The Effect of Counselling on the Academic Performance of College Students

Introduction: The adjustment difficulties of college students have been an emerging issue. Many studies have proved that the adjustment difficulties like appetite disturbance, concentration problems and depression are most evident in freshmen. To help college students in resolving their adjustment issues, we made efforts in the form of establishing a counselling system to provide intervention to the students, so that their social and emotional problems did not interfere with their academic performances, for the current study. We chose to examine the relationship between the college counselling experience and the academic performance in a sample of freshmen.

Aim: To explore the relationship and the effect of counselling on the academic performance of college students.

Objective: 1. To find the relationship between the academic performance and counselling.

2. To find the relationship between the number of sessions and the academic performance.

Material and Methods: Fifty Four First MBBS college students of the SBMCH 2007-2008 batch, who underwent face to face individual intake interviews with college faculty members, were given questionnaires and the analysis was based on their response to the questions and their academic performance.

Result: This study showed that there was an increase in the average marks by about 15%-25% among 43% of the students and by about 10% -15% of marks among 13% of the students. There was no marked improvement among 31% of them and there was no change in 4% of the students .The divond part of the study showed that the number of sessions correlated positively with the academic performance.

Conclusion: This study showed that the counselling services in colleges had been effective in easing out the students’ personal difficulties. The constructive support which was received from individual counselling seemed to have a positive influence on the academic performance and the number of sessions correlated positively with the academic performance.

The adjustment difficulties of college students have been an emerging issue. Many studies have proved that the adjustment difficulties like appetite disturbance, concentration problems and depression are most evident in freshmen [1]. To help college students in resolving their adjustment issues, we made efforts in the form of establishing a counselling system, to provide intervention to the students so that their social and emotional problems did not interfere with their academic performances, for the current study.

Counselling is an activity that utilizes interpersonal relationships to enable people to develop self understanding and to make changes in their lives. We chose to examine the relationship between the college counselling experience and the academic performance in a sample of freshmen. Freshman are more likely to experience loneliness, low self esteem and higher frequencies of life changes than their seniors [2].

MATERIAL AND METHOD

After obtaining their written informed consents, 54 First MBBS college students of Sree Balaji Medical College and Hospital of the 2007-2008 batch were recruited for the study. They underwent face to face individual intake counselling with the college faculty members throughout the first year of their course. Individual counselling helps the faculty to have personal talks with the students, that helps them in understanding the problems of the students and solving them effectively.

COUNSELLING SESSION

The students are assessed at the beginning of the counselling. The assessment was done to clearly understand the problems of the students, so that their situations could be improved. The students were allowed to express his or her problem and full confidentiality was assured them. We offered encouragement and solutions to their problems and promised to support them whenever they wanted. Depending upon the problems, the number of sessions were increased.

They were given questionnaires about the sessions at the end of the first year and the analysis was based on their response to the questions and their academic performances. The counselling included their personal problems and the academic difficulties in their studies. The questionnaire included questions like, ‘Was the counselling useful?’, ‘Did you show improvement in the academic performance?’, ‘Did more number of sessions or less number of sessions help you?’, ‘Should the counsellor be changed? etc’. Finally, the analysis was done, depending on the questionnaire and the marks of the internal assessment throughout the year.

RESULT

This study [Table/Fig-1] proved that 93% of the students found the counselling useful. [Table/Fig-2] 74% of them said that teachers were better counsellors with respect to the academic performance. [Table/Fig-3], [Table/Fig-4] 95% said that they showed improvement after the counselling. According to the [Table/Fig-5] Study, there was an increase in the average marks by about 15%-25% among 43% of the students and by about 10%-15% of marks among 13% of the students.

[Table/Fig-1]:

Shows usefulness of counseling in % of students.

[Table/Fig-2]:

Shows better counsellor in %.

[Table/Fig-3]:

Shows how does counselling help in % of students.

[Table/Fig-4]:

Did you improve after counselling in % of students.

[Table/Fig-5]:

Correlation between difference in average marks between 1st half and 2nd half of the academic year with number of sessions.

[Table/Fig-5] There was no marked improvement among 31% of them and there was no change in 4% of the students. The second part of the study showed that the number of sessions correlated positively with the academic performance.

DISCUSSION

One study explored the impact of counselling on the academic progress and the retention by using both objective and self–reported measures. A comparison was made between the counselling of the clients and the general student body. It indicated that the counselled students showed a superior retention as compared to their peers [3]. Reviews which were done on the school counselling also proved that it had a positive effect on the children [4–7]. There are also studies which have proved that those who attended the counselling showed improvement in their grades as compared to those who did not [8]. This study, like the other studies, proved that 93% of the students had found that the counselling sessions useful. This study also proved that more students (43%) showed improvement in the academic performance by 15-25% and that 13% of the students showed improvement by 10-15%. Thus, this study proved that more than 50% (43+13%) of the students had shown good improvement after the counselling. This study also proved that those who attended more number of sessions showed better response than those who attended less number of sessions. Finally, we can conclude from this study, that counselling is very effective in improving the students’ performance as well as their confidence.

CONCLUSION

This study showed that the counselling service in colleges is effective in easing the students’ personal difficulties. The constructive support which was received from individual counselling seemed to have a positive influence on the academic performance and the number of sessions correlated positively with the academic performance.

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