Three Ideas for Post-Coronavirus Educational Recovery
There are many ways that schools can proactively address the inevitable and inequitable gaps caused by coronavirus-related school closures.
Forbes / March 30, 2020
This study examines the role of communication with on-campus friends on first-year students’ college adjustment, measured by academic self-efficacy, among first- and non-first-generation students. It also tests whether school connectedness, students’ perceived sense of being part of the institution, mediates the relation between communication and academic self-efficacy. Participants were 246 students (55% first generation) from diverse ethnic backgrounds attending a large public university in southwestern United States. Participants completed an online survey that included the Academic Self-Efficacy Scale and School Connectedness Scale and responded to questions about frequency and mode of communication about academic, social, and personal concerns with on-campus friends. Regardless of college-generation status, students’ frequency of communication with on-campus friends was positively related to academic self-efficacy and school connectedness mediated this relation. Implications for student affairs professionals and future research are discussed.
