Effective Learning Support for

College Student-Athletes

Fall 2013 ASPSA Learning Services Training Bradley Bethel

August 12, 2013

Objectives • Explain Comeaux and Harrison’s (2011) model of

academic success for Division I student-athletes. • Discuss the relevance of Comeaux and Harrison’s

model to our roles as learning services staff. • Describe the Learning Engagement and

Enhancement Program (LEEP).

Comeaux and Harrison’s (2011) Model of Academic

Success for Division I Student-Athletes

Comeaux, E. & Harrison, K. C. (2011). A conceptual model of academic success for student-athletes. Educational

Researcher, 40 (5), 235-245.

Purpose of the Model • Synthesize three decades of research on the

student-athlete experience. • Challenge models of academic support that focus

on mere eligibility. • Identify and explain the factors that lead to

academic success for Division I student-athletes.

The Student-Athlete Experience

• Student-athletes often spend more than 40 hours per week on sports-related activities.

• Mental fatigue, physical exhaustion, and injuries often persist beyond those 40+ hours.

• Consequently, student-athletes are often isolated to varying degrees from the rest of campus.

• In addition, student-athletes are more likely to feel pressure from media than typical college students.

• Student-athletes also have specific academic requirements and other regulations from the NCAA that non-student-athletes do not have.

• Last, some student-athletes are significantly less prepared for college than their classmates and consequently may feel alienated when their struggles become apparent to them.

Structure of the Model Pre-college Factors •Family background •Educational experience and

preparation •Various individual attributes

Initial Commitments •Educational Goals •Sport • Institution

Environmental Factors •Academic Integration •Social Integration

Developing Commitments •Educational Goals •Sport • Institution

Academic Success

Commitments • Educational goals: students’ educational plans and

the highest level of education they hope to attain • Sport commitment: the amount of physical and

psychological time a student-athlete devotes to her or his sport

• Institutional commitment: a student’s expectation of satisfaction with the institution and the importance placed on graduating from the institution

Environmental Factors • Social integration: student-athletes’ (1)

engagement in extracurricular activities other than their sport, (2) interaction with faculty, and (3) socializing with peers other than their teammates

• Academic integration: student-athletes’ grades and intellectual development

Structure of the Model Pre-college Factors •Family background •Educational experience and

preparation •Various individual attributes

Initial Commitments •Educational Goals •Sport • Institution

Environmental Factors •Academic Integration •Social Integration

Developing Commitments •Educational Goals •Sport • Institution

Academic Success

In light of Comeaux and Harrison’s model, the goal of every academic support program should be to increase student-athletes’ commitments to their educational goals, their sport, and their institution by helping them integrate into the academic and social life of the college.

Questions/Comments?

How is Comeaux and Harrison’s model relevant

to learning services?

Learning Services Take two minutes to write down how you think Comeaux and Harrison’s model is relevant to learning services or how learning services fits into the model.

The Learning Engagement and Enhancement Program

(LEEP)

Mission and Philosophy Mission: To help academically challenged student-athletes become goal-directed, strategic, and self-regulated learners. Philosophy: Our philosophy is both student-centered and learning-centered. We believe all students can succeed when provided an environment in which learning is the central value. The following five principles underscore our service to student-athletes: • Every student is a learner and has the potential to learn. • Every student already possesses valuable knowledge and skills. • Every student will make her or his own learning choices. • Learning is an active process. • Learning can be strategically enhanced.

Goal and Objectives Our overall goal is that every student who participates in the Learning Engagement and Enhancement Program will maintain eligibility in the major of their choice and advance to graduation. By meeting the following objectives, we believe we can accomplish that goal. Objective I: Students will demonstrate increased levels of self-regulated learning. Objective II: Students will demonstrate increased reading comprehension levels and fluency with college-level vocabulary words. Objective III: Students will demonstrate increased ability to compose college-level texts.

Both grades and intellectual development can be improved through self-regulated learning. Therefore, by helping student-athletes develop as self-regulated learners, we believe we will help them integrate into the academic life of the university. We thereby demonstrate effective learning support.

Questions/Comments?

Conclusion During this workshop, we accomplished the following objectives: • Explain Comeaux and Harrison’s (2011) model of

academic success for Division I student-athletes. • Discuss the relevance of Comeaux and Harrison’s

model to our roles as learning services staff. • Describe the Learning Engagement and

Enhancement Program (LEEP).

Next Workshop: “Introduction to Self-Regulated Learning” presented by Dr. Jeff

Greene