Student Success at

Wentworth Institute of
Technology
Report

December 6, 2022
Cindy Stevens Research Methods MGMT 2200
Katalina Cinelli, Becker Elaywan, Carla Santana, Anthony Van
Student Success at Wentworth Institute of Technology

Abstract

To provide its diverse community of learners with access to educational programs

responsive to evolving market needs, is the mission statement of Wentworth Institute of

Technology. The end result of following through on this promise should be students who are

well equipped to enter the work force. But how is this achieved? How does Wentworth, or any

school for that matter, ensure their students grow into their roles? All of the literature referenced

agrees on one main point: students benefit from support systems. Having support systems help

ensure the wellbeing and performance of students throughout their educational career. The

question is, is which ones are effective, and why?

Definitions

Academic success: The product of maintaining and improving a students grades, ability to learn,

and to graduate.

Outside support systems: Any school provided support system outside of a classroom

environment such as tutoring, advisors, counceling, etc.

Outside Support Systems

Thangavelu, Partridge, Carey, O’Sullivan, & Lutvey et al. (2019) wrote of the importance

to use all available resources. The study in University of Southern Queensland focuses on how it

impacts students having support when course enrolment and how the integrated service model

reduces student attrition. In the study, a program dubbed “Enrollments Sessions” was executed,

where strategically allocated computers throughout the campus and other important existing

services for the student. Then, they added Support Staff to be for the first three weeks of the

semester where the student could go and find the specific help, they might need for course

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enrollment and more. The program was heavily advertised through social media, printouts, and

student announcements. From this project and case of study, the author noted four main themes:

Adaptation and learning, student enrolment experience, identifying student needs, and enhancing

student success through flexibility, integration, and awareness.

Ratledge, & Wavelet et al. (2021) note that long term support programs lead to the best

graduation rates. Research guided by MDRC concluded that one of the most effective ways to

increase retention in educational institutions is the multifaceted student support programs which

include “a proactive, holist coaching or advising model with additional supports, enrollments

messaging, and other supports.” To keep students engaged and increase graduation rates it is

necessary to have these support systems throughout the student’s time in the institution. Constant

monitoring over students and their success can help recognize and evade student failure. More

importantly, students will have a system they can fall back on and reach out to when they need

this help.

Perry, Lausch, McKim, & Weatherford et al. (2020) note that students may have issues

finding the correct resources to aid them in their academic career. The article notes that Russell

et al. (2008) gives insight on why learning programs go underutilized, and found that in a study

of Australian international students “51.5% of respondents stated they simply did not know

where to go.(Russell et al. (2008))” This shows us that the lacking use of support programs can

occur simply because of poor or miscommunication. If students aren’t informed of the resources

that are available, they do not know what to look for or where to look.

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Stelnicki, & Nordstokke et al. (2015) note that in a study, students were asked to describe

the most important factors in reaching or not reaching their goals. “In total, 6,446 responses were

obtained when participants were asked to provide five words that described what helped them

reach their goals, and 6,124 responses when asked for five words describing what kept them

from reaching their goals.” In reaching their goals “Academic skills (e.g., studying, attending

class, detail-oriented) 291 students or 21.1%” and “External support (e.g., encouragement,

receiving help) 289 students or 52.6%.” Half of the Q-group promote that external support makes

a successful student.

Fischer, Belikov, Ikahihifo, Hilton, Wiley, & Martin et al. (2020) A study was done on

2,574 students and 1,157 staff members across ten institutions I order to understand the influence

of textbook costs on student academic behavior and the viability of faculty adopting open

educational resources (OER) as a solution” to this problem. Through a series of surveys, it was

found that “adjunct professors were more likely to require a traditionally copyright-restricted

textbook. Approximately 90% of participants indicated they would be willing to use suitable

OER for their course, and almost half of the survey participants expressed a desire for help

finding these resources”.

Ruzegea, M., & Msonde, S. et al. (2021) write that studies found that students’ academic

success was not directly linked to e-resources and that can have a negative impact. Ways to

improve this problem included strengthening the sources provided and ensuring that they are

useful. It was also suggested that research methods such as using metrics for data be used. This

would allow institutions to monitor research usage and improve it for the future in using their

findings.

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Student Success at Wentworth Institute of Technology

Students and Professors

Jankowski et al. (2017) claims that a study done by the American Council on Education

makes an argument that subject matter and learning environment are important parts of student

success. Apart from their study, they have 5 areas of intersection between instruction and student

outcomes which are transparency, pedagogical approaches, assessment, self-regulation, and

alignment. “Transparency is based upon the idea that students must have a clear understanding of

where they are going as well as the criteria by which they will be assessed as to whether they

have arrived. (Frederiksen and Collins 1989). Making teaching and learning visible is important

for all students, especially in the design and presentation of assignments (Winkelmes et al.

2016).1 John Hattie (2009) further argues that “teaching must be visible to the student and

learning must be visible to the teacher” (25). Making connections between teaching and learning

visible is important; John Tagg (2008) claims that there is a clear consensus that institutions are

not able to coherently describe their learning goals for students let alone indicate that students

have learned, making success difficult to define for students.” Transparency can be obtained and

maintained when students meet with their professor(s). This improves the communication and

coordination between a student and their professor(s), and can improve a student’s academic

performance. Constant assessments contribute to monitoring student success and academic

performance. Self-regulation is a key piece of keeping this transparency, as it usually falls to the

student to reach out and create transparency.

Chen et al. (2017) notes a Stanford experiment where one group of students was

reminded that there was an exam regularly and one group was not reminded regularly that there

was an exam, what to expect, and what resources they would use to study effectively. The

difference was a 3.5% to 4.7% increase in test scores when students used their resources

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effectively. This shows that professors who communicate more and more consistently increase

the chances for students to succeed.

Sharma et al. (2017) writes that according to a survey conducted by Gallup, the most important

element for college graduates’ long-term success is “emotional support: [the] feeling that they

[have] a professor who [makes] them excited about learning, [cares] about them as a person,

and… encourage[s] them to pursue their goals.” The survey raises the question of whether our

institutions are simply spaces we inhabit for four years to get a bachelor’s degree or whether they

are genuinely spaces of academic growth and development. Although it is a professor’s

responsibility to make themselves available as mentors, to some extent, this distinction is the up

to control of the student.

Osamika, B.E., Lawal, T., Osamika, A. E., Hounhanou, A. J. V., & Laleye, M. et al.

(2021)Write that when an individual is strong-minded and persevering, they are naturally more

likely to be successful. That is what this study done on 214 Nigerian undergraduates found. This

study was accomplished through a survey that focused on factors such as “sociodemographic

information, personality profile, psychological well-being, and academic success”. The findings

were able to conclude that: "agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience had a

significant positive relationship with psychological well-being", “agreeableness,

conscientiousness, and openness had a positive relationship with academic success”,

“neuroticism had a negative relationship with academic success” and personality characteristics

did not independently but jointly [predict] psychological wellbeing”. The study confirms that

students that have a more openminded mindset, as well as more thorough thinking were most

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likely to succeed. This is important because openminded individuals work better in groups and

more importantly, are more receptive to outside help.

Güngör et al (2021) mentions a study that was done on the variations of attitudes in

students correlated with success in conjunction with their individual characteristics and social

settings. The finding included “a strong positive correlation...between university students’

attitudes towards learning and success orientations" And “only between avoidance from learning

and performance-avoidance, a negative correlation has been found... Effort for learning impacts

performance-avoidance orientation positively while avoidance from learning impacts it

negatively. Effort for learning impacts success orientations positively while avoidance from

learning impacts it negatively.” The study confirms that proactive students who address their

tasks and have more positive attitudes are more likely to have academic success than students

who withdrawal and avoid learning. This likely means that students with more positive attitudes

are better at dealing with obstacles and better problem solvers. They may focus on a problem

affectively and seek out outside help when needed.

Ben Kissam et al. (2022) notes that student success correlates with positive relations

between professors and students “An analysis of 46 studies found that positive teacher and

student relationships enhanced nearly every measurable aspect of academic success. Students

were more likely to attend class, get higher grades, and graduate when they knew—and cared

about—their professors (Ben Kissam et al. 2022)” Ben Kissam makes it clear that professor can

play a large roll in student wellness. But more importantly, this shows that for student success to

be optimal, communication is key.

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Student Success at Wentworth Institute of Technology

Ludewig et al. (1992) notes that professors have reason to help their students. Students

that are well educated and prepared for future endeavors are the mark of a good professor.

Ludewig writes to his audience that “successful students reflect well on the efforts of any

teacher… Join forces with your instructor, they are not an enemy, and you share the same

interests, and the same goals - in short, your teammates(Ludewig et al. (1992)).” Students should

reach out to their professors and seek help. Students and professors share the same interests of

success through the student.

Findings

The overall message from the literature cited is that the aid of support systems helps

students in their academics. Support systems such as tutoring and student monitoring do benefit

students, in that their academic success is carefully monitored and bolstered. Long term support

systems that monitor student well-being and records are the most effective means of aiding

students academically. The literature also makes it clear that professors do have a role in student

performance, in that if there is a bridge between them and their students, their students will be

more likely to succeed. The final point made is that for this to be possible, students must be open

minded and have positive attitudes to better overcome obstacles. Being openminded makes

students more receptive to help and more importantly, helps them accept and look for assistance.

To sum up, support systems are effective in ensuring the academic success of a student who is

open to help.

Research

We created a form to collect essential data on Wentworth students only from all types of

majors and years to deepen the research and have a better understanding of how the student use –

or not use, the academic resources. In the survey, we ask demographic questions like expected

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Student Success at Wentworth Institute of Technology

graduation and gender. Then, we have introductory questions about whether the students struggle

in a semester or not and how much they struggle. After that, we collect data on whether the

student uses the resources or not and if they have, what have been their experiences. Then, we

finalize it with getting to know other resources that have been better or convenient for them.

Limitations and Biases

Biases would include the dramatic underuse of a specific resource. This is because a

resource that is underused would not have enough applications to fairly verify it’s effectiveness

and its potential impact on students. Limitations would be the number of responses that our

surveys get. If too few responses are recorded, we are not fairly reflecting the effectiveness of

student resources or the general consensus of the students at W.I.T

Sample Survey

Our target population is Wentworth Students from all types of major and years, female, male, or

non-binary who has struggle in a semester and have or have not use the Success studio,

professor’s office hours, tutoring, or group study.

Observation study (Findings)

For our observation study, we chose to monitor the average amount of students that work

in the Success Studio. We monitored the success studio for one hour a day, for seven days and

recorded the number of students that were there on average. We noted what students were doing,

whether or not they seemed productive, if they worked in groups, and their demeanor.

Observation Study Results

The average number of students within the Success Studio over the seven days was 5

students. We found that the population number was very consistent with very little fluctuation.

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Student Success at Wentworth Institute of Technology

This is because the Success Studio is usually used when reservations are made, so the number of

students within the success studio is somewhat controlled.

Average # of students per day

7

6
Average # of students

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Day

Figure 1

Students generally seem to work independently, with the vast majority of students

keeping their heads down towards their own work. On average, 40% of students seem to work

either in a group or with a faculty member. Students that work with others seem more engaged

and animated compared to individuals, and more specifically, students working with faculty

seem to be the most productive. That being said, only 13% of students in the Success Studio

work with faculty.

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Student Success at Wentworth Institute of Technology

Student work style

13%
27%

60%

With faculty Individual In groups

Figure 2

Survey Results

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Figure 3

The survey further shows that the Success Studio is underutilized. Figure 3 shows that

three quarters of the respondents say that they never reach out to the Success Studio for

assistance. Figure 3 also shows that 46% of the respondents, when they sought out outside help,

saw a 10-20% increase in grades. Despite the clear lack of use of the Success Studio, Figure 4

shows that roughly 70% of the respondents would recommend using W.I.T’s student support

services. Finally, figure 5 shows that tutoring was beneficial to the respondents for their classes.

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Figure 4

Figure 5

Summary and Conclusions

To conclude, the research mostly proved the hypothesis correct, albeit there is some

inconclusive data. W.I.T’s support systems do have an overall positive effect on students

academically. Specifically tutoring was given the best feedback. The Success Studio on the other

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hand, is an underutilized tool that doesn’t have enough data to rate it fairly. Whether or not the

Success Studio is an effective tool, it is ineffective due to the lack of use.

Recommendations

The primary recommendation would be to have further research on why the Success

Studio is poorly used. Specifically, why few students use it, what can be done to make it more

available, and how to improve student retention. Another recommendation would be to take a

further dive into how effective resources such as tutoring are, observing GPA increases and

decreases and how they correlate with W.I.T’s support systems, as well as student wellness

Business opportunity:

The business opportunity that can be taken is having walk-in sessions for 2 hours every

day in the Success Studio, where students are served in a first-come-first-served model. There

can be a group of tutors that are specialized in specific majors that can work with students on

class related problems. Students will be able to make full use of the Success Studio and therefore

improve.

Bibliography

Ben Kissam, The importance of professor and student connection. The Importance of the

Professor and Student Connection - Azusa Pacific University, 2022, February 11

https://www.apu.edu/articles/the-importance-of-the-professor-and-student-

connection/#:~:text=An%20analysis%20of%2046%20studies,and%20cared%20about%E2%80

%94their%20professors

Paraphrased from Larry M. Ludewig, The Teaching Professor, 1992

https://faculty.weber.edu/jcavitt/successfulstudents.htm

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Thangavelu, A., Partridge, H., Carey, K., O’Sullivan, C., & Lutvey, N. (2019, March). View of

Evaluating the student experience with enrolment assistance in an integrated student support

service program at the University of Southern Queensland. Retrieved from

studentsuccessjournal.org/article/view/1121/743

RATLEDGE, A., & WAVELET, M. (2021, September). ERIC - ED615183 - Improving College

Graduation Rates with Multifaceted Student Support Programs: Here’s What Institutions and

State Agencies Need to Know, MDRC, 2021-Sep. Retrieved from eric.ed.gov/?id=ED615183

Perry, C. J., Lausch, D. W., McKim, C., & Weatherford, J. (2020). Knowledge, Use, and

Perceived Value of University Student Services: International and Domestic Student Perceptions

Retrieved from files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1265705.pdf

Should You Bother Reaching Out? Performance Effects of Early Direct Outreach to Low-

Performing Students. SIEGEL, DAVID University of Detroit Mercy Law Review; Summer2017,

Vol. 94 Issue 3, p429-440, 12p 2017. https://www.acenet.edu/Documents/Unpacking-

Relationships-Instruction-and-Student-Outcomes.pdf

Chen, P. (2017, May). Strategizing resources leads to improved exam scores, according to

Stanford scholars. Retrieved from https://news.stanford.edu/2017/05/08/studying-strategically-

equals-improved-exam-scores/

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Sharma, T. (2017, April 28). The Importance of Reaching Out to Professors. Retrieved from

https://tsl.news/opinions6774/

Who Is a Successful University Student? An Analysis of Personal Resources Andrea M.

Stelnicki & David W. Nordstokke University of Calgary Donald H. Saklofske University of

Western Ontario

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1073616.pdf

Osamika, B. E., Lawal, T., Osamika, A. E., Hounhanou, A. J. V., & Laleye, M. (2021).

Personality characteristics, psychological well-being, and academic success among university

students. International Journal of Research in Education and Science (IJRES), 7(3), 805-821.

https://doi.org/10.46328/ijres.1898 // https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1308175.pdf

Güngör, C. (2021). The relationship between attitudes towards learning and success orientation

in undergraduate students. International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET),

8(3). 1774-1796. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1308321.pdf

Fischer, L., Belikov, O., Ikahihifo, T. K., Hilton, J., III, Wiley, D., & Martin, M. T. (2020).

Academic Librarians Examination of University Students’ and Faculty’s Perceptions of Open

Educational Resources. Open Praxis, 12(3), 399–415.

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1275385.pdf

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Ruzegea, M., & Msonde, S. (2021). University Students’ E-Resource Usage: Predictors,

Problems and Practical Implications. International Journal of Education and Development Using

Information and Communication Technology, 17(2), 104–119.

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1298155.pdfMethodology

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