Transitioning to university is recognised as a challenging endeavour for commencing students. For commencing Computer Science students specifically, evidence suggests a link between poor performance in introductory technical courses, such as programming, and high attrition rates. Building resilience in students, particularly at the start of their…

This study used system-wide student satisfaction data from the 14-university Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (SSHE) to develop a model for predicting student retention, to identify individual students who could be retained with appropriate intervention, and to target factors which may be useful in the intervention process. A student…

The focus of this paper is on the relative contribution of participating in a first-year seminar to student satisfaction and the retention of students in the second year at a Research I, urban, and public university. The study compared the measured satisfaction levels of students enrolled in a first-year seminar with students who were not enrolled…

A study was done of college student cognitive satisfactions and perceived assets for getting a college degree as well as their academic intentions. The study population was 74 introductory psychology students, 23 male and 51 female, with the majority being first quarter freshmen at the start of the study. All students completed a questionnaire at…

A common sexual stereotype, supported by research evidence, is that women are more sociable than men. In studies using standardized measures of social interests, social values, needs for inclusion and acceptance, and the need for affiliation, women nearly always score higher than men. In studies comparing the social skills of women and men, women…

A theoretical model of turnover in work organizations was applied to the college student dropout process at a major midwestern land grant university. The 854 freshmen women subjects completed a questionnaire that included measures for 14 independent variables: grades, practical value, development, routinization, instrumental communication,…

Although recent results from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) suggest there is considerable variation in levels of undergraduate student engagement within Carnegie institutional classifications, research also suggests different classifications of institutions exhibit different types (Pike and Kuh, 2005) and levels (Pike, Kuh and…

This case study examined formative assessment of a first-year core course initiated in response to an external requirement. The paper discusses the campus assessment climate; describes how course faculty became proponents for assessment; explains how the core survey became housed in a larger student satisfaction survey; and outlines key elements…

The examination of the functioning of social networks has been used to understand how individual and environmental characteristics can mediate the availability of social support. To examine the relationship between personal attributes, psychosocial environmental attributes, and the interaction between these variables, 92 entering college freshmen…

Life goals of current college freshmen that are important in planning college programs are considered in this keynote address. Based on results of Carnegie Foundation Student Surveys, information is presented for 1969, 1975, and 1985 on students' optimism/pessimism about college and the future, views about job chances and money, objectives for…

This paper presents a model for studying the freshman year experience and identifying predictors of overall satisfaction with the first year in college. Results are based on a survey of 268 freshmen attending a private, selective college in the northeast. Findings confirm the importance of social experiences. Three of five significant predictors…

To date, the constructive motivation hypothesis has generally been limited to educational achievement as an outcome variable, and few studies have been specifically designed to investigate student satisfaction outcomes. To measure student preferences for course structure and difficulty level and student perceptions of instructors' orientation…

An experimental freshman advising program at St. Olaf College, a private, church-related, liberal arts college, was evaluated. The freshman "cadre" program emphasized a living-learning environment, faculty adviser training, a structure that facilitated teamwork with colleagues, an interdisciplinary or random approach to matching up…

The attitudes and behaviors of college graduates several years after graduation and the changes in their attitudes from their freshman year (1970) until the time of a followup survey (1977) were studied. The following areas were covered with the 9,000 respondents: life goals, religious preferences, how the college graduates spend their time,…

This paper describes the development and evaluation of a World Wide Web-based component for a required freshman seminar at the Pennsylvania State University College of Agricultural Sciences. Students (n=170) were given a pre-test to assess their access to, knowledge of, and proficiency with computers. The pre-test was designed to address four…