Undergraduate Research Communities for Transfer Students

Donna Chamely-Wiik,Jordan Merritt,Evelyn Frazier,Daniel Meeroff,Kimberly R Schneider,Jodiene Johnson,William R Kwochka,Alison I Morrison-Shetlar,Michael Aldarondo-Jeffries

doi:10.14434/josotl.v21i1.30273

Donna Chamely-Wiik, Jordan Merritt + Show 7 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.14434/josotl.v21i1.30273

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Abstract

Transfer students face many challenges integrating into a 4-year college that affect their retention and success, yet very little research has documented how to create wraparound programming to support them. There remains a need to establish retention models that are adaptable and can serve a variety of students and institutions. The Learning Environment and Academic Research Network (LEARN) Consortium, a partnership of Florida Atlantic University, University of Central Florida, and Western Carolina University whose focus is on engagement in undergraduate research, addressed this need by developing and testing T-LEARN, a new model for a sustainable science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) retention program specifically for transfer students who have transitioned to a university setting after receiving their associate’s degree at a community college. The new model was developed by adapting a successful retention model for 1st-year students at the University of Central Florida centered around three main pillars: (1) academics/research, (2) mentoring, and (3) community building. In this paper, we describe the development of the T-LEARN model, outline the adaptations made to accommodate the specific needs of transfer students, and present 3 years of implementation data we analyzed to determine what factor(s) most impact transfer student retention and success. Our findings indicate that T-LEARN students’ involvement in research during their 1st year was the most significant factor within the T-LEARN program that contributed to their academic success. Additionally, the majority of these students had continued to do research with the same LEARN program faculty mentor 1 year after the program ended.

Highlights

Recruitment and retention of students from the community college pathway to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers is a national challenge
The T-Learning Environment and Academic Research Network (LEARN) program was implemented at three 4-year institutions that make up the LEARN Consortium with a goal of establishing a model that would be transferable to other institutions
The T-LEARN cohorts from Florida Atlantic University (FAU) aligned with the comparison group in all areas, except for percentage of Underrepresented minority (URM) participants

Summary

Introduction

Recruitment and retention of students from the community college pathway to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers is a national challenge. Community college students represented 41% of all U.S undergraduates and 29% of all first-generation students, with 52% of all Hispanic students and 42% of all Black students beginning their higher education careers at community colleges. Of this group, 62% of full-time community college students and 72% of part-time students worked either part- or full-time to earn money to attend school. Since early engagement in undergraduate research does not occur in a vacuum, our focus-group as well as survey findings highlighted multiple positive synergistic factors related to the T-LEARN program structure. Along with early access to undergraduate research, the T-LEARN program provided a uniform and structured approach to preparing students for research, primarily through the two-semester introduction to research courses. Focus-group data suggest that students would not be involved in research without the LEARN program, indicating that the traditional curriculum was too rigid and inflexible (Table 8)

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