TABLE 2.

Selected quotations from the intervention and control conditions in the RCT

Intervention condition prompt	Selected quotations from the intervention conditiona
Activity 1: “First, describe why you think it is common for students to struggle when they first begin [Introductory Biology I]. Then, describe how and why you think students overcome these initial struggles as they find new and better ways to learn and understand the material.”	“Students in college realize that they […] need to find different study strategies in order to have the same success they did in high school. As they practice better study strategies, they begin to understand the material and their grade follows. In high school, common study strategies included cramming, which is difficult to do in college because there’s so much material [that must be learned] in depth that it just isn’t possible to cram it all in one night.”
Activity 2: “First, describe why you think it is common for students to struggle on the first exam in [Introductory Biology I]. Then, describe how and why you think students overcome this initial struggle as they find new and better ways to learn and understand the material.”	“The manner in which we are tested requires a deep understanding, and many students may have had a hard time gaining this necessary understanding […] I think the reason students overcome the initial struggle is because they are able to take a step back and reflect on what went wrong, and then implement new strategies going forward. One method I started to implement more often was self-testing and self-assessment, so that I could gauge how much of the content I knew and what I still needed to learn.”
Activity 3: “First, describe why you think it is common for students to feel stress as they approach the final exam. Then, describe how and why you think students overcome these concerns and are able to succeed as they find new and better ways to learn and understand the material.”	“I believe it is common for students to feel stress during finals because of the overwhelming knowledge that a lot of information was covered throughout the semester. Students overcome this by discussing studying methods with peers, […] joining a study group, and planning their study schedule for other finals as well.”

Control condition prompt	Selected quotations from the control condition
Activity 1: “First, describe why you think certain types of topics and problems in this course may be especially challenging. Then, describe how you think students can master this challenging material.”	“Understanding each and every part of the cell in depth this week (such as the Golgi apparatus vs. the endoplasmic reticulum) has been challenging for me […] To master this challenging material, students could go to office hours and get help from their TAs [teaching assistants] and also use external resources such as videos and Khan Academy to supplement their learning.”
Activity 2: “First, describe why you think many [Introductory Biology I] students begin the class with an initial interest in biology, the sciences, or mathematics. Then, describe how and why you think students’ interests continue to grow throughout college, becoming more specific and more linked to possible career paths.”	“I think that students’ interests continue to grow throughout college because after they take the course, it becomes more intriguing to them. One of [my previous teachers had] a great impact on my interest in biology. She believed in me and was the reason why I was even interested in taking AP Biology. My interests have continued to grow throughout [this] course.”
Activity 3: “First, describe why you think many students feel stress or worry when they first come to college. Then, describe how and why you think students are able to become more comfortable, meet new people, and make friends over time at UT [University of Texas at Austin].”	“I think many students feel stress or worry when they first come to college because they are being taken out of their hometowns […] and placed in a completely new environment with new people. Coming to a large school like UT, I was very afraid that I would be unable to find friends who I gelled well with. However, students are able to become more comfortable and meet new people/friends over time through the smaller communities that exist at UT (such as through discussion sections, clubs and organizations, etc.). I found my closest friends by being in similar classes.”

^aQuotations are lightly edited for spelling, grammar, and clarity.