EFFECTS OF A SYLLABUS OFFER OF HELP, STUDENT AGE, AND CLASS SIZE ON COLLEGE-STUDENTS WILLINGNESS TO SEEK SUPPORT FROM FACULTY

This study explored college students' willingness to seek help from co llege instructors as a function of student age, class size, and whethe r a supportive statement was placed on the syllabus, Students (N = 104 ) read brief syllabi of two courses in which class size and an offer o f outside-of-class help from the instructor were manipulated, The resu lts showed that the students were more likely to express willingness t o seek support from an instructor when the instructor explicitly offer ed outside help on the syllabus, In addition, there was a significant effect of age on support seeking, Younger (under 25) and older student s did not differ significantly in their willingness to seek help in th e supportive condition, but younger students were significantly less w illing than older students to seek help in the neutral condition. Thes e findings suggest that instructors might be able to encourage more st udents to seek outside-of-class help by placing supportive statements on the class syllabus. However, further research is needed to determin e whether students' expressed willingness to seek help would translate into actual behavior.