Student Success Activities Summarized by CSFI Categories
Ray Launier


College Involvement
As a community college, SBCC has as part of its mission statement the guiding principles "to be responsive to the needs of the community it serves, to work together to create a better society, to participate effectively in the affairs of society." In the psychology classes, students were provided an option to complete a "Service Learning" paper in lieu of the more traditional term paper. This required volunteering three hours a week at an approved local social service agency, under supervision, observing, doing, learning, integrating the service learning with course material, and submitting and 8 - 10 page well-written report on this approach to learning. Invariably, students who complete this assignment are enriched and motivated to continue their education through this enhanced involvement with the college and community it serves.

Students in the more advanced Psychology 200 - Research Methods and Experimental Design in Psychology are provided unique opportunities to be involved, via research, with college concerns. A significant concern at many colleges is the concern for student success. At SBCC, for the past four semesters, students in the Psych. 200 class (N:30-35) have participated actively in conducting and advancing research and instrument development on the factors associated with student success. Each semester, Psych. 200 students interview and administer the "Wellness Inventory of Student Effectiveness" (WISE to 100 - 125 students in entry level Psych. 100 classes. They code the data, enter it into the computer, analyze the data with SPSS, write research reports and make presentations on their findings. This involvement in applied research has proved to be a valuable learning experience for Psych. 200 students in several ways: (1) they feel more involved with the college, (2) they become more knowledgeable about research, and (3) they also come to reflect more about the dynamics of their own success as college students. This involvement also contributes to the college and to the success of other students.