What Works in Conversations With University Students? An Exploratory Study
Gwenda Schlundt Bodien, Coert Visser
Abstract: This paper contrasts what happened on a microlevel in conversations between coaches and students when coaches used solution-focused interventions versus confrontational interventions. Four students self-reported regarding their motivations, self-determination, and expectations to succeed at their studies, before and directly after the conversation with the coach and at a 2-month follow-up. Recommendations are provided for the design of research on interventions aimed at increasing students’ self-regulated behaviors to achieve academic success. Based on this exploratory study it seems that solution-focused interventions differ from confrontational interventions and that conversations with a coach can affect students’ self-determination, motivations, expectations to succeed, and fulfillment of basic needs (e.g., feelings of relatedness, competence, and autonomy). The findings yielded a negative effect for students who had confrontational interactions and a positive effect for students who had solution-focused interactions
Keywords solution-focused, coaching, student, microanalysis, confrontational interventions, self-determination
