First-year seminars (FYS) are well-tested and trusted programs to facilitate students' transition to college. This study adds to the body of evidence about the value of seminars through analysis of a large multi-institution dataset and documentation of the positive association between participation in a first-year seminar and student engagement in…

While the majority of STEM persistence has focused on outcomes for first-year students there has been little investigation into the outcomes for peer mentors and no investigation into whether peer mentors perceive the experience differently based on gender, ethnicity or other relevant variables. The purpose of this study was to examine an archival…

More South African research is needed that examines the application of positive psychology to assist students in navigating the stressful first-year experience by identifying, developing and applying signature strengths. This article reports on a mixed methods study that investigated the efficacy of a strengths-based development programme…

Despite the wealth of inquiry focused on the first-year seminar (FYS), little research has examined the pedagogical components of such courses. There is also a lack of research that assesses the extent to which FYS influence students' intrapersonal, interpersonal, and epistemological development. The goal of this study was to qualitatively explore…

This paper reports on the feasibility of "The Study Place Project" (TSP[superscript 2] ), a novel intervention designed to improve academic achievement and retention for first-year college students. Our aim was to provide students with regular study sessions in a minimal distraction environment, allowing them to apply their own…

The primary purpose of the current study was to explore the nature and process of transformation as described by students in their stories of first-semester experiences and to compare these processes to those outlined in transformative learning models in order to examine the degree to which they correlate. The secondary goal was to investigate how…

This pilot study explored the effects of participation in a servicelearning initiative on first-year pre-service teacher education student development. The focus of the service-learning was a combination of problem-based learning and immersive activities, pairing pre-service teacher education students with an early high school-to-college bridge…

Nearly one half of students planning to earn a STEM degree either change majors or leave college without a degree. The completion percentage is much lower for underrepresented minorities, of whom less than one third complete their STEM degree within six years. At the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, the STEM Boot Camp program was designed to…

Living-learning programs (LLPs) can have a positive influence on student success. The purpose of this study is to provide an example of an LLP that effectively involves faculty and college academic staff as well as to understand student experiences in the LLP related to personal, professional, and academic growth. The LLP at the focus of this…

College is one of the most formative times in an individual's life. Its intense living-learning environment can promote students' extreme self-confidence and positive development, or alternatively, can result in low levels of well-being. The first year in college is an opportunity for faculty and staff to engage with students to help them build…

In language teacher education, beliefs of language teachers about language learning and teaching have a powerful effect on the way they teach. Therefore, the quality of teacher education programs should be considered as an influential variable that might cause changes in pre-service language teachers' beliefs. The main purpose of this…

Purpose: Common knowledge seem to suggest that international studies (IS) programs are at the forefront of helping their students better understand the world beyond United States borders. The purpose of this study is to test the proposition that IS students have a greater global awareness than other college students. Method: Hanvey's (1976) five…

This article examines the impact of an outdoor orientation program (OOP) on a cohort of first-year university students who participated in a canoe trip facilitated by peer leaders. The curriculum included training for outdoor skills and transitional guidance to university life (i.e., strategies for time management, critical thinking, becoming…

Using longitudinal data from the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education, this study measured the impact of first-year seminars on college students' life-long learning orientations. The findings suggest that first-year seminars enhance students' life-long learning orientations and that the effect of first-year seminars is mediated through…

Emotional Intelligence (EI) has been defined as knowing the emotional state of self and others. Its relevance for college student development is only beginning to be researched. In the present research, the Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory was administered to college students at the beginning and end of a semester-long course designed…