Examined the effects on teaching techniques of faculty (n=68) at the University of South Carolina who taught a freshman seminar after completing a training workshop. Many faculty reported that they had transferred the new teaching techniques learned in preparation for the freshman seminar to their discipline-based courses. These included lecturing…

Accompanying the growth of freshman seminars and extended orientation courses has been a rich body of literature depicting the process and outcome aspects of the course. This paper provides an annotated review of the investigations on freshman seminar/extended orientation courses. The review is designed to provide faculty and administrators with…

This book's 10 chapters offer support and information on effective training of instructors of first-year college seminars. The included chapters are: (1) "Instructor Training: Rationale, Results, and Content Basics" (Joseph B. Cuseo); (2) "Teaching and Today's Changing First-Year Students" (M. Lee Upcraft and Pamela S. Stephens); (3) "What We Know…

In response to demographic changes among entering college students, more and more colleges are offering freshman orientation courses that have come to be known as "College 101." At Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio, a course called COL 101 was begun in 1985. A survey of teachers of the course investigated speech or oral…

First-year students taking developmental courses need the kind of guidance a freshman seminar can provide when the advice is directly relevant to their progress. An alternative to assigning a heterogeneous group of students to an academic advisor is to offer a course which enriches the key elements of a freshman seminar while applying the standard…

Evaluated outcomes of freshman orientation seminar on orientation to college. Found college freshmen's (n=113) participation was associated with improved academic and social adjustment, in contrast to normal trend of declining adjustment over first semester. Seminar seemed successful at increasing participants' knowledge of university and…

Followed the progress of eight cohorts of first-year college students taking an orientation course between 1986 and 1993. Found that, compared to students who did not take the course, they fared significantly better in retention, graduation rate, grade point average, and other satisfaction, participation, and skills measures. (EV)

This volume contains a compilation of 68 abstracts by presenters from various nations at a 5-day conference on the first year college student experience. Among the topics considered were: advising and assessment programs; preparing freshmen for work, family, and private life; integrating reentry women in the college community; evaluating…

A trial program to improve the quality of liberal arts education gave freshmen students at Pennsylvania State University an introduction to a particular discipline, improved advising, and a college orientation. Results suggest that the program led to more favorable attitudes but no perceptible differences in performance or retention. (Author/CM)

While America's two-year colleges are diverse in function, mission, clientele, and organizational structure, they share a common identity in their commitment to a developmental philosophy. A rarely used, but nonetheless tenable and cost-saving path to development involves exploring strategies which simultaneously contribute to faculty, student,…

A series of studies at one university based on annual data from 1973-88 compared sophomore return rates of participants vs. nonparticipants in freshman orientation seminars. Participants achieved significantly higher return rates in 11 of 16 years but not because they were brighter or more highly motivated students. (Author/MSE)

A national survey was conducted which examined the scope of freshman seminar programming, the characteristics of these seminars, and the variance between different types of freshman seminars with respect to their goals, topics addressed, and other characteristics. The study surveyed 2,460 regionally-accredited colleges and universities of whom…

Researchers have begun to analyze community college retention data in terms of students' stated objectives upon entry. By categorizing students based upon their most important reason for attending college, meaningful follow-up and assessment of students' goal attainment can be conducted. Program evaluation studies have produced evidence that…

This monograph contains 15 papers on aspects of college and university student and family orientation programs. Following a prologue, "Reflections on the Future of Orientation," by M. Lee Upcraft, the papers are: (1) "Today's Students and Their Impact on Orientation and First-Year Programs" (Tony W. Cawthon and Michael Miller);…

Two studies evaluated outcomes of a University Experience (freshman seminar) course to ease the transition to college and enhance student retention at the University of South Florida. In the first study, course evaluations of "typical" USF students (N=540) who completed the course in fall 1998 were overwhelmingly positive in support of…