Student Success, Persistence, And Support - 1841 Words

Student Success, Persistence, and Support When discussing the extensive body of literature surrounding student involvement, engagement, and retention, overarching themes begin to emerge. These themes find themselves interwoven throughout the diverse set of concepts that set the foundation for understanding the theories that are pertinent to this study. Understanding the concepts of student success, student persistence, and student social support allows for a deeper consideration of the relevant frameworks. Student success. There are multiple concepts and aspects of student success that play a role in understanding how student success impacts involvement and retention. Komives, Owen, Longerbeam, Mainella, and Osteen (2005) study the†¦show more content†¦Students learn how they interact in a group setting and what role they are comfortable filling. In a study surrounding student success and quantity of student involvement, Huang and Chang (2004) studied whether there was an optimal amount or combination of involvement for a student’s cognitive and emotional growth. Is there always a positive relationship with involvement and student success, or is there a point when the relationship becomes negative? Astin (1999) claim that there are upper â€Å"limits beyond which increasing involvement ceases to produce desirable result and can even become counterproductive† (p. 528). Eventually, there is a point where students begin having their development harmed by their workload and quantity of involvement. Huang and Chang (2004) assert that an increase in cocurricular involvement does not show a decrease in academic involvement. Their study shows that more involvement is indeed better, despite Astin’s research claiming the contrary. Braxton (2006) provides another understanding of student success, concludingded that there are eight areas that have a significant impact on student success during an undergraduate career. Academic attainment, the first area, involves multiple factors that play a role in signifying success: persistence through senior year, cumulative grade point average, and overall academic learning. Successful acquisition of a general education, the second area of