An Experimental Evaluation of a Proactive Pastoral Care Initiative Within An Introductory University Course

Michael Cameron and Sialupapu Siameja (papu@waikato.ac.nz)
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Sialupapu Siameja: University of Waikato

Working Papers in Economics from University of Waikato

Abstract: Improving student retention and academic performance is a key objective for higher education institutions, and finding effective interventions for assisting with at-risk students is therefore important. In this paper we evaluate a proactive pastoral care intervention that was trialled in an introductory economics course. We first identified students at high risk of failure, and then randomised these students into two treatment groups and a control group. The first treatment group received an email with information about academic support, while the second treatment group received the email as well as a personal telephone call to follow up. In evaluating the impact of the intervention trial, we found that the first intervention did not significantly improve student outcomes, but the second intervention did improve outcomes in one of the two semesters evaluated. However, the statistically insignificant results were positive and statistical insignificance may be due to a lack of statistical power. Overall, the initiative was a qualified success. It is both simple and cost-effective, and should be considered for wider implementation and further evaluation.

Keywords: academic performance; pastoral care; student retention; randomised-controlled trial; New Zealand (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A22 I21 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 20 pages
Date: 2015-09-13
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-edu, nep-exp and nep-hrm
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https://repec.its.waikato.ac.nz/wai/econwp/1509.pdf (application/pdf)

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Journal Article: An experimental evaluation of a proactive pastoral care initiative within an introductory university course (2017)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wai:econwp:15/09

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