Nguyen, V. H., & Blanco, A. J., & Steppan, A., & Munoz, J., & Pina-Castillo, G., & Patel, S., & Cabrera, M., & Wimmer, T., & Espiritu, D. J. (2024, June), Board 173: Fostering Community of Practive (CoP): The Impact on Self-Efficacy and Belonging of Undergraduate Students  Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--46736

\bibitem{asee_peer_46736}
  Nguyen, V. H., \& Blanco, A. J., \& Steppan, A., \& Munoz, J., \& Pina-Castillo, G., \& Patel, S., \& Cabrera, M., \& Wimmer, T., \& Espiritu, D. J. (2024, June), \emph{Board 173: Fostering Community of Practive (CoP): The Impact on Self-Efficacy and Belonging of Undergraduate Students}
  Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, Portland, Oregon.
  10.18260/1-2--46736

Vivian H Nguyen, Anthony Jesus Blanco, Andrew Steppan, Juan Munoz, Guadalupe Pina-Castillo, Shlesha Patel, Melvin Cabrera, Tobias Wimmer, and Doris J. Espiritu.  "Board 173: Fostering Community of Practive (CoP): The Impact on Self-Efficacy and Belonging of Undergraduate Students".  2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon, 2024, June.  ASEE Conferences, 2024.  https://peer.asee.org/46736 Internet.  20 Mar, 2025

\bibitem{asee_peer_46736}
  Vivian H Nguyen, Anthony Jesus Blanco, Andrew Steppan, Juan Munoz, Guadalupe Pina-Castillo, Shlesha Patel, Melvin Cabrera, Tobias Wimmer, and Doris J. Espiritu.
  "Board 173: Fostering Community of Practive (CoP): The Impact on Self-Efficacy and Belonging of Undergraduate Students".
  \emph{2024 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, Portland, Oregon, 2024, June}.
  ASEE Conferences, 2024.
  https://peer.asee.org/46736 Internet.  20 Mar, 2025

@INPROCEEDINGS{asee_peer_46736
author = "Vivian H Nguyen, Anthony Jesus Blanco, Andrew Steppan, Juan Munoz, Guadalupe Pina-Castillo, Shlesha Patel, Melvin Cabrera, Tobias Wimmer, and Doris J. Espiritu"
title = "Board 173: Fostering Community of Practive (CoP): The Impact on Self-Efficacy and Belonging of Undergraduate Students"
booktitle = "2024 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition"
year = "2024"
month = "June"
address = "Portland, Oregon"
publisher = "ASEE Conferences"
note = {https://peer.asee.org/46736}
number = {10.18260/1-2--46736}
}

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - In 2021, 2.3 million students dropped out of college, a 3.6% increase from the previous year, resulting in a 40.4 million Some College, No Credential (SCNC) population. Although many strategies have been implemented to retain and support these students in recent years, the increasing SCNC population indicates the issue persists. We hypothesize that increasing community of practice (CoP) through participation in student organizations could increase belonging in college and consequently increase retention. A community of practice is a group of people with a shared passion or concern who interact regularly in a common endeavor. CoP can be utilized to significantly increase a student's sense of belonging and self-efficacy (confidence in one's ability to execute a course of action to deal with a prospective situation), leading to greater academic success. To test this hypothesis, we created a survey to examine students' co-curricular and extracurricular participation, belonging, and self-efficacy. We also conducted case-study interviews through the Appreciative Inquiry (AI) method. The Appreciative Inquiry method is a strengths-based approach that highlights what is already effective and how to incorporate these aspects to the issues at hand. We conducted a survey of over 200 participants from community colleges and 4-year institutions. Our results suggest that engagement in extracurricular or co-curricular activities through community of practice empowers students' self-efficacy and sense of belonging; however, many undergraduate students, especially from community colleges, diverge from their goals due to external barriers. We were also able to identify barriers that prevent college students from fully committing to academics and participating in extracurricular or co-curricular activities. Interestingly, regardless of the barriers, some students are willing to participate and take on more responsibilities in their community if given the chance to develop CoP. Students who engage in these extra and co-curricular activities found that they experienced positive impacts in their lives—ranging from increased confidence, increased professional aptitude, and an increased sense of community. Identifying the factors in co-curricular and extracurricular engagement that cultivate CoP can aid colleges in providing spaces for developing these communities and increasing retention. The interviews investigated how students grew their skills by immersing themselves amongst like-minded individuals in their community who share similar experiences and goals. The case study interviews show that students, despite barriers, find added motivation to continue their degree programs due to the deeper connections formed while engaging in professional workshops, studying together, and participating in communal activities. These findings underscore the potential of CoP cultivated from extracurricular and cocurricular activities to fortify students' resolve, providing a pathway toward improved academic persistence, success, and retention.

AU  - Vivian H Nguyen
AU  - Anthony Jesus Blanco
AU  - Andrew Steppan
AU  - Juan Munoz
AU  - Guadalupe Pina-Castillo
AU  - Shlesha Patel
AU  - Melvin Cabrera
AU  - Tobias Wimmer
AU  - Doris J. Espiritu
CY  - Portland, Oregon
DA  - 2024/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Board 173: Fostering Community of Practive (CoP): The Impact on Self-Efficacy and Belonging of Undergraduate Students
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/46736
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--46736
ER  -