Exploring the Evidence: Reporting Research on First-Year Seminars Volume IV

Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition.. The Seminar Antioch’s first-year students enter the colle

Exploring the Evidence:Reporting Research on First-Year Seminars

Cite as:

Griffin, A M., & Romm, J (Eds.) (2008) Exploring the evidence, vol IV: Reporting research on

first-year seminars Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, National Resource

Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition Retrieved [date] from, http://www.sc.edu/fye/resources/fyr/index.html

Sample chapter citation:

Friedman, D., & Marsh B (2008) Appalachian State University In A M Griffin & J Romm

(Eds.), Exploring the evidence, vol IV: Reporting research on first-year seminars (pp 7-10)

Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, National Resource Center for The Year Experience and Students in Transition Retrieved [date] from, http://www.sc.edu/fye/resources/fyr/index.html

First-Copyright © 2008 University of South Carolina All rights reserved No part of this work may

be reproduced or copied in any form, by any means, without written permission of the University

of South Carolina

The First-Year Experience® is a service mark of the University of South Carolina A license may

be granted upon written request to use the term “The First-Year Experience.” This license is not transferable without written approval of the University of South Carolina

Volume Credits:

Toni Vakos, EditorEmily Mullins, Graduate AssistantDottie Weigel, Graduate Assistant

Foreword v

Barbara F Tobolowsky

Antioch College 1

Janice Rye Kinghorn, Christine Smith, and Eli Nettles

Appalachian State University 7

Dan Friedman and Beth Marsh

Babson College 11

Rob Major and Michele Brown

Brigham Young University Hawaii 15

Maureen Snow Andrade

Indiana University Southeast 21

Donna Dahlgren

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis 27

Michele Hansen, Gayle Williams, and Lauren Chism

Lourdes College 41

Deborah Schwartz and Kimberly Grieve

Metropolitan State University 45

Mary Kirk and Megumi Yamasaki

Miami Dade College 49

Valerie De Angelis and Joanne Bashford

Contents

iv Contents

Northern Illinois University 53

J Daniel House, Denise Rode, and Beiling Xiao

Northern Kentucky University 57

Peg Adams, James H Thomas, and Cyndi R McDaniel

Portland State University 61

Christopher Carey and Kerensa Loucks

Sam Houston State University .65

Keri L Rogers, Richard F Eglsaer, Mitchell J Muehsam, Beth Caillouet, and Lisa Kan

University of California, Los Angeles 69

Marc Levis-Fitzgerald and Nida Denson

University of Minnesota .73

Kathleen Peterson and Robin Stubblefield

University of Texas at El Paso 79

Maggy Smith, Dorothy Ward, Ann Darnell, and Francisco Martinez

University of Washington Bothell 83

Gray Kochhar-Lindgren, J Droege, S Leadley, R M Price,

B R Rosenberg, and B Tippens

University of Wisconsin - Green Bay 89

Denise Bartell, Deborah Furlong, Scott Furlong, Regan A R Gurong,

Andrew Kersten, and Georjeanna Wilson-Doenges

University of Wisconsin - Whitewater 97

Chunju Chen, Jeff C Janz, and John W Miller

University of Wisconsin - Whitewater 101

Edward J Furlong and Linda Long

Wells College 105

Cindy J Speaker

West Texas A&M University 111

Mo Cuevas, Amy Andersen, Jessica Mallard, and Russell Lowery-Hart

Transition published its first volume of Exploring the Evidence: Reporting Outcomes of First-Year Seminars It was critical at that time to provide evidence of the value of the

course and support its continued development Fifteen years later, we are presenting the fourth volume of the series, and the needs have not changed Although the course is in-stitutionalized at many higher education institutions, evidence from our seminar survey and anecdotally from phone call and e-mail requests suggests that the seminar’s existence continues to be threatened on many of our campuses

The seminar has changed a great deal from the early 1990s Today, the seminar tends

to be part of an overall approach to the first year rather than an isolated effort to help students through their transition This change is reflected in the great range of courses now offered Seminars may be academic, extended orientations, basic study skills, or a bit of all the above The courses may be required or elective, one or three credits, and embedded in learning communities or stand-alone courses This diversity is apparent in the 22 case studies included here

What is also evident in these examples is that the objectives of the assessments are equally varied While some institutions focus on increased persistence and GPAs, others explore questions of engagement, self-confidence, service-learning, intellectual develop-ment, peer support, campus supportiveness, career exploration and decision-making, and faculty-student interactions in and out of the classroom These questions require qualitative and quantitative approaches, and you will find both methodologies in these pages Some institutions have created instruments while others use established ones Some employ individual interviews, focus groups, or writing prompts to better understand the student experience Assessment is key to program development and improvement, and many of the institutions discuss how the assessment led to course changes It is important to note that all institutional types are included in this collection as well, representing the fact that the seminar is an important element of the first year at liberal arts colleges, community colleges, and research institutions

Foreword

The Institution

Antioch College, located in Yellow Springs, Ohio, is a small, private, residential liberal arts college enrolling 459 undergraduates The majority of our students (53%) describe themselves as Caucasian, 8.3% identified themselves as African American, Asian, His-panic, or Native American, and 58% are female Students over 25 years of age comprise 5% of our student population Data from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program Freshman Survey indicate that around 20% of our student body have parents who did not complete a college degree Antioch has a strong cooperative education program Every student alternates terms spent working and taking classes, completing three to four co-op work experiences prior to graduation

The Seminar

Antioch’s first-year students enter the college through our Core Program, which was piloted in the 2005-2006 academic year as a way to improve retention and increase student preparation for the upper-level curriculum, particularly with respect to integrated learning The Core Program consists of a 15-credit learning community Students learn

in a fully integrated, common cohort of approximately 30 students with three classroom faculty members and one co-op faculty member Although the students’ credits represent/are divided into four distinct areas (four credits in three disciplines reflecting the faculty’s area of expertise plus three credits for “core”), the experiences are truly integrated with all faculty present for the majority of the class time Students may take an additional three credits of electives, but the Core Program makes up the bulk of their academic credit for their first term on campus

Each Core Program revolves around a common theme or problem One learning community focused on Citizenship and was led by a professor of art, a historian, and

a political scientist Another, called Cool, was led by professors of music, physics, and psychology who described the course in the following way:

Antioch College

2 Antioch College

That’s Cool! It’s a word we use all the time, with many different meanings Cool can mean

a temperature, an emotional state, a particular psychological and behavioral stance towards the world, the quality of various colors, various styles of music, an exclamation of approval,

an expression of amazement, a judgment of suitability to be included in a specialized social group, and more This Core Community will explore the many meanings and associations of the word, including the topics of absolute temperature, the theory of relativity, electronics and digital computers, electricity and magnetism, the physics of sound and recording, jazz from the 1940s and 50s, various genres of popular music from a variety of historical periods, avant garde music, new computerized methods of composition, the Beat generation, various Afri-can and European cultural equivalents to American Cool, issues of socialization, alienation, targeted advertising, group dynamics, racial socialization, peer pressure, and ways of dealing with stress and discrimination Be cool, learn about cool, understand cool!

Each Core program is designed to support students in acquisition and improvement of basic skills such as writing, quantitative methods, and critical thinking The Core supports acquisition

of college-level skills of inquiry and civic engagement The Core program prepares students for experiential learning in their first co-op placement, which occurs at the beginning of their second year

Research Design

First-year students are expected to enroll in a minimum of 15 credits (one Core Community) and may take up to three additional credits for a maximum load of 18 credits each of their first two terms In order to stay on track to graduate, students must earn an average of 16 credits per study term To avoid warning or probationary status and stay above the minimum standards of progress, students must earn 75% of their registered credits each term

Surveys were administered to first-year students during the eighth week of their first term on campus with a response rate of 90% (N = 97) The survey consisted of 60 statements that addressed

satisfaction with campus culture, attitudes toward administration, peer relationships, and attitudes toward curriculum Participants rated their agreement on a five-point Likert scale ranging from

1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree

The goal of this study was to address several questions related to retention and student success

We address two main questions here:

Is participation in Core Program associated with student success as measured by the number

1

of credits earned each term?

Is participation in the Core Program associated with student satisfaction as measured by

Antioch College 3

program; first-year students questioned the validity of a program the upper-class students did not

have to participate in; and faculty felt pressed to meet the needs of both curriculums

Two survey statements—“I am satisfied with my decision to attend Antioch.” and “I am

think-ing about leavthink-ing Antioch.”—were of particular interest in regards to retention These items were

significantly correlated with each other (r = -.78, p < 01) A series of correlations were performed

to examine which other survey statements correlated with student satisfaction and intention to

leave The tables contains the items most strongly correlated, defined as a correlation of +/-.35 or

stronger (see Tables 1 and 2)

Table 1

Significant Correlates With Satisfaction

Satisfaction

Table 2

Significant Correlates With Intention to Leave

Leave

4 Antioch College

Note that all six strong correlates with intent to leave are also strongly correlated with tion However, satisfaction with decision to attend Antioch also included statements addressing level of radicalism, dorm experiences, and relationships with upper-level students These items were not significantly related with intention to leave

satisfac-Next, a linear regression analysis was performed to examine predictors of satisfaction Each

of the nine items from Table 1 was regressed on satisfaction The regression was significant (R2 = 69, p < 01) Three variables had significant betas, “educational needs can be met here”

(β = 52, p < 01), “experiences have been positive” (β = 21, p < 05) and “Antioch is too radical”

(β = -.16, p = 05).

Because regressing nine variables on satisfaction may compromise power, a third regression was performed examining the same six variables that were regressed on satisfaction The regression was significant (R2 = 69, p < 01) Two variables were significant predictors: “educational needs

can be met here” (β = -.56, p < 01) and “experiences have been positive” (β = -.25, p < 05).

A linear regression analysis was performed to examine predictors of intent to leave Each

of the six items from Table 2 was regressed on satisfaction The regression was significant (R2 = 66, p < 01) Two variables were significant predictors, “educational needs can be met here”

(β = -.78, p < 01) and “experiences have been positive” (β = -.45, p < 01).

Thus, the most significant predictors of satisfaction and intention to stay were whether dents believed that they could have their educational needs met at Antioch College and having positive experiences at the college

Student perception that they can get educational needs met here may have a different meaning

to students than to faculty Faculty interpreted this as presence of course offerings/programs in

a student’s area of interest as well as appropriate support/challenge of the academic program To examine how students might have interpreted this, we examined survey items that significantly correlated with the belief that educational needs can be met at Antioch Table 3 contains the items most strongly correlated with educational needs met, defined as a correlation of +/-.35 or stronger

Table 3

Correlates With Believing Educational Needs Could Be Met at Antioch

Educational Needs Met

First-year students are satisfied with campus climate .37

Antioch College 5

Note that only two significant statements are related to classroom experiences Thus, students

seem to include getting their educational needs met as including interactions with other students

and involvement with the campus community

Regarding relationships with faculty and course content, first-year students reported

over-whelmingly that they felt respected by faculty (90% agreed or strongly agreed) Those who felt

their Core learning community was challenging were also more satisfied (r = 24, p < 05) and

intended to stay (-.27, p < 01)

A t-test was performed for each of the survey items to examine gender differences Relatively

few differences emerged Women were significantly more likely to report feeling that they had

opportunities to make a difference and were more satisfied with learning in an integrated Core

community while male participants wanted more recreational opportunities

Findings about first-year students’ feelings of alienation and disconnect from the larger

cur-riculum have led us to broaden the focus and delivery of our first-year program Faculty teaching

in the learning communities are now more deliberate about encouraging and facilitating student

involvement with the larger campus community Antioch’s Orientation Committee has reconceived

their charge to one that extends beyond the first weekend of the fall to throughout the first year

Additional plans include a common reading for all students that can be integrated into the

cur-riculum, speakers, and a film series to tie in with the academic content of the learning communities

Scholarly activities that connect the learning communities to the larger Antioch community and

provide opportunities for students at all levels to engage are planned to increase rapport

Contributors

Janice Rye Kinghorn (primary contact)

Associate Professor of Economics

The Institution

Appalachian State University (ASU), located in Boone, North Carolina, is a year, public, comprehensive university that enrolls approximately 15,000 students Ninety percent of ASU students are full-time undergraduates with 50% of students living on campus or nearby Eighty percent of Appalachian students are under the age of 22 Ap-proximately 48% of students are male Nearly 94% of the students are White with 6.5% representing minorities, including 3.5% African American, 1.2% Asian American, 1.2% Hispanic, 0.4% Native American, and 0.2% nonresident alien Appalachian is a member institution of the University of North Carolina system

four-The Seminar

Freshman Seminar (US 1150) was first offered at Appalachian in 1987 This credit, graded extended orientation course is an elective, which enrolls approximately 60% of the first-year class throughout the academic year Of the 2,522 incoming first-year students in the fall 2005 cohort, 1,314 were enrolled in Freshman Seminar during the fall semester (52%) The maximum enrollment is 24 students per class Freshman Seminar is taught by faculty members (full-time and adjunct), student development professionals, and administrative personnel

three-This course aims to acquaint students with the opportunities and demands of higher education; support them in their transition to the university; help foster cognitive and psychosocial development; and assist in developing relationships with faculty, staff, and peers Course components include study strategies, time management, personality type theory, wellness, academic research, personal safety, academic integrity, diversity, the his-tory of Appalachian State University, career planning, and cultural appreciation

Freshman Seminar serves as the anchor course for our Freshman Learning munities, meaning that each seminar class is linked to another core curriculum or major-specific course (e.g., anthropology, English, geography, mathematics, or psychology) These learning communities bring faculty and students together to discuss, explore, and learn

Com-Appalachian State University

8 Appalachian State University

about a shared academic interest or common topic Instructors of these communities meet often

to discuss student successes and concerns, course assignments, and possible connecting points between the classes Appalachian State offers a number of learning communities reflecting the various interests of its students

Research Design

A great deal of research has explored the impact of first-year seminars on retention and demic performance; however, less attention has been given to exploring these results by students’ incoming abilities In other words, do lower-ability students benefit more or less from participation

aca-in Freshman Semaca-inar than their high-ability counterparts?

In order to answer this question, we designed a study to analyze the impact of Freshman Seminar on academic achievement and one-semester retention rates for the 2005 first-year class based on students’ expected ability levels Expected ability level is based upon predicted grade point averages (PGPA), a formula considering class rank, SAT scores, and high school grade point averages The five ability levels, and the breakdown by participation in Freshman Seminar, can be found in Table 1

We used independent t-tests to analyze differences in grade point averages We conducted a

chi-square analysis to compare retention rates

Findings

than students who did not enroll in Freshman Seminar (M = 2.90), p = 002 This difference also

translated into a significantly lower mean ability level for Freshman Seminar students (M = 4.14)

than for non-Freshman Seminar students (M = 3.66), p < 001 The breakdown of enrollment by

ability level can be found in Table 1

Table 1

Enrollment in Freshman Seminar by Ability Level

Percent by ability level PGPA range Freshman seminar Non-FS

Appalachian State University 9

Academic Achievement

Based on their lower mean PGPA, we did not expect Freshman Seminar students to have a

higher first-semester grade point average (GPA) than their non-Freshman Seminar peers However,

students who enrolled in Freshman Seminar finished their first semester with a significantly higher

Freshman Seminar versus non-Freshman Seminar students within ability levels, we found

signifi-cant differences for the lower ability students (levels 3-5) Thus, lower-ability students appear to

benefit more from enrolling in Freshman Seminar than higher-ability students (levels 1-2) The

breakdown of GPAs according to ability level can be found in Table 2

Table 2

First-Semester Grade Point Averages by Ability Level

First-Semester GPA Freshman Seminar Non-FS p-value

Students who enrolled in Freshman Seminar were retained to their second semester at a

significantly higher rate than non-Freshman Seminar students (95.3% v 93.3%, p = 032) The

breakdown and comparisons by ability level are displayed in Table 3

These data suggest that Freshman Seminar has the greatest impact for our lower-ability

stu-dents Because this course is an elective, this information will be helpful in determining which

students to place into this course This study also demonstrates an interesting way to analyze and

interpret traditional first-year experience data (grades and retention) that helps shed greater light

on the effectiveness of these courses

10 Appalachian State University

Table 3

One-Semester Retention Rates by Ability Level

Retention Rate Freshman Seminar Non-FS p-value

University of South Carolina

Beth Marsh (primary contact)

Assistant Director, Freshman Seminar

Appalachian State University

1114 Old Belk

Boone, NC 28608

Phone: (828) 262-2028

Email: marsheg@appstate.edu

The Institution

Babson College, a private, four-year business school, is predominately known for its emphasis on integrated teaching and learning instructional methods, as well as its reputation for teaching entrepreneurship Located 14 miles west of Boston in Wellesley, Massachusetts, Babson hosts approximately 1,700 co-educational and traditionally aged (18-24) residential undergraduates

Of the 443 first-year students enrolled in the fall of 2006, 60% were male ally, according to the data generated from the 2006 Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) Freshman Survey, the demographic distribution of Babson first-year students (class of 2010) was as follows: 66.8% Caucasian/White, 19% Asian American/Asian, 10.7% Latino, 2.6% African American/Black, 1.3% American Indian/Alaska Na-tive, 0.4% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and 8.2% self-identified as “other.”

Addition-The Seminar

Babson College’s approach to the first-year seminar has evolved considerably over the past 10 years In the mid-1990s, the first iterations of the seminar stemmed from breakout sessions of a required first-year course that occurred periodically throughout the fall semes-ter These sessions eventually evolved into a free-standing, non-credit bearing course until

2005 In the fall of 2006, Babson’s seminar advanced to a graded, one-credit course

The course, titled First Year Seminar (FYS 1300), is required of all Babson students The course is a part of the core liberal arts requirements, and students receive a letter grade and earn academic credit for their mandatory participation in the program Students must retake the course if they earn an F or withdraw before the semester ends Each section is capped at approximately 20 students

The primary instructor for the course is typically either a student affairs or academic affairs administrator; however, there is also a faculty advisor and peer mentor assigned to each section to form a team approach to conducting the seminar This triad model helps

to provide students with a variety of campus perspectives, as well as the ability to form

Babson College

12 Babson College

lasting relationships with key community constituents Likewise, the FYS sections also serve as the new student orientation groups during the fall orientation program

The content of the course is organized around three main themes:

Becoming part of the academic community (What is college all about?)

First-year students also complete the Your First College Year (YFCY) assessment at the clusion of the spring semester Babson has been a participant since the inception of this survey and believes the YFCY provides a comprehensive understanding of the first year for students at Babson

con-Findings

The results of the college assessment efforts regarding the First Year Seminar are ing The following is a sample of the results from the internally developed, student web-based survey Of the 263 student respondents, 76.2% indicated that they agreed or strongly agreed that FYS helped them to develop the skills necessary to become a participatory member of the college community (Table 1)

encourag-Babson College 13

Table 1

Student Outcomes of the First Year Seminar (N = 263)

Percentage of students responding

The FYS course developed my understanding of

The FYS course developed my understanding of

The FYS course developed my understanding of

Overall, the FYS course helped me develop

the skills necessary to become a participatory

member of the Babson community

Students also provided feedback on the effectiveness of the members of their FYS facilitation

team See Table 2 for a summary of student ratings of their FYS team members

Table 2

Student Ratings of the Effectiveness of FYS Team (N = 263)

Percentage of students responding

My instructor was instrumental in helping

students in the class achieve the goals of the

program

My instructor was available outside of scheduled

My peer mentor was instrumental in helping

students in the class achieve the goals of the

program

My peer mentor was available outside of

My faculty advisor was instrumental in helping

students in the class achieve the goals of the

program

My faculty advisor was available outside of class

14 Babson College

FYS instructors are required to attend two full-day training sessions (late May and August), peer mentors participate in a four-day comprehensive training program prior to the start

mid-of new student orientation, and faculty advisors participate in a half-day training program Each

of these training programs is tailored to the specific roles of the participants These data suggest that Babson’s investment in training and developing all members of the FYS team is a valuable, although extensive, process

Lastly, the FYS team has a pre-arranged strategy session to plan their semester This prehensive delivery model is an effort to provide a multidimensional approach to the FYS course content and personal and academic support structure The student focus groups conducted provided significant support for the team approach to facilitating FYS

com-Babson’s efforts to design and deliver an exemplary first-year experience continue to evolve The challenge of maintaining consistency across FYS sections, determining the appropriate workload for a one-credit course, and designing reasonable and assessable learning outcomes are issues the college will continue to address as the program matures

The Seminar

The first-year seminar at BYU-Hawaii, entitled “The International Student in the University,” has been offered since 1994 as the result of an ESL program self-study A finding of the self-study was that although individual ESL instructors introduced students

to campus learning centers, cultural information, educational system expectations, and university policies, this information was not systematically addressed or included in the curriculum of a particular course University-sponsored orientation did not directly focus

on international students’ needs or consider their English proficiency levels A required two-credit hour, one-semester seminar for all international students who test into ESL courses was developed and implemented in response Approximately 86% of first-year international students and 67% of all first-year students enroll in the course each semester Students receive letter grades, and credit counts toward graduation electives Each section averages 15 students Instructors in the ESL program teach the seminar

Course objectives focus on improving students’ knowledge and understanding of (a) policies and procedures of the ESL program; (b) policies and procedures of the univer-sity; (c) campus resources, time management, computer, and study skills; (d) American university classroom culture; (e) American culture and appreciation of diversity; and (f)

Brigham Young University

Hawaii

16 Brigham Young University Hawaii

Hawaiian history and culture Course activities promote active learning (which may be unfamiliar

to some) and include pair and group work, presentations, guest speakers, support service tions, computer use, and interview assignments Students are also asked to complete a weekly learner journal in which they summarize the content of each class, share what they have learned, and identify and define new vocabulary The development of English skills is not a specific objec-tive of the course, although students’ English is expected to improve as they engage with course materials and obtain practice with the language Adjustment rather than persistence is the goal

orienta-of the course

Research Design

The ESL program has regularly assessed the seminar through course evaluations, mid-semester, small-group student discussions led by an outside facilitator, student/faculty open-ended surveys, and more recently, with an online survey containing Likert-scaled and open-ended questions Course evaluations allow a consistent means of determining student views toward seminar objec-tives, organization, content, texts and materials, assignments and exams, grading, and level of new knowledge or skills The small-group discussions permit full disclosure of students’ ideas regard-ing strengths and weaknesses of the course and suggestions for improvements This format also has the advantage of determining representative views rather than only individual responses The open-ended student surveys encourage the sharing of personal experiences and opinions about the value of the course without directing responses through a forced choice design The faculty survey produces insights into pedagogical and philosophical approaches Finally, the online survey measures long-term effects of the seminar

Findings

Course evaluations indicate that students are largely satisfied with the seminar Results for the past five years show that students “agree” to “strongly agree” that the seminar is well organized with clear objectives, has produced new knowledge and skills, and contains relevant and useful content The facilitated student group discussions initially showed that students felt the course was too easy This resulted in the introduction of the learner journal assignment, which helped students focus on English language development through vocabulary study, writing about what they learned, and reflecting on its value This assignment also reinforced attendance and allowed teachers to identify topics needing review Initially, seminar instructors rotated among course sections, addressing two objectives each over six class periods The discussion groups revealed that students enjoyed the variety of teachers; however, scheduling was difficult, and teacher responses indicated that time was too short with each group to enable them to determine student mastery

of material As a result, we ended this practice

Surveys revealed that students enjoyed the involvement and participation aspects of the seminar and wanted more activities that emphasized interaction and group work They particularly appre-ciated topics related to university life and culture and found these topics, along with information

on the ESL program, the most valuable They expected the former two topics to be especially useful

in the future Instructors reported that they responded to the needs and interests of students but placed the greatest emphasis on information related to university life and the ESL program They also identified successful teaching practices, such as using the first five minutes of each class as a student question period The program director compiled and shared these pedagogical ideas with

Brigham Young University Hawaii 17

the teachers and encouraged them to include more interactive pedagogical practices and develop

the cultural component of the course more fully in accordance with the student survey findings

Instructors noted that students expressed satisfaction with the seminar through their learner journals

Both students and instructors observed that English development was not directly emphasized

Instructors suggested the materials needed updating, particularly those related to registration

procedures, graduation/general education requirements, and services on campus, as information

related to these areas had changed over time One instructor completed this on a voluntary basis

after obtaining input from the larger group as to what changes were needed The teacher updated

the readings, handouts, exercises, and assignments to reflect current information

The student/faculty survey created the desire to know if the seminar had long-lasting effects In

response, an online survey was administered to students a year after seminar completion Students

rated their familiarity and comfort with seminar topics and outcomes when they first arrived on

campus, directly after completion of their first semester (and the seminar), and during the semester

in which they took the survey (i.e., in their second year on campus) For example, on a six-point scale

with 1 representing strongly disagree and 6 representing strongly agree, students indicated their

level of knowledge with each of the seminar topics (e.g., university policies, the general education

program, professors’ expectations) and their level of comfort with the active-learning behaviors

targeted in the seminar (e.g., being an active learner, interacting with other cultures, finding help

on campus) Tables 1 and 2 provide a complete listing of the seminar topics and outcomes

We used paired samples t-tests to compare the mean ratings for each item across the three time

periods Results showed that students’ levels of familiarity and comfort increased over time for

most of the topics The largest gains occurred during the first semester The majority of increases

were statistically significant with a few exceptions Knowledge of university policies did not show

a significant increase after the first semester, perhaps because students had acquired much of this

information in the first semester Similarly, behaviors related to active learning, interacting with

other cultures, and effective time use did not increase significantly after the first semester Students

may have made an initial adjustment in these areas after which they were not motivated to make

further changes or did not see the need to do so

The various assessment measures serve to triangulate the findings and are generally positive

They have also resulted in seminar modifications Still to consider is a stronger focus on English

skill development This could be easily accomplished by a greater focus on vocabulary development

using the course materials, by teacher response to student weaknesses in speaking and writing as

evident in course assignments, and by providing mini-lessons focusing on areas of need Providing

students with more information prior to their arrival at the university might also be useful so that

the learning curve in the first semester is not so great

18 Brigham Young University Hawaii

Table 1

Familiarity With Seminar Topics

General topic Specific topic areas First semester (n = 40)

After first semester

Involvement and Comfort Levels With Active Learning

General topic Specific topic areas First semester (n = 40)

After first semester

Brigham Young University Hawaii 19

Contributor

Maureen Snow Andrade

Chair, Department of English Language Teaching and Learning

Brigham Young University Hawaii

55-220 Kulanui Street #1940

Laie, HI 96762

Phone: (808) 293-3606

E-mail: andradem@byuh.edu

The Institution

Indiana University (IU) Southeast is a regional, commuter campus located in New Albany in the southern area of Indiana IU Southeast is a four-year public university offering a few master’s programs The campus serves 5,300 undergraduate students and

864 graduate students taught by 189 full-time faculty The majority of the students are female (63%) and from Indiana (87%) Each year, there are 700-900 first-year students Typically, half (52%) of the first-year class are students whose parents did not graduate from college In addition, 87% of these students work 20 hours or more a week while attending IU Southeast full-time Approximately 80% of the first-year students are aged 17-21 with the majority of the students (96%) being Caucasian, 2% African American, and 2% other

The Seminar

The First Year Seminar (FYS) is a one-credit hour course attached to various credit hour introductory-level courses The FYS course has been in place for the past six years at IU Southeast Based on the success of previous FYS students, first-year students are now required to take the FYS course during their first two semesters at college Each FYS course has a maximum of 20 students and is taught by either a full-time faculty member or a recommended adjunct or professional staff member who has worked at IU Southeast for at least five years Approximately 70% of first-year students choose to take the FYS during their first semester of college Primary objectives of the FYS course are

three-to increase student awareness of the services and resources that are available at IU east; to help students develop supportive relationships with a faculty member and with

South-a cohort of other students, to improve students’ skills in reSouth-ading, test-tSouth-aking, reseSouth-arch, and critical thinking; to engage the students in college by increasing their involvement

in IU Southeast; and to develop students’ ability to use several computer resources that are available

Indiana University Southeast

22 Indiana University Southeast

The course design strives to achieve enhanced academic and campus integration using the following strategies To begin, all FYS instructors adapt a common core text personalized for our campus In addition, all FYS instructors use Oncourse, a software application that allows students computer access to faculty-placed materials (e.g., PowerPoints, readings) To ensure students be-come familiar with the campus, a passport assignment, which requires students to collect stamps from primary offices all over campus, is used The entire campus is involved in the passport, and each office is encouraged to provide friendly information to first-year students In addition, the class visits the library for a guided tour and workshop (1 hour, 40 minutes), the writing help center (30 minutes), and career services (20 minutes) at some point during the semester Workshops are conducted with faculty emphasizing active-learning strategies and different teaching methods that can be used to integrate FYS topics into the context of the attached course For example, if the attached course is Introductory Psychology, the instructor emphasizes how to use the study skills

to prepare for a psychology exam Finally, each FYS student is required to attend and write a short paper about three extracurricular activities (cultural, social, and intellectual) that are on campus during the semester To enhance social integration, the class size is 20 students This ensures that students will become familiar with one another In addition, the instructors are encouraged to use active-learning techniques and small-group activities as much as possible during the course

of the semester Finally, a planned class social with a faculty member occurs at least once during the course of the semester

Research Design

A longitudinal pre/post quasi-experimental assessment program is in place to assess the impact

of FYS on first-year students At the beginning and end of each semester, each FYS student completes the FYS Survey The survey is a 10-page questionnaire that asks about a variety of demographic information, study preferences, time management behaviors, their past education experiences, how they spend their time, their motivations for college, and their knowledge about IU Southeast The ending survey also requires the students to evaluate their FYS experience The questions tap identified constructs of interest in the development of first-year college students The university

ID numbers of each student are also collected to track their persistence in college

Findings

Aspirations and Expectations

At the end of the fall 2005 semester, the results indicate that 91% of the first-year students want to get a bachelor’s degree, and most (81%) plan to attend IU Southeast full-time in fall 2006; 7.2% expect to attend part-time Table 1 illustrates their college attachment at the end of their first semester

Indiana University Southeast 23

Table 1

College Attachment Measure of FYS Students at the End of Fall 2005

I am happy about my decision to attend

Indiana University Southeast Percentage of Men Percentage of Women

Retention

Table 2 describes the comparison between those students who were in a FYS course and those

who were not in a FYS course As can be seen, students in a FYS course were more likely to stay

enrolled and to return during the spring and fall semester The beginning students enrolled in a

FYS course were more likely to be retained than beginning students who did not take the FYS

class during the semester (χ² (1, N = 788) = 49.89, p < 0.001) The beginning students enrolled

in a FYS course were also more likely to return the following semester than beginning students

who did not take a FYS class (χ² (1, N = 788) = 24.41, p < 0.001) In addition, beginning students

enrolled in a FYS course were also more likely to return the following fall semester than

begin-ning students who did not take a FYS class (χ² (1, N = 788) = 25.00, p < 0.001) These data clearly

indicate the positive impact that taking the FYS class at IU Southeast has on the persistence of

beginning students

Table 2

Analysis of Retention, Fall 2005 Cohort

24 Indiana University Southeast

Grade Point Average

An analysis was performed to ensure that the samples of students were similar prior to ing a FYS course Results indicated no significant differences between students who took a FYS course versus and who did not At the end of the semester, the fall 2005 GPAs of the students were compared A two factor ANOVA with gender (men, women) and course (FYS versus No FYS) indicated a significant main effect of FYS and gender as well as an interaction between gender and FYS status That is, women who took the course had a significantly higher GPA than women not enrolled in a FYS course However, men did not show the same pattern, thus the significant interaction between gender and FYS status (see Table 3)

tak-Additional analyses were conducted examining student knowledge about the university, which suggested that students knew more about IU Southeast at the end of the semester Yet, as can be seen in Table 4, not all components of the course were highly valued by the students

Table 3

GPA Data, Fall 2005 Cohort

Fall 2005 GPA 2.76 2.50 FFYS (1, 675) = 7.58, p < 01

or disagree Neutral Strongly agree or agree

The FYS portion of the class offered

I learned a lot about time management

I learned about a variety of different

A variety of discussion and interactive

I found the library session to be helpful 19.7% 22.9% 55.6%

I found the session in the writing center

I found the session in career services to

Indiana University Southeast 25

Conclusion

In sum, the data lead us to believe that the current FYS course design has helped retention

at our university Additionally, academic integration, as defined by increased GPA, did occur for

some students Specifically, women in FYS courses obtained higher GPAs than men This pattern

of data has led us to examine why men’s GPA shows no improvement with a FYS class

One limitation of the current study is a concern that the average age of the students not taking

the FYS courses was significantly higher than the students enrolled in the FYS course This may

mean that nontraditional students are choosing not to take the FYS course because they believe

that they do not need it This behavior may actually put them at higher risk since the class provides

information that can help them succeed in college In addition, given the quasi-experimental nature

of the study design, it is possible that self-selection played a role in both GPA improvement and

retention measures assessed in the study

All students’ knowledge of the university campus was improved, and the majority of students

felt they got to know their professor and fellow students well The current data also highlight

spe-cific areas for improvement That is, we are exploring ways to enhance the value of the information

provided in our sessions on time management and study strategies and in our visits to the library,

writing center, and career services

Contributor

Donna Dahlgren

Director of the First Year Experience Program

Associate Professor of Psychology

Indiana University Southeast

4201 Grant Line Road

New Albany, Indiana 47150

Phone: (812) 941-2682

E-mail: ddahlgre@ius.edu

The Institution

Indiana University Purdue-University Indianapolis (IUPUI) is a four-year, public institution with an enrollment of approximately 30,000, of whom about 22,000 are undergraduates IUPUI was formed in the capital city from a consolidation of Indiana University and Purdue University programs in 1969 and is the third largest university in Indiana The institution offers more than 185 academic programs from associate degrees

to doctoral and professional degrees Approximately 2,400 first-time, first-year students enroll each year Most first-time, first-year students commute to the campus (74%), and the majority of entering students are first generation (58%) The average age of first-time, first-year students is 19.68, 60% are female, 10% are African American, 90% are full-time students, and 33% are admitted conditionally (based on SAT scores, high school grades, and years between high school and college)

The Seminar

First-year seminars, guided by a campus template that defines common learning comes and pedagogies, have been offered at IUPUI since 1995 They are required by most undergraduate degree-granting units, which have developed their own one- to three-credit versions of an extended orientation format U110 is the first-year seminar offered by Uni-versity College for exploratory students Each section is taught by an instructional team composed of a faculty member, academic advisor, librarian, and student mentor Many seminars are linked to another first-year course such as elementary composition, college algebra, or introductory courses in the humanities and social sciences Approximately

out-100 sections with a maximum enrollment of 25 students are offered each fall semester Common learning outcomes for all IUPUI seminars include:

Developing a comprehensive perspective on higher education, including a respect ë

for diversity among individuals, communities, and disciplines

Establishing a network of staff, faculty, and other students

ë

Indiana University-Purdue

University Indianapolis

28 Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

Understanding and practicing basic communication skills appropriate to the academic ë

settingBeginning the process of understanding critical thinkingë

Understanding and applying information technology in support of academic workë

Developing knowledge of one’s abilities, skills, and life demands in order to more effectively ë

pursue academic goalsUnderstanding and making full use of IUPUI resources and services that support learning

Research Design

We used quantitative and qualitative approaches to comprehensively assess the impacts of year seminar courses Specifically, we conducted logistic regression analyses and analyses of covari-ance to investigate program-related effects on one-year retention rates and academic performance (first-semester grade point averages) We also compared seminar participants to nonparticipants while controlling for student background and academic preparation variables

first-As we have improved our capacity to measure a wide array of student outcomes, it has become increasingly important that we develop ways to assess why there is a positive relationship between participating in a seminar and academic success Thus, we have implemented qualitative evalu-ations and end-of-course questionnaires to assess students’ self-reported learning gains and to provide information that allows instructional teams to better understand when and how certain interventions are effective

Findings

Tables 1-6 display the means (or percentages for dichotomous variables) and standard tions for each variable included in all analyses conducted to determine seminar effect on academic performance and one-year retention for the fall 2005 and 2006 cohorts Tables 1 and 2 display the descriptive statistics for all 2005 and 2006 first-year students enrolling in at least seven fall credit hours Students who are enrolled in at least seven credit hours are required to participate in

devia-a first-yedevia-ar semindevia-ar; thus, we omitted students enrolling in fewer thdevia-an seven credit hours for devia-all analyses Tables 3 and 4 provide descriptive statistics for all enrolled in a 2005 or 2006 first-year seminar at census Tables 5 and 6 provide descriptive statistics for first-year students enrolled in a

2005 or 2006 TLC at census

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis 29

Note Missing values are excluded.

Table 2

Descriptive Statistics for All Fall 2006 First-Year Students

N Mean or percent SD

Note Missing values are excluded

30 Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

Note Missing values are excluded

Table 4

Descriptive Statistics for 2006 First-Year Students Enrolled in a Fall First-Year Seminar

N Mean or percent SD

Note Missing values are excluded

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis 31

Note Missing values are excluded

Table 6

Descriptive Statistics for 2006 First-Year Students Enrolled in a Themed Learning Community Seminar

N Mean or percent SD

Note Missing values are excluded

Investigations of Seminar Effects on Academic Performance and Retention

We conducted hierarchical logistic regression analyses to investigate the degree to which

seminar participation predicted one-year retention High school percentile rank (or high school

grade point average for 2006, due to percentile ranks missing values in 2006), SAT score, course

32 Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

load, age, ethnicity, and gender were entered into the logistic regression in step 1 The seminar participation variable was entered into the logistic regression in step 2 Tables 7 and 8 display the results of the hierarchical logistic regressions and demonstrate a significant positive effect on one-year retention for first-year seminar participation Findings suggest that participating in a

2005 seminar significantly and positively predicted retention rates (Nagelkerke R2 = 060, χ2 = (7, 1870) 82.91, p < 001)

Additionally, results indicate that participating in a 2006 seminar significantly and tively predicted retention rates [Nagelkerke R2 = 121, χ2 = (7, 2016) 184.79, p < 0001] Students

posi-participating in a 2005 seminar (n = 1,927) had a one-year retention rate of 65% compared to a

nonparticipant (n = 455) rate of 56% Students participating in a 2006 seminar (n = 2,144) had

together, these findings suggest that seminars had a rather dramatic effect on one-year retention rates for fall 2005 and fall 2006

Table 7

Hierarchical Logistic Regression Demonstrating Significant 2005 Seminar Positive Effect on One-Year Retention

Step 1 High school

percentile rank

Ethnicity (African American)

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis 33

Table 8

Hierarchical Logistic Regression Demonstrating Significant 2006 Seminar Positive Effect on One-Year

Retention

Step 1 High school

Note Nagelkerke R2 = 113 for Step 1; ∆R2 = 008 for Step 2, p < 0001

We also conducted hierarchical logistic regression analyses to investigate the degree to which

seminars serving as a component of a TLC predicted one-year retention Because of the positive

effect of first-year seminars, this variable was controlled for in the analyses Thus, the

nonpartici-pant group includes students enrolled in a seminar but not in a TLC seminar Table 9 displays

the results of the hierarchical logistic regressions demonstrating the significant TLC seminar

positive effect on one-year retention Findings suggest that participating in a 2005 TLC seminar

significantly and positively predicted retention rates [Nagelkerke R2 = 053, χ2 = ( 7, 1551) 60.21,

p < 017.] Students participating in a TLC (n = 391) had a one-year retention rate of 70%

com-pared to a nonparticipant (n = 1,558) rate of 63% 2006 TLC participation did not significantly

predict one-year retention once academic preparation variables and background characteristics

were entered into the model

34 Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

Table 9

Hierarchical Logistic Regression Demonstrating Significant 2005 Themed Learning Community Positive Effect on One-Year Retention

Step 1 High school

percentile rank

Ethnicity (African American)

We conducted a series of analyses of covariance (ANCOVAs) tests to determine the effect

of seminars on first-semester grade point averages (GPA) Corrected models were employed due

to the unequal sample sizes The ANCOVAs allowed us to compare the grade point averages of participants to that of nonparticipants since differences among participants on other variables might have obscured the effect of seminars ANCOVA results indicated that the mean GPA

com-pared to nonparticipants (adjusted M = 2.39, SD = 1.19, N = 424) was not significantly different

Once the high school percentile rank or high school grade point average, SAT score, course load, ethnicity, age, and gender were controlled for, ANCOVA revealed a marginally significant dif-ference between the GPAs of conditionally admitted students participating in first-year seminars compared to nonparticipants [F = 2.75 (1, 605), p < 09] The descriptive statistics and adjusted

means for 2005 conditionally admitted students are shown in Table 10

Thus, there appears to be differential seminar effect on academic performance based on students’ levels of incoming academic preparation Findings suggest that conditionally admitted students benefited more from participation in the program than regular admits There was no significant difference in academic performance for regularly admitted participants compared to nonpartici-pants based on separate univariate analysis of covariance results ANCOVA results suggested that conditionally admitted students who participated in 2006 seminars also had significantly higher

(1, 560), p < 018] The descriptive statistics and adjusted means for 2006 conditionally admitted

students are shown are shown in Table 11