DOI: 10.11648/j.her.20261105.15 ISSN: 2578-935X

From Learned Helplessness to Collective Efficacy: A Three-Year Action Research Study of Peer-Supported Intervention in an Independent College

Xiaohua Xu
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Students in independent colleges (privately funded undergraduate institutions affiliated with public universities) in China face a dual structural disadvantage: weak academic foundations in foundational engineering courses and inadequate informational support for postgraduate admission decision-making. While existing research has examined admission mechanisms primarily in elite universities, micro-level intervention studies targeting independent college engineering students remain scarce. This study reports a three-year action research project involving 141 vehicle engineering students (2019 cohort) at an independent college in Jiangsu Province, with a matched cohort of 130 students (2017 cohort) serving as the comparison group. A peer-supported “Dual-Axis Transmission” model—comprising an academic exemplar serving as the “axis center,” course-specific peer tutors as the “axis spokes,” and a counselor coordinator as the “network hub”—was implemented alongside a structured “School-Selection Database” designed to support evidence-based postgraduate decision-making. Results showed a 59.1% reduction in total course failures (chi-square [χ 2 ] = 48.44, *p* <.001, Cramér's V =.423) and a 90.6% reduction in College Physics failures specifically (64 vs. 6 students; χ 2 = 71.42, *p* <.001, Cramér's V =.513). The overall postgraduate admission rate increased from 11.5% to 32.0% (χ 2 = 16.29, *p* <.001, Cramér's V =.245). Qualitative evidence from 87 individual counseling records revealed shifts from learned helplessness toward proactive academic engagement, with three distinct mechanisms identified: goal anchoring, meaning reconstruction, and strengths-based institutional matching. The findings suggest that structured peer transmission networks, combined with data-driven decision support, can transform individual admission anxiety into collective efficacy, offering a replicable pathway for student development support in applied universities.

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