This study follows the implementation of an iPad Initiative program at a university in the mid-south region of the United States. Freshmen students enrolled in a First Year Experience (FYE) course within the College of Nursing and Health Professions (CNHP) were surveyed regarding iPad use and curriculum implementation. Research questions included…

For more than 30 years, John Gardner has elevated the discussion about the importance of student success in the first-year of college, with a heightened emphasis on first-year seminar courses and their value. Many colleges and universities offer some version of a first-year experience seminar, which is true for the Midwestern MAC School discussed…

Success in college is topic that is continually debated and contested, specifically, with respect to identifying how it is defined, operationalized, and fostered. The first-year experience is a phrase used to describe the intricacies and associated issues of being a first-year student in college. This study addressed the limited research and…

The purpose of this qualitative case study is to understand transfer students' experiences of their transition to a private four-year college in Brooklyn, New York, one with an approximate enrollment of 1100 undergraduates. Of particular focus are the students' experience of a Transfer Seminar required of transfer students in their first semester…

This quantitative study examined first-time-in-college students' (FTIC) perceptions of a first- year-experience program, "Transition Course". The study used survey methodological techniques to examine variables and answer research questions. The theoretical frameworks for this study were based on the conceptualization of student success:…

This study examines the impact of culturally responsive pedagogy in an introduction to university course developed specifically for Aboriginal Access students. The pedagogy has been conceptualized to reflect interconnectivity in a nested system, where all facets of learning link with each other on emotional, spiritual, mental, and physical levels.…

In this article, I turn to a grounded theory study that examines the experiences of students participating in an individual project-based FYW course, exploring up close the exploits,--practices, and products of one student "writing to assemble." I question pedagogy stayed to theory that would treat writing as primarily a technology of…

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:…

Since 1994, there has been a doubling in the enrolment of students in South Africa's public universities. Students, especially first-generation students, face numerous challenges that may impact their subjective perceptions of their well-being. In a milieu of high levels of suicide and depression amongst South Africa's student population, the…

Interdisciplinary teaching has been advocated as a means to foster cooperation between traditionally separate fields and broaden students' perspectives in the classroom. We explored the pedagogical difficulties of interdisciplinary team teaching through a first-year seminar in magic, religion, and the origins of science. Although many accounts in…

Academic advising is becoming an increasingly important resource on college campuses for purposes of retention, persistence, and student satisfaction. Researchers have found that an academic advisor can play a key role in the academic and personal lives of undergraduate students. If engagement with students matters for learning and persisting…

This study explores the effects of an academic seminar on the persistence of first-year college students, including effects on students most at risk of dropping out. A secondary interest was demonstrating the utility of using classification and regression tree analysis to identify relevant predictors of student persistence. The results of the…

Scholars maintain that when race and racism are addressed as factors that continue to shape inequality in the classroom, white students often deny the validity of these claims, while Students of Color tend to feel empowered by them. However, drawing on open-ended interviews, focus group discussions, and survey data, we argue that some Students of…

As access to higher education has continuously risen throughout the second half of the twentieth century, community college student success has not kept pace. Within this climate, institutions look to cost-effective initiatives and programs to encourage student success in order to produce more certificate and degree earners. While many first-year…

This article reports on two cycles of a Participatory Action Research (PAR) study on student experiences of the process of establishing social learning spaces in a Johannesburg university student residence. We draw on Wenger's (2009) notion of "social learning spaces" to explore the manner in which students mediate their social and…