A significant issue for U.S. institutions of higher education is reducing the anxiety of students in order to help increase retention rates and improve academic performance. The purpose of this study was to analyze the anxiety levels of incoming graduate students at a Midwest regional state university to determine if an online student orientation…

In 2009, district data revealed that new students at Appoquinimink School District (ASD) were struggling academically and socially. Several specific steps were taken to improve the outcomes of these new students. First, an in-depth review of the relevant data regarding new students in the district was conducted. A white paper on relevant research…

Summer bridge programs support post-secondary success by providing intensive, short-term academic and social resources while introducing college expectations and the cultural contexts of the institution. They typically are offered in the summer between high school graduation and the first term of college and vary in content, program size and…

We review the effectiveness of first-year seminars based on the widely used criteria of first-year grades and the 1-year retention rate. Meta-analytic results indicate that first-year seminars have a small average effect on both first-year grades (k = 89, N = 52,406, d = 0.02) and the 1-year retention rate (k = 195, N = 169,666, d = 0.11). We…

Peer mentoring is often considered the single most effective strategy for increasing student retention and student satisfaction. As a consequence, mentoring programs have been implemented at most universities and are an essential feature of best practice transition programs. Yet, the literature is inconsistent regarding what the term entails and…

In the fall of 2007, the author came to Northland College excited for the opportunities that it presented--a low faculty-to-student ratio and professional connections. But what he was really interested in was the new student orientation to the college. It just happens that this was one of a number of trips comprising Northland's Outdoor…

Orientation is widely conceived to encompass activities that support the transition into educational institutions. The University of Cape Coast, Ghana places a premium on orientation for freshman year students and yet the impact of such programmes on students' performance remains a difficult thing to determine. This study, therefore, focuses on…

Induction for students entering university at level six is often less in-depth than that for students experiencing higher education (HE) for the first time. A week-long "Enhanced Induction" was developed specifically tailored to the concerns of the staff and students involved in an Animal Science "Top-up" at the University of…

According to Sparks (2011),"the cost of college is increasing faster than inflation with the government funding over 19 million student loans....Congress is demanding answers from colleges and universities about the quality of their education and the return on the government's investment"(p. 1). According to Bruffee (1999), the current…

This study examines the issues surrounding middle school students' transitions to high school and the degree to which freshman orientation models can help them. The attendance, discipline, report card grades, and end-of-course exams of 60 students who participated in a freshman orientation were compared to those of 150 students who were invited to…

New counseling students often have strong reactions to the concept of privilege and become anxious when expected to address issues of multiculturalism personally and professionally. In this article, the authors describe a new student orientation model that focuses on addressing privilege and offer steps toward embracing multiculturalism and social…

Wilderness orientation programs (sometimes referred to as outdoor orientation programs) use adventure programming for incoming college/university students to aid students' adjustment to college. These experiences usually occur in the days or weeks immediately prior to the first semester of the students' college coursework. They are typically…

Alternate reality games (ARGs) are a relatively new form of collaborative game that make use of both the virtual and real worlds to engage players in a series of challenges within a compelling narrative. The Alternate Reality Games for Orientation, Socialisation and Induction (ARGOSI) project aimed to use this game format to provide an alternative…

The argument that de-contextualized deficit approaches to academic literacies were ineffective (Lea, 2004; Northedge, 2003), has led to expectations that New Zealand Higher Education institutions embed academic literacies within programmes and courses (Tertiary Education Commission, 2010). This paper reports on the use of a teaching and learning…

Wilderness orientation programs have been utilized by colleges and universities in the United States for nearly 75 years. This study, using means-end theory, reveals the outcomes of a wilderness orientation program for incoming students. A retroactive study was conducted for all participants who had taken part in a wilderness orientation program…