Student Success Course (SSC): a mandatory 14-week noncredit intervention for students on academic probation

Design · All designs
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 1 study (1 causal), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description

The SSC is a mandatory, noncredit intervention developed at Mount St. Vincent University for undergraduates placed on academic probation (term GPA between 1.0 and 1.7). Its stated objectives are to identify academic strengths and weaknesses, enhance motivation, and develop effective study skills and personal developmental skills. The article describes it as follows: "The course consists of 36 contact hours across a 14-week academic term, costs the student $350, and is taught by q ualified instructors who hold graduate degrees in Education and/or Psychology". Instruction uses diagnostic assessment (the LASSI, re-administered at the last class), lecture, group discussion, written assignments, presentations, and in-class application exercises, with classes capped at no more than 20 students.

Design Implications

Context

Requirements

• Mandatory registration for all AP students, with payment of the cost-recovery tuition fee
• Diagnostic assessment with individual feedback, and instructors who hold graduate degrees in Education and/or Psychology

Constraints

• The SSC grade does not appear on the university transcript or affect GPA; students who do not pass must remain on AP and re-take the course
• Whether academic gains were maintained over time and whether students persisted to degree completion were not assessed

Target Learners

• Undergraduate students on academic probation (cumulative GPA below 1.7)

Learning Goals

• Learning strategies and study skills
• Motivation and self-regulation
• Reduced test anxiety and procrastination
• Improved GPA and removal of academic probation status

Claims

• Ssc Improved Lassi Learning Strategies [+M]
• Ssc Improved Gpa And Removed Probation [+M]

Related Designs

Examples

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Key Sources

• Bowering, E. R., Mills, J., & Merritt, A. (2017). Learning How to Learn: A Student Success Course for At Risk Students. The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 8(3). http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cjsotl_rcacea/vol8/iss3/12

Page metadata

Field	Value
type	design
id	student-success-course-msvu
title	Student Success Course (SSC): a mandatory 14-week noncredit intervention for students on academic probation
description	The SSC is a mandatory, noncredit intervention developed at Mount St.
status	review
generated	by process:settle-candidates on 2026-11-02
trust	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
sources	1 — bowering-2017

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