Effects of a Syllabus Offer of Help, Student Age, and Class Size on College Students' Willingness to Seek Support from Faculty

Abstract

This study explored college students' willingness to seek help from college instructors as a function of student age, class size, and whether a supportive statement was placed on the syllabus. Students (N = 104) read brief syllabi of two courses in which class size and an offer of outside-of-class help from the instructor were manipulated. The results showed that the students were more likely to express willingness to seek support from an instructor when the instructor explicitly offered outside help on the syllabus. In addition, there was a significant effect of age on support seeking. Younger (under 25) and older students did not differ significantly in their willingness to seek help in the supportive condition, but younger students were significantly less willing than older students to seek help in the neutral condition. These findings suggest that instructors might be able to encourage more students to seek outside-of-class help by placing supportive statements on the class syllabus. However, further research is needed to determine whether students' expressed willingness to seek help would translate into actual behavior.