In spite of the sudden onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many instructors who used team-based pedagogies shifted them online rather than suspending them entirely, but with limited time and resources. To examine the difference in team dynamics and outcomes for courses in Spring 2019 and Spring 2020 of over 1500 first-year engineering students per…

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.…

Mentoring is a widespread practice in different sectors in society. It is particularly prevalent in higher education. Many have acknowledged the various transitional challenges encountered by first-year tertiary-level students. Greater support is therefore needed for this particular student group. This mixed-methods year-long case study examined…

Benefits of summer bridge and early arrival experiences include the academic and social integration of incoming first-year students into their chosen institutions. The unprecedented nature of the COVID-19 pandemic created opportunities to re-imagine delivery of activities and engagement of incoming first-year students in summer bridge and early…

This applied dissertation is a mixed-methods study designed to collect student perspectives of an online First-Year Experience (FE) course and to determine the overall value of the FE course. The researcher sought to identify what is the value of the FE course to the students enrolled in this online course. In the study's survey, students will be…

Mindfulness training (MT) has shown promise in improving psychological health among college students yet has rarely been evaluated as an addition to the college academic curriculum. Here, we demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of a first-year MT seminar offered to residential students at a selective private university, evaluating its…

This paper examines the successes and challenges of a Supplemental Instruction/Peer Assisted Learning (SI/PAL) scheme at an Irish Higher Education Institute that was the outcome of a co-working approach between academic staff and the Students' Union. It considers how novel approaches can enhance student experience, support student learning and…

This paper evaluates the satisfaction and impact of a self-directed, web-based or mobile app, student support program designed to facilitate self-determination of secondary or postsecondary students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the United States. Five professionals and four successful college graduates with ASD evaluated the program and…

This paper reports on the feasibility of "The Study Place Project" (TSP[superscript 2] ), a novel intervention designed to improve academic achievement and retention for first-year college students. Our aim was to provide students with regular study sessions in a minimal distraction environment, allowing them to apply their own…

In this study, we assessed student engagement during a short-term, faculty-led criminal justice study-abroad course using elements of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). Study abroad education has been identified as a high-impact learning strategy but significant evidence to support its efficacy is limited, particularly when…

Due to high dropout rates (30%) among first-year students, our college of engineering operates programmes for promoting students' retention and learning. The peer-led team learning (PLTL) programme accompanies Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics introductory courses with a high rate of failures, and incorporates workshops of small…

Consistent with national trends, only about ½ of students who intend to major in STEM disciplines at Maryville College (MC) complete bachelor's degrees in these fields. The Scots Science Scholars (S[superscript 3] ) program was funded through the National Science Foundation's STEM Talent Extension Program to increase the number of students…

The science of learning (learning science) is an emerging interdisciplinary field that concerns itself with how the brain learns and remembers important information. The authors describe an innovative extracurricular program that introduced first-year undergraduate students in engineering to learning science, specifically the biological steps in…

In view of recent changes in the higher education sector, such as increased tuition fees, a greater focus has been placed on widening participation initiatives and monitoring student satisfaction. The aims of the current study were twofold: (1) to explore whether pre-entry programmes foster successful transition to higher education, and (2) to…

The developments in the digital age are reflected in foreign language classrooms today, yet, teachers' incompetence resulting from insufficient training about various technologies during their previous education prevent them from integrating technology into their classrooms effectively. Especially with the sudden increasing demand of online…