The Effective Team Dynamics (ETD) Initiative at Georgia Tech developed curriculum to improve function of student teams. ETD uses the language of CliftonStrengths® to help students identify the areas in which they are the strongest and to apply those strengths to interpersonal contexts. ETD has developed curriculum for five "Touchpoints,"…

Academic advisors see it all the time--skills successfully applied by underclassman in high school are not working in college. This article describes how advisors can help struggling students in self-monitoring and self-regulating their study experiences using metacognitive development as an intervention. Metacognition development includes…

University efforts in the first year of college promote freshman student engagement in learning with the objective of improving retention and persistence, and are likely to ultimately lead to college success with timely graduation. This paper reports on an exploratory study of a first-year seminar designed to include three types of instruction:…

The responsibility for college success has historically rested with the student, but since the 1980s, educators have taken increasing ownership of this, designing structures that increase the likelihood of learning, success, and retention. These efforts have included a variety of initiatives--first year seminars, learning communities,…

First year college students are challenged both socially and academically in their transition to college life. The literature suggests that social and emotional competence skills can help with this transition. This article describes the course content for a University freshman seminar that teaches skills in social and emotional competence in order…

This article introduces the guiding principles of integrated multicultural instructional design (IMID), a new pedagogical model created to promote retention by addressing multicultural perspectives and social justice issues across the curriculum. To illustrate the model, specific strategies for implementing IMID in a content-based,…

How do you teach the humanities to working class students living in the shadow of a BP oil refinery? Calumet College uses freshman learning communities that link humanities, social justice, and English composition classes to provide a foundation for college success to predominantly first-generation students who are often underprepared for…