FOCUS ON FRESHMEN: IMPROVING THE FIRST-YEAR EXPERIENCE
Prepared by Dr. Dianna Galante
Senior Fellow for Academic Practice
Introduction
In recent years, many colleges and universities have focused considerable time
and resources on initiatives designed to improve and support the academic and social
experiences of entering freshmen students. By providing support in many forms,
implementation of these programs has resulted in increases in academic achievement
levels and in the number of freshmen students who stay enrolled to the second year
and beyond.
Why is it imperative to focus on the first year? Tinto found that it is vital to
promote student success in the first year because approximately 75% of all students
who drop out do so during their first year. Invariably, a high rate of first-year attrition
leads directly to a lower rate of baccalaureate-seeking students and, as a result, directly
impacts institutional viability. For this reason, many colleges have begun to frontload
resources to support first-year students and, as a result, have experienced positive
gains in student retention.
Factors Predictive of Student Retention
What types of programs and initiatives have been found to make a difference in
the freshmen year? What practices have made an impact in terms of academic
achievement and student retention to the sophomore year and beyond? Case studies of
four institutions focused on implementing freshmen programs were developed. Table 1
lists the major initiatives recently put in place at these four institutions.
Table 1—Program Initiatives by College
Brooklyn Purdue Plymouth Illinois
Major Initiative College Calumet State State
CUNY University University University
Freshmen Seminar Yes Yes Yes Yes
Learning Communities Yes No Yes Yes
Freshmen-Focused Yes Yes Yes Yes
Faculty Development
Supplemental Instruction No Yes No Yes
Revised General Yes No No Yes
Education Core
Required Freshmen Yes Yes Yes Yes
Orientation
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A freshmen seminar course is designed to place the first-year student in a course
where academic and social support are provided. The course can take on many
different forms. At some institutions the seminar is incorporated into an existing credit
course. At other schools, the freshmen seminar is a series of workshops directed at
providing survival skills for the first year including computer lessons, college-level study
skills, and help for the homesick. To provide a sense of community, most colleges limit
class size in the freshmen seminar to 25 students.
Learning communities are designed to give the freshmen student a sense of
belonging and to help the student establish relationships with both faculty and other
students at their college. A learning community can be a planned cohort program of
classes where a group of students are registered together in at least two courses.
Sometimes a learning community consists of two courses scheduled to allow
collaboration between two or more different courses with a common goal such as
service learning. At residential colleges, student major and dormitory space can provide
an opportunity to study and live together.
Supplemental instruction (SI) is a support service that provides additional
instructional opportunities in specific courses that form a foundation in an academic
program. Courses are typically the first in a sequence required for the major. For
example, in an engineering program, students enrolled in a first course in calculus
would benefit from SI. The instruction is provide outside of class by another student who
has previously passed the class with an A. These students attend class, set up weekly
sessions and are given a moderate stipend.
Many colleges offer faculty development focused on providing specialized
instructional strategies for those teaching first-year students. A variety of topics
including active learning, service learning, emotional intelligence, and technology
support can form the basis for improving instruction to freshmen students.
In addition, a variety of other programs have been implemented at these and
other institutions including block or cohort scheduling, reduced class size,
freshmen department with administrator, an honors program, service learning
and summer bridge programs.
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References
Carey, K. (2005). Choosing to improve: Voices from colleges and universities with better
graduation rates. A report by the Education Trust.
Chickering, A. W., and Kuh, G.D. (2005). Promoting student success: Creating
conditions so every student can learn (Occasional paper No. 3). Bloomington,
Indiana: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research
Choy, S. P. (2004). Access & persistence: Findings from 10 years of longitudinal
research studies on students. American Council on Education Center for Policy
Analysis: Washington, DC.
Tinto, V. (1997). Classrooms as communities: Exploring the educational character of
student persistence. Journal of Higher Education. 68, 6.
(November/December):599-623.
Tinto, V. (1998). Colleges as communities: Taking research on student persistence
seriously. Review of Higher Education. 21,2 (Winter):167-78.
Tinto, V. (2000). Taking retention seriously: Rethinking the first year of college. NACADA
Journal, 19,2 (Fall). 5-10.
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