Abstract

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a counseling model based on students' lived experiences on the academic enthusiasm of students on probation. This study is applied in terms of purpose and quasi-experimental in terms of method with a single-subject ABA design. Its statistical population includes on academic probation students at Lorestan University. Six of them who met the requirements for entering the study, including willingness to participate in counseling sessions , probation in the first or second semester, or both previous semesters of the previous academic year, were selected and voluntarily participated in the study and were counseled in individual sessions. In order to obtain the level of academic enthusiasm of probational students, the Academic Enthusiasm Scale (Fredericks et al., 2004) was used. This scale measures three concepts of academic enthusiasm in students with 15 items, including cognitive academic enthusiasm, motivational and emotional academic enthusiasm, and behavioral academic enthusiasm. In the present study, the content validity of the scale was confirmed by professors and experts, and its reliability was calculated using the Cronbach's alpha method, which yielded a coefficient of 0.79. The participants in the study completed the Academic Enthusiasm Scale in the pre-test phase and participated in 10 individual counseling sessions weekly. Then, they completed the Academic Enthusiasm Scale in the post-test phase, and a follow-up session was conducted one month after the last session. The data were analyzed graphically using SPSS software, calculating the change index and the percentage of improvement.

The findings indicate that the changes in post-test scores were stable compared to pre-test scores, and in 66.67% of participants, the percentage of improvement (increase in academic enthusiasm score) was higher than the significant percentage both at the end of the intervention sessions and in the follow-up phase. So that for all 6 participants, the highest increase in score occurred in the emotional dimension of academic enthusiasm, and in 4 participants, the cognitive dimension was the second dimension that increased the most, and only in participants number 3 and number 4, the changes in the behavioral dimension in the intervention phase were higher than the cognitive dimension, which in both cases decreased in the follow-up phase. This finding may indicate the complexity and time-consuming nature of changes in the behavioral and cognitive dimensions, because cognitive and behavioral changes require the passage of time and practice in a real environment. Affective engagement is related to effective attitudes towards recognizing a sense of belonging to the learning environment, and cognitive engagement refers to flexibility in problem solving, preference for hard work, positive coping with failure, self-regulated learning approaches, and metacognitive strategies. While behavioral engagement refers to learning activities, attention to detail, and positive attention and presence in the learning environment.

Studies have shown that students who are cognitively and emotionally engaged in learning are more willing to spend sufficient time and effort on homework and studies and are more persistent in facing problems than students who have lower levels of cognitive and emotional engagement. Students who attend class regularly, focus on learning topics, and adhere to the rules of the educational institution generally get high grades and perform better on tests. Some studies suggest that students who are emotionally and cognitively more motivated to learn put in more effort and time on assignments than students who have low levels of cognitive and emotional motivation, and are more efficient and persistent in facing problems. Since students on probationary academic, often have difficulty with motivation, it seems that a motivational counseling style would be a good way to help them. If these stiudents are helped to succeed in achieving their goals and change their problematic behavior, they will come to believe that they have the ability to change, and this feeling will cause them to be motivated.

Another point, is that in 4 participants, 66.66% of the changes at both the end of the intervention and the follow-up stages were at an improvement level of over 50%, which is statistically significant and acceptable, and it can be said that counseling sessions based on students' experiences have been effective in increasing academic enthusiasm. Since, according to research, academic enthusiasm has distinct behavioral, emotional, and cognitive dimensions that are correlated with and support academic achievement, it can be said that the counseling model based on students' experiences can be effective in academic achievement and helps the student get out of probation. The third point is that all four participants (numbers 1-2-4-5) who showed a significant improvement percentage at both the end of the counseling sessions and the follow-up phase were in their second year of study, and participants number 3 and number 6, whose percentage of improvement changes were not significant, were in their third and fourth years of study. Therefore, students who are in their lower years of education and have fewer probations have less damaged perceptions of efficacy, so they accept self-focused strategies and attend counseling sessions with the hope of improvement, and they are less resistant to the view that the current situation is changeable and that they are capable of making changes. On the other hand, students in their higher years who have experienced failure and academic probation for many times, become somewhat disappointed and discouraged about the possibility of change through self-focused strategies and practically lose the motivation to try to change the current situation.

Given this finding, and considering the higher statistics of probation in the first and second years of study and the first or second semesters of entering university, identifying students with academic decline and probation and utilizing counseling services to rehabilitate and assist them from the very beginning is an inevitable necessity.

In conclusion, the counseling model based on students' lived experiences is consistent with other studies that emphasize improving academic performance by strengthening self-management skills and a positive and meaningful relationship between academic buoyancy and motivational dimensions. This model can have effective effects on increasing academic enthusiasm of conditional students and consequently academic performance by increasing intrinsic motivation and readiness for change, evaluating and strengthening confidence in change, and supporting self-efficacy. Therefore, the counseling model based on students' lived experiences can be considered effective in increasing academic enthusiasm and its use is recommended for counseling students with academic decline and conditional academic performance .