Historically, storytelling has been a way to pass knowledge between generations and to facilitate an understanding of beliefs. The aim of this current research was to explore the value of storytelling in the higher education classroom, to address the question "how can sharing stories assist students in constructing new knowledge in the…

Choosing a career can be a daunting task and oftentimes may cause challenges for first-year college students when they enter higher education. Understanding that career indecision is normal within this population, it is essential to learn more about how potential related constructs may be significant to supporting one's career decision-making…

We analyze the identity trajectory of a single case study, Cassidy, within the physics community. We focus our analysis on two settings in the physics community: an undergraduate research experience, and undergraduate coursework. We use video data from three interviews (spanning roughly fifteen months) to longitudinally analyze shifts in…

Utilizing FYE courses to support retention and college success requires a systematic understanding of, and effective tools to support, historically underserved students. Traditional, short-term faculty development programming is unlikely to support faculty needs when teaching FYE courses, especially for experienced instructors. This article…

In 2012, Randy Bass challenged educators to "disrupt" themselves expanding the notion of teaching to include multiple high-impact practices (HIP). First-year seminars are a HIP that, when done successfully, encourages retention and persistence in students. On our campus they function similarly, but they also create opportunities for…

We designed the Integrated Sciences First-Year Program (ISFP) to introduce students to the nature and process of science early in their academic career, help them develop skills and competencies, and create an intellectual community of learners to foster belonging within science. Using their inherent curiosity, we designed active learning…

At Humboldt State University (HSU), location is everything. Students are as drawn to our spectacular natural setting as they are to the unique majors in the natural resource sciences that the university has to offer. However, the isolation that nurtures the pristine natural beauty of the area presents a difficult reality for students who are…

Building a general education program from scratch for a population of first generation and underserved students provided both a challenge and opportunity. Faculty who had limited previous experience teaching and assessing first year students engaged in study of the best practices and research. Faculty designed a four-year general education…

Wynn, Mosholder, & Larsen (2014, 2016) studied the effect of problem-based learning (PBL) on the development of postformal thinking (PFT) skills among first-year learning community (LC) students and attributed the significant PFT gains, in part, to the metacognitive reflection component of their PBL method, recommending it as a way to…

Colleges and universities are paying increasing attention to students' transition into post-secondary education, including the provision of support to freshmen through structured First-Year Experiences (FYEs). Although low- and-moderate-income students are participating in post-secondary education at increased rates, their performance remains…

First-year seminars and learning communities (LC) have been used to help increase retention, provide continuity, and support students as they transition to the university setting. Another high impact educational practice--common intellectual experiences (CIE)--includes student activities centered on a theme to help facilitate learning, increase…

Literature on the support of the First Year Experience (FYE) in institutions of Higher Education provides a range of modelled approaches. However, we argue that institutions still need to selectively plan which approach/es and attendant strategies are best suited to their particular contexts and institutional policy and practice frameworks and how…

Drawing on a new, national survey of public institutions that serve two-year students funded by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation and conducted by Ithaka S+R and Two Year First Year, this research brief describes the ways that these institutions do--and do not--support students during their first year of enrollment. It also highlights the extent to…

High-impact practices (HIPs) have been shown to be effective in helping first-year students successfully transition into college. However, since most of the research on HIPs has been done in small liberal arts settings, little is known about the efficacy and implementation practices of HIPs in large, public, primarily nonresidential institutions,…

Faculty training and development for First-Year Seminar (FYS) faculty at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMUCC) is conducted in the form of training workshops, bi-annual teaching institutes, and various professional development opportunities. Facilitated workshop content is based on student-centered teaching and learning theories.…