The present study investigates the career development of college student persistence decisions through the theoretical lens of social cognitive career theory (SCCT). Specifically, the authors sought to understand the potential role of college self-efficacy in first-year student persistence and academic success at a medium size university. Using a final sample of 401 undergraduates, regression analyses suggested that increased levels of college self-efficacy at the first semester's end were associated with greater odds of persisting into the Spring semester and of being academically successful, after controlling for gender, ethnicity, first-generation status, high school grade point average (GPA), and initial level of college self-efficacy. Results suggest that college self-efficacy may be an important cognitive variable in college students' persistence decisions and their academic success, which offers additional
As institutions are moving towards offering more online and distance education courses, scholars have reported that instructors may have difficulty developing learning communities among students enrolled in these courses (DiRamio and Wolverton 2006). The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in students' perceptions of a learning community when enrolled in an online or on-campus introduction to counseling course. Participants were beginning graduate and advanced undergraduate students interested in pursuing a higher education degree in counseling. Results indicated no significant difference in students' perceptions of learning communities based on course format.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.