A recent empirical study conducted by the Office of Institutional
Research and Reporting (IRR) at Salt Lake Community College found that students
who used the SLCC Student Writing Center (SWC) earned higher grades in a
variety of courses compared to students who did not. The study also found that
students who used the SWC returned for the next semester at higher rates than
students who did not.
The findings from the study are particularly relevant to the first goal
in SLCC’s 2017-2023 Strategic Plan to increase student completion, especially
for students enrolled in General Education Core Skills and Distribution Area
courses such as Communications 1010, English 1010 & 2010, History 1700,
Math 1030, and Psychology 1100. Students in these courses who worked with peer
and faculty consultants in the SWC earned course grades averaging a half letter-grade
higher than their peers and showed slightly higher enrollments in the
subsequent semester. A half-letter grade difference can determine whether a
student moves along in their program of study or not. For example, a “C-” in
some courses would need to be repeated for transfer while a half-grade
higher--a “C” or “C+”--allows students to move on to take other classes.
According to the IRR report, “Students in their second term or later who
used the SWC received higher grades in the originating course compared to their
peers who did not use the SWC, even after adjusting for differences due to
gender, ethnicity, prior academic performance (GPA), accumulated credits, term and
number of terms attended.” The report also states that “Students in their
second term or later who used the SWC also returned for the next semester at
higher rates compared to their peers in the matched data who did not use the
SWC.”
The IRR study also found positive impacts on new students who used the
SWC’s tutoring services. While not able to be adjusted for prior academic
performance, the findings about new students suggested “the effect of SWC use
on grades and retention may well have been larger for new students than it was for returning students.”
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