Seeing Reading: Faculty and Students in First-Year Experience Courses Visualize Their Reading Practices

While many American colleges and universities are providing a First Year Experience (FYE) course or program for their first year students, those programs are not often customized to take into account international students’ (IS) unique challenges. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, this study evaluated a FYE course that was customized for IS in a college setting. Nineteen IS and eight domestic students (DS) who attended FYE classes completed a survey; 18 of the 19 IS were interviewed. Overall, the FYE class was successful in terms of helping IS to familiarize themselves with academic resources and expectations, understanding American culture, making more American friends, and improving their English language skills. Suggestions for future integration of IS into FYE programs are discussed.

This research expands on previous findings that co-curricular First-Year Experience (FYE) courses have significant positive impact on first-year business students’ academic performance and university transition. We adapted an existing co-curricular FYE course into an online course and assessed the academic performance, and university transition in comparison to our already successful in-person model. A multilevel modeling analysis shows that online students are experiencing increased university belongingness and successful time management abilities with the course relative to in-person students. In-person students faired better in terms of overall academic performance and transition. Importantly, online students are less likely to perceive their transition as successful, and students with more educational barriers (e.g., financial concerns, lack of social support, generational trauma, etc.) perceive less success regarding their transition. Further, when students have increased sense of belonging, higher self-efficacy, and time management abilities we see an increase in their perceived transition success in the co-curricular FYE courses. Our results suggest that we have been able to adapt these courses to an online learning environment, which is crucial given the realities of a post-pandemic circumstances.

Increasingly, employers are demanding further development and attainment of soft skills from college graduates; namely, the cluster of personality traits such as time management, decision-making and creativity that characterize positive working experiences and relationships (Kamin, 2013; IBM, 2010). This phenomenon is due to employers recognizing that future economic success can only be achieved when future employees are able to adapt to a changing and more complex world, and more precisely, develop their ability to think creatively and innovatively (IBM, 2010). The literature shows that higher education has sought to respond to these industry needs and has implemented elective creativity and innovation courses with limited success, but has not addressed this issue in a holistic manner for all college graduates. Follow-up studies continue to show a creativity and innovation disconnect still occurs (Marshall & Kinser, 2012). Therefore, addressing this issue in a systematic and sustainable manner, this study will examine implementing creativity and innovation in a non-elective First Year Experience (FYE) course in a college of technology. Building upon the literature, this explanatory mixed-methods study seeks to show how the FYE course serves as an appropriate paradigm to address these desired outcomes in an effort to adequately prepare college graduates for the 21st century workforce.

Purpose: Research has shown students in general do better throughout their post-secondary education if they participated in a First Year Experience (FYE) course. Research questions whether first-year students peform better in face-to-face, online, or blended courses. The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of first-year health science students in online and blended learning environments and self-regulation, in a FYE course. Methods: The study utilized educational design and research tools designed to create and improve teaching and learning practices. For the design of the learning environment, analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation (ADDIE) was implemented. Action-based research (ABR) was utilized for analyzing and improving instructional practices. A survey adapted to evaluate self-regulation was used to evaluate perceptions of self-regulation, goal setting, environment, task strategies, time management, help seeking, and self-evaluation and students’ perceptions of instructional modality. Results: A total of 657 students (online n=295 and blended n=362) consented and participated in the study. Majority of online participants (90%) somewhat agreed to strongly agreed in being efficient in goal setting compared to the blended group at 87%. In the area of environment for studying, 95% of online participants reported having a comfortable, distraction-free environment as compared to the blended group (85%). For the category of learning environment (online vs. blended), 94% of online participants reported being comfortable, compared to 85% in the blended. There was low confidence identified among participants (63%) in the categories of time management, environment, help seeking, and task strategies. Conclusions: Ways to help students improve and expand their self-regulation skills should be developed in the early years of higher education. The study revealed students were not accessing supplemental resources to aid their learning. Therefore, faculty may need to consider streamlining the supplemental resources made available to students, utilizing the ADDIE model to evaluate their course. Increasing faculty and peer face time, could improve self-regulation skills and make students feel a stronger connection to the learning process and potentially overall academic success.

Institutional Research (IR) professionals have diverse roles and responsibilities in universities across the country. The Office of Institutional Research (OIR) at Small State University has evolved from an Office of Planning and Analysis whose primary responsibility was for collecting and reporting descriptive statistics to an OIR with growing responsibilities for outcomes research. In this chapter, the authors describe the transition of the OIR to provide more support to outcomes research and program/project evaluation. A particular case related to the university’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) and First Year Experience (FYE) efforts is described. For many universities, the primary and sometimes only outcome measure being assessed related to the First Year Experience is the Fall to Fall retention rate of students. At Small State University, faculty were interested in understanding more about how a particular FYE course and its learning community contributed to student success indicators beyond retention rates. Through collaboration between the OIR, the Associate Provost (AP), and the Associate Vice President for Learning Assessment (AVPLA), data regarding FYE courses and learning communities was assessed. The findings supported the skills learned through the FYE course and learning communities are mechanisms through which at-risk students can improve overall GPA and retention. This collaboration between the OIR, the AP, and the AVPLA provided a foundation upon which focused studies of student characteristics and outcomes assessment can proceed in the future. A framework for organizing the work of institutional research and learning assessment is proposed.

As institutions look to improve student retention through first-year experience (FYE) courses, some have implemented courses targeted specifically to the international population. A quantitative comparison of international students who took an FYE course with international students who did not take an FYE course was completed to analyze the differences in retention and graduation rates between the two groups. International freshmen who participated in the FYE course were retained and graduated at significantly higher rates than international freshmen who did not take the course. Aspects of the course that likely led to student retention and graduation are discussed.

First‐year experience (FYE) courses are excellent venues for introducing freshman students to information literacy concepts. The authors, librarians and FYE instructors at their respective institutions, conducted a nationwide survey to determine whether FYE course curricula contained a library component and, if so, to what extent. Survey results indicate that the majority of FYE programs contain some type of library unit, though results varied broadly depending on institutional factors. Details the presence of a library unit in the overall curricula of FYE courses, who is developing the library component, who is teaching it, and what is being taught. Examines current practices within FYE courses and the results can be used by librarians and FYE professionals, as well as the larger academic community, to expand understanding of the role that libraries, and librarians play in this particular type of course. It will serve as a foundation for future development of FYE course curricula and can be used as documentation for conversations promoting further integration of information literacy.

Using the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study Risk Factor Index, students were placed into four traditional/non-traditional (NT) status categories. For each category, persistence was compared between students who completed a First-Year Experience (FYE) course and a control group of students that did not. It was hypothesized that having a FYE experience would be significantly associated with greater persistence among the most highly NT students. Attrition, analyzed over three semesters, determined that persistence was not related FYE completion.

This article documents the design, delivery, and evaluation of a first-year experience (FYE) course in media and communication studies. It was decided that CMNS 110: Introduction to Communication Studies would start to include elements to address a perceived and documented sense of disconnectedness among first-year students in the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University. These elements included coping, learning, and writing workshops facilitated by various services units across campus. We present results from surveys and focus groups conducted with students at the end of the course and discuss the predicaments that the new realities of an accreditation and audit paradigm—under the cloak of the neoliberal university—produce. On one hand the FYE course may help students transition into a post-secondary institution; on the other hand, too much emphasis on the FYE can result in an instrumental approach to education, jeopardizing the integrity of the course. We offer some insights into the challenges and opportunities of implementing FYE curricula within a large classroom setting.

This study compares a first-year experience (FYE) course utilizing outdoor adventure experiences to a more traditional FYE class at a large mid-Atlantic university. This study compares the quantitative differences between responses by participants in the two classes using the First Year Initiative Survey (FYI), a measure of FYE outcomes related to successful first-year student transition (Swing, 2002). Findings indicate that responses by the adventure class participants had significantly higher mean scores (p < .05) on 8 of the 15 FYI variables. The use of an adventure-based program was effective in providing FYE course outcomes as measured by the FYI and was more effective than the more traditional FYE class on some outcome variables such as knowledge of wellness and connection with peers.

This article documents the design, delivery, and evaluation of a first-year experience (FYE) course in media and communication studies. It was decided that CMNS 110: Introduction to Communication Studies would start to include elements to address a perceived and documented sense of disconnectedness among first-year students in the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University. These elements included coping, learning, and writing workshops facilitated by various services units across campus. We present results fromsurveys and focus groups conducted with students at the end of the course and discuss the predicaments that the new realities of an accreditation and audit paradigm—under the cloak of the neoliberal university—produce. On one hand the FYE course may help students transition into a post-secondary institution; on the other hand, too much emphasis on the FYE can result in an instrumental approach to education, jeopardizing the integrity of the course. We offer some insights into the challenges and opportunities of implementing FYE curricula within a large classroom setting.

The transition to college is a stressful time that can present many emotional challenges and demands. One way to help ease this transition is through the implementation of emotion regulation skills training in first-year experience courses. However, little is known about how students who receive such instruction implement emotion regulation, and what challenges and difficulties they face in doing so. In the present study, first-semester college students (N= 24) who were enrolled in a first-year experience course and received emotion regulation traitning and reported on their experiences regulating their emotions in their everyday lives. Results of thematic analysis revealed six themes in the experience of emotion regulation: emotion regulation as an effortful process, the impact of regulatory goals on regulatory success, the role of timing, emotional awareness, affective forecasting, and regulatory clarity. Findings highlight the challenges that first-semester college students experience while attempting to regulate their emotions during emotional situations, and may aid counseling psychologists understanding of the transition to college with respect to emotion regulation skill development. Further, findings suggest that implementing emotion regulation training in first-year experience courses can provide a meaningful training ground for the development of emotion regulation during the first semester of college.

Colleges and universities are concerned with preparing students for success in their studies. One avenue has been to develop “University 101” or First Year Experience (FYE) courses that focus on academic achievement and student adjustment to college life. These courses, aimed at developing college-level skills and increasing student retention, should include a library component that is more than just a building tour. One way to reach as many students as possible is to create web-based instructional modules. This article discusses the development of a Web-based instructional module for a FYE course at the California State University, San Marcos. The successes and failures of integrating technology into a FYE course may help others concerned with reaching first-year students.

PurposeThis study was conducted to understand students' achievements in learning and to improve the overall curriculum of the first-year experience course.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, a series of questionnaire-based surveys were conducted on students enrolled in the Introductory Seminar for Policy Science, a mandatory first-year experience course offered in the first semester (from April to July) at a university in Japan. The studies were conducted in 2015 (n = 29), 2016 (n = 29) and 2017 (n = 31).FindingsResults revealed that, regardless of the year, students deepened their understanding of policy science and gained increased confidence to explain what group works and reports are throughout the semester. In addition, students' level of worry about life at the university decreased throughout the course in all three years. A stepwise multiple regression analysis (n = 84) revealed that those students who knew what policy science was (B = 0.271) and had the confidence to write their opinions in reports (B = 0.264) more likely answered that they knew what they wanted to study over four years at the university.Originality/valueThis study revealed that the mandatory first-year experience course taught by the same instructor generated similar educational effects for different students in different years. The results elucidated the progressive effects of different components of the course, eliminating possibilities of any bias or specific characteristics of a single group of students.

This paper summarizes results of a study of 105 student-athletes enrolled in a first-year experience course. Students were asked, What is the biggest unanswered question you have about college? Results indicated that students most burning questions were related to academics; relatively few student responses were directly related to being a student-athlete. Discussion of the findings includes designing first-year experience courses to respond to students concerns.