Purposeful Programming: Measuring Student Sense Of Belonging In A Residential College
Leia Duncan, Chris Kirk, and Dr. Rishi Sriram
Leia Duncan Chris Kirk Dr. Rishi Sriram
Answering the Question
What is a Residential College?
•All Classifications
•College Council
•Meals Together•Living &
Learning Combined
•Program Director
•Faculty Steward
Faculty Leadership
Staff Leadership
Student LeadershipExperience
Residential Colleges at Baylor
Residential Colleges
320-370 students
BrooksAll Majors
HonorsHonors Students
TealEngineering, Computer
Science, & Nursing
Retreat Structure
• Typically held in the first few weeks of the fall semester
• Open invitation and optional
• Overnight (24-36 hours)
• Loaded programming
Aims of a Residential College Retreat
• Student learning through informal interaction (Ryan, 2001).
• Sense of belonging is crucial (Baumeister & Leery, 1995; Goodenow, 1993; Maslow, 1943; Strayhorn, 2012).
• First few weeks critical for retention (Tinto, 1988).Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
The Challenges
Looking for Answers
Practice
Research
Sense of Belonging Definition
Part of something greater
Connected/Identify with the group
Accepted Matter
Valued
Benefit
Bollen & Hoyle (1990), Goodenow (1993), Baumeister & Leary (1995), Anant (1996), Hurtado & Carter (1997), Simon & Tovar (2010), and Strayhorn (2018)
Sense of Belonging Definition for Residential Colleges
The extent to which students feel accepted valued and included in their residential college. Feeling oneself to be an important part of the life and activity of the community.
Sense of Belonging Scales
Existing Scales Our Scale
Bollen & Hoyle (1990), Hurtado & Carter (1997), Hoffman et el (2002), Hauseman et al. (2009), and Strayhorn (2018)
Administering the Survey
• Pretest/Posttest
• Fall 2016 (n=348) and Fall 2017 (n=256)
• 44.9% Response Rate
• Non-retreat participants = 53
Survey Reliability
• Sense of Belonging – Peers (α= .959)
• Sense of Belonging – Student Staff (α= .762)
• Sense of Belonging – Staff & Faculty (α= .847)
MANCOVA
• No significant difference between retreat and non-retreat participants.
T-Test
• Significant increase on:• Sense of Belonging – Peer (p = .03, d = .36)• Sense of Belonging – Staff/Faculty (p = .04, d = .30)
Analyzing the Data
Findings / Discussion
Sense of Belonging
Peers Student Staff
Faculty & Staff
Findings / Discussion
PeersFaculty / Staff
Student Staff
Student Staff
Faculty
StaffPeers
Findings / Discussion
Findings / Discussion
1 Bi
g Re
trea
t
Medium Event 1
Medium Event 2
Medium Event 3
Findings / Discussion
Could a Retreat not
work…
Because it works?
Findings / Discussion
Those Who Don’t Go Those Who
Go
Questions
References• Anant, S. S. (1966). The need to belong. Canada’s Mental Health.• Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation.
Psychological bulletin.• Bollen, K. A., & Hoyle, R. H. (1990). Perceived cohesion: A conceptual and empirical examination. Social Forces.• Goodenow, C. (1993a). Classroom belonging among early adolescent students: Relationships to motivation and achievement. Journal of
Early Adolescence• Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review.• Hausmann, L. R. M., Ye, F., Schofield, J., & Woods, R. (2009). Sense of belonging and persistence in white and African American
first-year students. Research in Higher Education.• Hoffman, M., Richmond, J., Morrow, J., & Salomone, K. (2002). Investigating "sense of belonging" in first-year college students.
Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory and Practice.• Hurtado, S., & Carter, D. F. (1997). Effects of college transition and perceptions of the campus racial climate on Latino college students'
sense of belonging. Sociology of Education. • Maslow, A. H. (1943). A Theory of Human Motivation. Psychological Review. • Ryan, M. B. (2001). A collegiate way of living. New Haven, CT: Yale University.• Strayhorn, T. L. (2018). College students’ sense of belonging: A key to educational success for all students. New York, NY:Routledge. • Tinto, V. (1988). Stages of student departure. Reflections on the longitudinal character of student leaving. Journal of Higher Education.• Tovar, E., & Simon, M. A. (2010). Factorial structure and invariance analysis of the Sense of Belonging Scales. Measurement and
Evaluation in Counseling and Development.