The Arcadia University Preview Program for First Year and Transfer Students (Preview) is a program design built into the university curriculum to allow all First Year and Transfer Students the opportunity to study abroad. The Previews are an institution-wide strategy of academic and administrative procedures to provide an action to meet the…

The initial year of university is often a sensitive period for new students. Commencing students may lack the necessary skills and resources to adapt to unfamiliar learning environments. One intervention demonstrating academic benefits is Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS). PASS is a structured peer led study group where students collectively…

Effective feedback can build self-assessment skills in students so that they become more competent and confident to identify and self-correct weaknesses in their work. In this study, we trialled a feedback code as part of an integrated programme of formative and summative assessment tasks, which provided feedback to first-year students on their…

The Louisiana State University Biology Intensive Orientation for Students (BIOS) Program has been found to be an effective retention initiative for freshman Biological Science majors (S. M. Wischusen, Wischusen, & Pomarico, 2010; S. M. Wischusen, Wischusen, W. E., 2007). Students who attended the five-day camp out-perform their non-participant…

In 2002, the New Mexico State University College Assistance Migrant Program (NMSU CAMP) was created to increase the number of baccalaureate degrees held by students from farmworker backgrounds by mediating structural impediments that typically normalize post-secondary inequities for this population. Migrant and seasonal farmworker students are…

In recent years, great emphasis has been placed on student success and retention in higher education. To address this issue, many universities' strategic retention programs include first-year seminars. A variety of pedagogical strategies have been employed in these seminars to help students succeed personally, socially and academically. This…

The instructional program for first year college chemistry was altered to provide self-paced, individualized instruction using multimedia modules. Each unit must be passed before the student can proceed and thus all students who complete the program can be assured of a passing grade. The entire course is on 42 half-hour audio tapes; students use…

Ursinus College introduced a new Freshman Advising Program at the beginning of the 1982-83 academic year. The program called on specially trained faculty to play a greatly expanded role as mentor-advisors. Student evaluations of freshman advising are discussed. (MLW)

An experimental program was undertaken to find a means of facilitating the teaching of art to large numbers of students in a Humanities course at the University of Miami. Original paintings were available for study in the University art gallery, but there was insufficient room for large classes in the gallery and a specialist teacher was not…