Freshman seminar courses aim to address dropout rates, college achievement, increase persistence rates, and student adjustment in approximately 94% of colleges and universities in America. First-generation college students make up nearly a third of higher education students and are likelier to drop out of college within the first 2-years of…

This study examined how students perceive the impact of a mandatory first-year seminar course on their success and persistence at a 2-year institution. Specifically, the study focused on the influence of the course curriculum and objectives to promote success and perseverance and how the campus community supports student success and persistence.…

Higher education institutions continue to place a strong emphasis on helping students successfully complete college. Currently, a limited amount of research supports teaching academic resilience as a skill in the higher education setting. In addition, little is known about using first-year experience (FYE) courses as a platform for teaching…

The use of peer leaders as a component of first-year seminars (FYSs) is designed to assist in the academic success of first-year college students. Although the positive impact of peer leaders is well established, the understanding regarding the mechanisms through which peer leaders influence students' academic achievement and persistence is still…

Freshman seminars are a ubiquitous offering in higher education, but they have not been evaluated using matched comparisons with data at scale. In this work, we use transcript data on over 76,000 students to examine the impact of first-year interest groups (FIGs) on student graduation and retention. We first apply propensity score matching on…

First-year students face a number of problems in adjusting to college and university life. This study investigated the academic achievement of students who had successfully completed freshman orientation through a first-year experience program. The term "first-year experience" will be used interchangeably with "first-year…

The personal, social, and academic challenges during the transition from high school to college contribute to lower retention rates and lower GPAs. These challenges are even more pronounced for historically underserved populations. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, students face new challenges and a lack of access to the typical resources and…

Concern about graduation rates in higher education has led universities to offer courses that help students develop success skills. Scientist Life Skills, a new course for freshman at Florida A&M University, focuses on helping students matriculate into majors via development of growth mindset, grit, and critical thinking. Here, we assessed the…

Instruments for teaching and assessing student understanding of the five core concepts in biology from "Vision and Change" are needed. We developed four Biology Core Concept Instruments (BCCIs) that teach and assess students' ability to describe a concept in their own words, identify concepts represented in biological phenomena, and make…

This article reports on an exploratory study that investigated the use of student drawings as a visual research method to understand the first-year experience. A total of 31 undeclared students enrolled in a first-year seminar participated in the study. Data generated from pre- and postdrawings of students' first semester paths were analyzed to…

The paper presents findings from a study that assessed the impact of a faculty development approach designed to improve technology integration specific to a comprehensive FYE program. Partnering with the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning and informed by data gathered annually from faculty and student mentors, FYE leaders created a…

First-year seminars and university induction programmes are embedded with academic and social skills required by students to transition into their first year of study. The first-year seminar at the University of the Free State is a credit-bearing module called UFS101, and is a prerequisite for degree completion. Students are assessed through…

Students with disabilities are enrolling in colleges and universities at increasing rates, but not completing degrees with comparable success as their peers. First Year Seminars (FYS) are commonly employed by colleges and universities to address retention, strengthen connections between the student and the institution, and enhance the likelihood…

This study examines the impact of culturally responsive pedagogy in an introduction to university course developed specifically for Aboriginal Access students. The pedagogy has been conceptualized to reflect interconnectivity in a nested system, where all facets of learning link with each other on emotional, spiritual, mental, and physical levels.…

Academic advising is becoming an increasingly important resource on college campuses for purposes of retention, persistence, and student satisfaction. Researchers have found that an academic advisor can play a key role in the academic and personal lives of undergraduate students. If engagement with students matters for learning and persisting…