Although any new undertaking is exciting because of the opportunities it may bring, the transition to college life also brings new pressures and uncertainties. From the shelter of home, young people emerge into a new culture, with a new environment for success. Here they are their own masters, often far from the vigilance of parents and the…

This study serves as the preliminary analyses of a pilot study of community college students who persisted through their remedial classes and their programs of study and had attained the associate degree at a multicultural community college. This study is informed by Tinto's academic integration model, Astin's social involvement model and Freire's…

The goal of the work reported here was to help students expand their understanding of antibiotic resistance, the Central Dogma, and evolution. We developed a unit entitled "Ciprofloxacin Resistance in "Neisseria gonorrhoeae,"" which was constructed according to the principles of scientific teaching by a team of graduate students, science faculty,…

This article analyzes the challenges encountered in a first-year service-learning course in which students had high expectations for community involvement and a commitment to social responsibility, yet significant difficulty connecting their service orientation to the intellectual inquiry expected of them at the college level. This conflict…

Increasingly, companies and corporations are seeking to diversify areas of their workforce that are predominantly male. Many of the positions in these areas are highly technical. However, despite abundant opportunities, women are not preparing themselves for technology-related careers. To develop a first step toward addressing this problem, a…

A group of five graduate students and a faculty mentor used the cultural popularity of forensics to develop a first-year undergraduate seminar. This course fulfilled two main objectives: First, the graduate student instructors developed professionally through a two-year process of creating, instructing, and revising a course. Second, a variety of…

Assessment is a worthwhile undertaking when meaningful data are generated, evidence-based improvement initiatives are thoroughly considered and discussed, and results are ultimately used to improve educational effectiveness. National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) results are oriented toward such practical use. Each year, more campuses use…

The trend toward implementing models for Centers for Teaching and Learning (CTL) for academic support in higher education is gaining momentum. Whether due to external influences, such as the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, which promotes inquiry about teaching and learning, or more related to internal forces such as…

First-year seminars are nearly ubiquitous fixtures in American higher education, and research has documented their positive effect on student persistence. Only limited research, however, has attempted to isolate the impact of various aspects of first-year seminars on persistence, especially on a cross-institutional basis. We use a survey of almost…

The authors investigated changes in self-efficacy in writing and writing apprehension in a sample of first-year college students in an interdisciplinary writing-intensive course taught by faculty from varied disciplines at a liberal arts college. Results showed that self-efficacy in writing significantly increased while writing apprehension…

Improving the first-year experience has been part of a broader set of initiatives to respond to concerns about undergraduate education (Astin, Keup, & Lindholm, 2002). This research examined the efficacy of a first-year seminar on student satisfaction and retention at a Research Extensive, urban and public land-grant university. This study…

All first-year students who entered the University of Missouri-Columbia as animal science majors between the fall of 1998 and 2004 (n = 619) had the opportunity to participate in a residentially-based Freshmen Interest Group (FIG) and/or a learning community specifically designed for them. The odds of graduating is significant for all three…

Provides a rationale for the development of courses for freshmen that are designed to help them achieve the most benefit from their college experience. Discusses course goals, format, credit, grading, content, enrollment, and evaluation. (JAC)

This article documents one university's struggle to create a first year program that can be taken seriously by both students and faculty. (GCP)

Presents appropriate freshman seminar topics and related activities geared toward meeting 13 objectives of the National Business Education Standards. (SK)