Educational Persistence: Self-Efficacy and Topics in a College Orientation Course

This study examines whether a college orientation course for online programs leads to increased self-efficacy and, if so, which course topics are related to changes in students' self-efficacy. The culminating research question explores whether self-efficacy is related to enrollment persistence. Students' self-efficacy scores improved significantly after taking the orientation course, as measured with a general self-efficacy instrument. In particular, three course topics—characteristics of leadership, personal learning styles, and applying reading comprehension techniques—explained the variance in post-self-efficacy scores at statistically significant levels. For predicting persistence, a model encompassing three topics (characteristics of leadership, personal learning styles, and applying reading comprehension techniques), plus pre- and post — self-efficacy scores, explained 50% of the variance.