“Retention and the Writing Center”: A mixed-methods study measuring writing center students’ satisfaction, self-efficacy, and locus of control

This thesis reports the findings of a mixed-methods study of first-year writing students’ experiences in a writing center course that supplements the first course of a first-year composition sequence. The study seeks to articulate connections between students’ experiences and known retention-promoting factors, namely satisfaction, self-efficacy, and locus of control. Data sources include a survey, written reflections, and interviews. These data sources are analyzed using Pearson bivariate correlations, descriptive statistics, and constant comparison coding. Drawing from the study participants’ experiences in the writing center course, implications are discussed for writing center administrators and researchers as well as retention researchers.