Instructors’ actions in the classroom matter; what the instructor does and says can impact students’ attitudes about the course and learning approaches, which can in turn impact the quality of their learning. This study examines the relationships among instructor openness to student questions, student help-seeking behavior, and student final grade in lecture-style college/university courses. Two hundred sixty-eight university students completed measures on their perception of instructor openness to questions and their approach to help-seeking in class. Perceived instructor openness and help-seeking were positively related to grade. Help-seeking mediated the relationship between perceived instructor openness to questions and final grade. Participants were also asked for examples of communication behaviors instructors used to either promote or suppress help-seeking; themes emerging from these responses are presented, and implications for instructors are given.
AlevenVMcLarenBRollI, et al. (2006) Toward meta-cognitive tutoring: A model of help seeking with a cognitive tutor. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education16(2): 101–28.
2.
AngeloTACrossKP (1993) Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers (Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series). 2nd edn.San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
3.
BakerA (2006) What else do students need? A psychodynamic reflection on students’ need for support from staff at university. Active Learning in Higher Education7(2): 171–83.
4.
BallenCJWiemanCSalehiS, et al. (2017) Enhancing diversity in undergraduate science: Self-efficacy drives performance gains with active learning. CBE: Life Sciences Education16(4): ar56.
5.
BertelsenRGYingDSolinapG (2013) Learning, when you are not learning. In: KirkebækMDuXJensenA (eds) Teaching and Learning Culture. Rotterdam: Sense, pp. 145–62.
6.
CabreraNLRashwan-SotoFDValenciaBG (2016) An intersectionality analysis of Latino men in higher education and their help-seeking behaviors. In: SáenzVBPonjuánLFigueroaJL (eds) Ensuring the Success of Latino Males in Higher Education: A National Imperative. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing, pp. 75–92.
7.
CalarcoJM (2011) “I need help!” Social class and children’s help-seeking in elementary school. American Sociological Review76(6): 862–82.
8.
ChuYPalmerSPerskyAM (2018) Assessing metacognition in the classroom: Student help-seeking behavior. Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning10(11): 1478–87.
9.
ColeDGSugiokaHLYamagata-LynchLC (1999) Supportive classroom environments for creativity in higher education. The Journal of Creative Behavior33(4): 277–93.
10.
CollierPJMorganDL (2008) “Is that paper really due today?” Differences in first-generation and traditional college students’ understandings of faculty expectations. Higher Education55(4): 425–46.
11.
ElliotAJHarackiewiczJM (1996) Approach and avoidance achievement goals and intrinsic motivation: A mediational analysis. Journal of personality and social psychology70(3): 461.
12.
FinneySJBarryCLHorstSJ, et al. (2018) Exploring profiles of academic help seeking: A mixture modeling approach. Learning and Individual Differences61: 158–71.
13.
FischerMJ (2010) A longitudinal examination of the role of stereotype threat and racial climate on college outcomes for minorities at elite institutions. Social Psychology of Education13(1): 19–40.
14.
Fryer-EdwardsKArnoldRMBaileW, et al. (2006) Reflective teaching practices: An approach to teaching communication skills in a small-group setting. Academic Medicine81(7): 638–44.
15.
GeertshuisSA (2018) Slaves to our emotions: Examining the predictive relationship between emotional well-being and academic outcomes. Active Learning in Higher Education. Epub ahead of print 31 October. DOI: 10.1177/1469787418808932.
16.
HammondKThorogoodJJenkinsA, et al. (2015) A friendly destination: Normalising first-year science student help-seeking through an academic literacy Targeted Learning Session. A practice report. The International Journal of the First Year in Higher Education6(1): 179–85.
17.
HayesAF (2013) Introduction to Mediation, Moderation, and Conditional Process Analysis: A Regression-based Approach. New York: The Guilford Press.
18.
HeaslipGDonovanPCullenJG (2014) Student response systems and learner engagement in large classes. Active Learning in Higher Education15(1): 11–24.
19.
HeckRHTabataLThomasSL (2013) Multilevel and Longitudinal Modeling with IBM SPSS. New York: Routledge.
20.
HurtadoSEaganMKTranMC, et al. (2011) “We do science here”: Underrepresented students’ interactions with faculty in different college contexts. Journal of Social Issues67(3): 553–79.
21.
IsraelashviliMIshiyamaFI (2008) Positive and negative emotions related to seeking help from a school counselor. Advances in School Mental Health Promotion1(4): 5–13.
22.
KarabenickSA (1998) Strategic Help Seeking: Implications for Learning and Teaching. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
23.
KarabenickSA (2003) Seeking help in large college classes: A person-centered approach. Contemporary Educational Psychology28(1): 37–58.
24.
KarabenickSA (2004) Perceived achievement goal structure and college student help seeking. Journal of Educational Psychology96(3): 569–81.
25.
KarabenickSA (2006) Introduction. In: KarabenickSANewmanRS (eds) Help Seeking in Academic Settings: Goals, Groups, and Contexts. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 1–14.
26.
KarabenickSAGonidaEN (2018) Academic help seeking as a self-regulated learning strategy: Current issues, future directions. In: SchunkHDGreeneJA (eds) Handbook of Self-Regulation of Learning and Performance. New York: Routledge, pp. 421–33.
27.
KarabenickSAKnappJR (1991) Relationship of academic help seeking to the use of learning strategies and other instrumental achievement behavior in college students. Journal of Educational Psychology83(2): 221–30.
28.
KarabenickSASharmaR (1994) Perceived teacher support of student questioning in the college classroom: Its relation to student characteristics and role in the classroom questioning process. Journal of Educational Psychology86(1): 90–103.
29.
KitsantasA (2002) Test preparation and performance: A self-regulatory analysis. The Journal of Experimental Education70(2): 101–13.
30.
KlibertJLamisDACollinsW, et al. (2014) Resilience mediates the relations between perfectionism and college student distress. Journal of Counseling & Development92(1): 75–82.
31.
KomissaroukSHarpazGNadlerA (2017) Dispositional differences in seeking autonomy- or dependency-oriented help: Conceptual development and scale validation. Personality and Individual Differences108: 103–12.
32.
KozanitisADesbiensJ-FChouinardR (2007) Perception of teacher support and reaction towards questioning: Its relation to instrumental help-seeking and motivation to learn. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education19(3): 238–50.
33.
LeeEMKramerR (2013) Out with the old, in with the new? Habitus and social mobility at selective colleges. Sociology of Education86(1): 18–35.
34.
LightGCalkinsS (2008) The experience of faculty development: Patterns of variation in conceptions of teaching. International Journal for Academic Development13(1): 27–40.
35.
MasseyDSFischerMJ (2005) Stereotype threat and academic performance: New findings from a racially diverse sample of college freshmen. Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race2(1): 45–67.
36.
MeeceJLAndermanEMAndermanLH (2006) Classroom goal structure, student motivation, and academic achievement. Annual Review of Psychology57: 487–503.
37.
Mulryan-KyneC (2010) Teaching large classes at college and university level: Challenges and opportunities. Teaching in Higher Education15(2): 175–85.
38.
NewmanRS (2000) Social influences on the development of children’s adaptive help seeking: The role of parents, teachers, and peers. Developmental Review20(3): 350–404.
39.
NewmanRSGoldinL (1990) Children’s reluctance to seek help with schoolwork. Journal of Educational Psychology82(1): 92–100.
40.
PaccagnellaO (2006) Centering or not centering in multilevel models? The role of the group mean and the assessment of group effects. Evaluation Review30(1): 66–85.
41.
PatelRTarrantCBonasS, et al. (2015) The struggling student: A thematic analysis from the self-regulated learning perspective. Medical Education49(4): 417–26.
42.
PokornyHPickfordP (2010) Complexity, cues and relationships: Student perceptions of feedback. Active Learning in Higher Education11(1): 21–30.
43.
ProsserMTrigwellK (1999) Understanding Learning and Teaching: The Experience in Higher Education. Buckingham: Society for Research into Higher Education; Open University Press.
44.
PyneKBMeansDR (2013) Underrepresented and in/visible: A Hispanic first-generation student’s narratives of college. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education6(3): 186–98.
45.
RodriguezSLLuCBukoskiBE (2016) “I just feel like having to duke it out by myself”: How Latino men cope with academic and personal obstacles during college. Journal Committed to Social Change on Race and Ethnicity2(2): 63–101.
46.
RousselPElliotAJFeltmanR (2011) The influence of achievement goals and social goals on help-seeking from peers in an academic context. Learning and Instruction21(3): 394–402.
47.
RyanAMPintrichPR (1997) “Should I ask for help?” The role of motivation and attitudes in adolescents’ help seeking in math class. Journal of Educational Psychology89(2): 329–41.
48.
RyanAMShinH (2011) Help-seeking tendencies during early adolescence: An examination of motivational correlates and consequences for achievement. Learning and Instruction21(2): 247–56.
49.
RyanAMGheenMHMidgleyC (1998) Why do some students avoid asking for help? An examination of the interplay among students’ academic efficacy, teachers’ social-emotional role, and the classroom goal structure. Journal of Educational Psychology90(3): 528–35.
50.
RyanAMPintrichPRMidgleyC (2001) Avoiding seeking help in the classroom: Who and why?Educational Psychology Review13(2): 93–114.
51.
Sánchez RosasJPérezE (2015) Measuring threats, benefits, emotional costs and avoidance of academic help-seeking in Argentinian university students. Pensamiento Psicológico13(2): 49–64.
52.
SchenkeKLamACConleyAM, et al. (2015) Adolescents’ help seeking in mathematics classrooms: Relations between achievement and perceived classroom environmental influences over one school year. Contemporary Educational Psychology41: 133–46.
53.
SchinskeJTannerK (2014) Teaching more by grading less (or differently). CBE: Life Sciences Education13(2): 159–66.
54.
SchwitzerAMGriffinOTAncisJR, et al. (1999) Social adjustment experiences of African American college students. Journal of Counseling & Development77(2): 189–97.
55.
ShimSSKieferSMWangC (2013) Help seeking among peers: The role of goal structure and peer climate. The Journal of Educational Research106(4): 290–300.
56.
SidelingerRJFrisbyBNHeislerJ (2016) Students’ out of the classroom communication with instructors and campus services: Exploring social integration and academic involvement. Learning and Individual Differences47: 167–71.
57.
SkaalvikSSkaalvikEM (2005) Self-concept, motivational orientation, and help-seeking behavior in mathematics: A study of adults returning to high school. Social Psychology of Education8(3): 285–302.
58.
SonnakCTowellT (2001) The impostor phenomenon in British university students: Relationships between self-esteem, mental health, parental rearing style and socioeconomic status. Personality and Individual Differences31(6): 863–74.
59.
SteeleCM (1997) A threat in the air. How stereotypes shape intellectual identity and performance. The American Psychologist52(6): 613–29.
60.
UrdanTSchoenfelderE (2006) Classroom effects on student motivation: Goal structures, social relationships, and competence beliefs. Journal of School Psychology44(5): 331–49.
61.
VogelDLWadeNGWesterSR, et al. (2007) Seeking help from a mental health professional: The influence of one’s social network. Journal of Clinical Psychology63(3): 233–45.
62.
WilliamsJDTakakuS (2011) Help seeking, self-efficacy, and writing performance among college students. Journal of Writing Research3(1): 1–18.
63.
WinogradGRustJP (2014) Stigma, awareness of support services, and academic help-seeking among historically underrepresented first-year college students. Learning Assistance Review19(2): 19–43.
64.
ZushoABarnettPA (2011) Personal and contextual determinants of ethnically diverse female high school students’ patterns of academic help seeking and help avoidance in English and mathematics. Contemporary Educational Psychology36(2): 152–64.
