Responding to Academically Distressed Students

Mr. Ronald M. Quileste, M.Ed
School of Education, Xavier University

students often experience
high levels of stress

highlevels of stress
Most students successfully cope
with university life; however, some
become overwhelmed

highlevels of stress
Most students successfully cope
with university life; however, some
become overwhelmed
A significant number of college students
have their education and personal lives
disrupted by psychological problems

Whenpsychological
difficultiesgo
untreated,theresults
canbeseriousand
includeacademicfailure
andevenwithdrawal
fromtheuniversity

Faculty and staff
play a key role in
identifying and
responding to
distressed
students

As a faculty or staff
member you often get the
first glimpse of students in
trouble and may be the first
person who students turn
to for help

Responding to Student Academic Problems
The Failing Student
Academic Dismissal
Writing Anxiety
Learning Skills
Math Anxiety
Exam Anxiety
Procrastination

The student may come
to class late or often
may be absent

The student usually
does not understand
the course content

The student may be
unaware of campus
resources to combat
the problem

Negative thinking and
behavior may be
evident early in the
course

The student might lack
preparation or
interest in the course

The student may not be
able to balance work,
social activities and
academic study hours

Encourage the student
to make a private
appointment

Review the student’s
performance in the
course

Make suggestions
for improvement

Refer the student to a
learning assistance service
of the College or School

Refer the student to a counselor
for personal/social counseling
and educational/vocational
counseling

Concluding that the
student is just lazy

Waiting to connect
with the student

Presuming the student
lacks the ability to be
successful.

Discouraging the student
who really does have the
time to improve

The Academically
Dismissed Student

Problems leading to academic dismissal often
include the following:
wrong major

financial
difficulties

too many outside
work hours

an accident

illness of student
or family members

theneed
forimprovedstudyskills,
especiallytime
management

failure to use campus
resources

Talk with the
student in private

Listen to the
student’s concerns

Remind the student that current academic
requirements and policies are listed in the
Schedule of Classes, in the university
catalog, and or the school / university’s
website

Have the student
explain the main
reasons for the
dismissal

Ask the student if
he/she has seen an
academic advisor

Refer the student to an
academic advisor to
develop a two-semester
corrective plan

Overwhelming the
student with too much
information

Assuming the student can work
through the problems without
developing a network of support
on campus

Discouraging the
student from applying
for reinstatement

Reaching the conclusion
that the student will not
be reinstated

Anxiety may result in
assignments being late
or not turned in at all

A history of incompletes may
be a sign of writing anxiety

Often the student is
emotional when discussing
his/her writing

A failure to
understand the
assignment

The lack of pre-writing
techniques for starting
the assignment

Lack of general time
management skills

Poor grades on writing
assignments in the past

Have a private
appointment with
the student

Listen carefully to the
student’s explanation
of the problem

Look for patterns and
repetition of the
problem behavior

Refer the student to a
writing counselor

Refer the student to the
Writing Center of the
English Department

Refer the student who speaks about
a learning disability to the Disability
Support Service of the school’s
Counseling Center

Refer the student to the
Counseling Center for
psychological counseling, if
needed

Concluding that the
student is only trying to
obtain extra time for
the assignment

Assuming the student
can simply control the
behavior by him/herself

A student may not have been
taught specific learning skills
prior to coming to college

Good time management can
promote academic success

Paper and pencil techniques
(e.g., “to do” lists, schedules, and
calendars) can help students
analyze and organize their time

Notes and text material can promote
learning (e.g., making marginal notes,
giving visual emphasis to material,
scheduling frequent reviews, etc.)

A student can plan
effective study strategies,
based on his/her learning
style

Sometimes a student’s
learning style does not
match the teaching style of
the instructor

Learning skills and
strategies vary, according
to the specific nature and
content of the course

Ask the student about
his/her personal study
time and study
strategies

Determine if the
student understands
the course content

Provide clarification of
course content, if
needed

Build into your class a session
on how to study for the
course at the beginning of the
semester

Take time to review past
exams to analyze the
student’s strengths and
weaknesses

Make suggestions and
encourage the student to
adjust learning strategies
before the next test

Ask if the student is
utilizing any other
campus resources

Stress the value
of group study

Refer the student to the course’s
Guided Study Sessions for
support (if the course provides
this option for strengthening
study skills)

does not understand
the course material

Believing the student
should know how to
learn course content

Thinking the student
knows about
available campus
resources

Students can experience
math anxiety in any class that
has quantitative activities

Math anxiety can be caused by the following factors:
1. poor math teaching;
2. cultural expectations (e.g., Only men excel in
math)
3. not being developmentally ready for certain
math concepts
4. having a math learning disability, and
5. the sequential nature of math.

Most individuals who admit to having
math anxiety do not show symptoms
of anxiety disorders in other areas of
their lives

However, a high degree of math
anxiety can affect a person’s
inability to perform in non- math
related situations

Math anxiety can be successfully
addressed, using both psychological
and learning strategies coupled with
appropriate math placement

5
an inability to retain
information in a test
situation

Let the student talk about his/her
experiences with math: when
the anxiety first began, what kind
of negative reactions existed,
etc.

Be supportive of the student and
ask the student about his/her
goals and what math course is
needed to fulfill those goals

Be sure the student has
the proper background for
the present math course

Recommend some study strategies (e.g.,
note cards, time management, paper-and
pencil techniques) to help the student
begin to take control of the learning
process or some accommodations, such
as extended time for an assignment

Expecting the
anxiety to just go
away

Assuming the
student is just lazy
and not working

Telling the student to
put more time into the
course without any
intervention

Some anxiety often helps a student
perform better under pressure. However,
if students experience too much anxiety, it
can affect both academic and
psychological well-being

Test anxiety can be caused by
many factors, such as the
pressure to succeed, past
experiences, and/or fear of
failure

6
inability to
retain test
information

The student with anxiety
may not perform well
on tests, although
grades on other course
requirements are good

A student can
have anxiety
related to certain
types of exams

Astudentcanhaveanxietyrelatedtocertaintypesofexams
For example, there may
be a great discrepancy
between a student’s
grades in multiple-choice
and essay exams in the
same course

Ask about the student’s
exam preparation and
time management skills

Suggest useful study
strategies and exam
preparation techniques

Go over the exam with the
student so that the student
understands his/her
performance and what
caused the errors

Encourage the student to
form a study group for the
course to provide academic
and psychological support

Recommend tutoring if the
student does not
understand the course
material

is simply trying to ask
for special attention

Thinking the student
should be able to
handle the problem
without support

Concluding that the
student must have a
learning disability

Believing that if the student
really understands the material,
the student should be able to
perform better on exams

The Student Who
Procrastinates

Procrastination is putting off
something that is in the student’s
best interests to do, or doing less
important things first

Avoidance of important work
can lead to stress, depression,
shame, and guilt which, in turn,
can cause the student to avoid
the same tasks in the future

While some students
procrastinate because a given
task is aversive, there is usually
an emotional cause at the root of
serious procrastination

Help the student
assess time
management skills

Help the student set
specific and realistic
goals

Help the student set specific and realistic goals
Procrastinators often
cannot see the trees for
the forest!

Be clear with
deadlines, limits, and
consequences

Identify how
procrastination hurts the
student and use his/her
suffering as a motivator for
change

Identifyhowprocrastinationhurtsthestudentandusehis/hersufferingasa
motivatorforchange
Procrastinators will not
seek help unless they are
suffering from the
procrastination

Recognize that there are often
strong emotions underlying
procrastination, such as guilt,
fear, anger, depression, panic,
and shame

Recognizethatthereareoftenstrongemotionsunderlyingprocrastination,such
asguilt,fear,anger,depression,panic,andshame
Chronic procrastinators
may have low self-esteem
and suffer extreme guilt

Refer the student for individual or
group counseling when the student is
suffering emotionally or academically
from her/his procrastination

Assuming that the
student is lazy or
stupid

Communicating in ways
that increase shame
and, thereby, decrease
motivation to change

Being pushy because the
student could respond
with resentment or
rebellion

Conveying disappointment
or irritation if the student
does not make quick
progress.

Conveyingdisappointmentorirritationifthestudentdoesnotmake
quickprogress
Such messages may lead to a
stand off, which is a relationship
pattern that procrastinators
often have with others

Responding to Academically Distressed Students

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