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In this study goal orientation theory, a model used to explore achievement motivation that is commonly covered in introductory psychology textbooks, is used to improve student success. Some variants of the theory posit that mastery goals are associated with adaptive behaviours that can lead to increased success. As a result, the authors of this study developed an intervention designed to increase the pursuit of mastery goals. In previous research, they found that the intervention was associated with altered goals and improved grades. In the current study, they examined the consequences for retention and graduation rates. During the fall 2005 semester, the intervention was extended to 221 students enrolled in introductory psychology classes. A similar set of students who did not receive the intervention served as a comparison group. Five years later, the authors examined the students' transcripts for persistence in school. Students who were at risk for failure and who completed the intervention enrolled in courses at the university at nearly twice the rate of the comparison group in each of the subsequent years, and they graduated at nearly twice the rate of the comparison group. Thus, this intervention was associated with increased retention and graduation rates.

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We extended a series of interventions developed in modern cognitive psychology to a group of students who had been academically dismissed and were at high risk to not complete college. Students learned how to respond adaptively to academic failure, how to embrace challenge, how to set realistic goals, and how to persist until their goals are achieved. The interventions were delivered within a sophomore seminar course. Within the class, students learned about, considered and practiced aspects of growth mindset, goal orientation, grit, stereotype threat, and belongingness. Before beginning the class, the 68 students had a mean cumulative GPA of 1.45, a course completion rate of 60%, and it was expected that over half would drop out of college within the next year. Following the intervention, students earned a mean semester GPA of 2.39, a course completion rate of 73%, 72% were retained for the next semester, and 58% were still enrolled one year later. These findings provide support for the benefits of these techniques used together to afford student success in a population of students that have previously struggled academically. ​

The scholarship of teaching and learning literature is replete with examples of pedagogical techniques that have been demonstrated to be effective in improving learning, motivation, and student success. The extension of these techniques beyond the original context has tended to be slow, difficult, and incomplete. The following paper examines an intervention designed to encourage the exploration and use of a variety of pedagogical techniques by faculty in a traditional, four-year college faculty within the context of the AASCU Re-imagining the First Year Initiative. Small groups of six to eight faculty, joined and created communities of practice. The groups were known as Pedagogical Interest Groups, or PIGs for short. The faculty read about and analyzed a series of pedagogical techniques and committed to introducing at least one technique into their courses to further explore the techniques. When the techniques were successful, the faculty members redesigned entire classes to expand the impact. The communities of practice were successful in encouraging faculty to explore a wide variety of techniques. The average faculty group explored eight different pedagogical techniques. Faculty were able to use the opportunity to experiment with techniques with the support from their colleagues in their PIG. A dozen techniques were explored across the PIGs and dozens of class sections have been completely redesigned. To date, over 2000 students have experienced redesigned courses. Measures of student success, satisfaction, and interest in those sections have increased. The effort has been accompanied by a robust increase in the campus-wide retention rates. ​