative Research, 10(3).

Demetriou, C. (2011). The attribution theory of learning and advising students on academic
probation. NACADA journal, 31(2), 16-21.

Hamman, K. J. (2018). Factors that contribute to the likeliness of academic recovery. Journal of
College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 20(2), 162-175.

Kamphoff, C. S., Hutson, B. L., Amundsen, S. A., & Atwood, J. A. (2007). A

motivational/empowerment model applied to students on academic probation. Journal of
College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 8(4), 397-412.

Leavy, P. (2017). Research Design: Quantitative, Qualitative, Mixed Methods, Arts-Based, and
Community Based Participatory Research Approaches. New York, NY: The Guilford
Press.

Lew, M. D., & Schmidt, H. G. (2011). Self-reflection and academic performance: is there a
relationship?. Advances in Health Sciences Education, 16(4), 529-545.

Renzulli, S. J. (2015). Using learning strategies to improve the academic performance of

university students on academic probation. The Journal of the National Academic
Advising Association, 35(1), 29-41.

Travers, C. J., Morisano, D., & Locke, E. A. (2015). Self‐reflection, growth goals, and academic
outcomes: A qualitative study. British journal of educational psychology, 85(2), 224-241.