In this study, retention and academic performance of students enrolled in four different versions of a first-year seminar at a large, public 4-year university were compared for a 2-year period. The first-year seminars examined were 3-credit courses with either traditional, global, community engagement, or leadership themes and were essentially…

The authors present preliminary insights from a qualitative action research project focused on refining the assessment practices of a first-year retention program at a large research university. Findings suggest the need for continued attention to the assessment cultures, especially interrogation and revision of current assessment attitudes,…

This study explored how international undergraduate students perceive their academic transition into American higher education. Schlossberg's (1984) 4S Transition Theory served as the framework for exploring what academic challenges, if any, international students experience during their first year of undergraduate studies in a new cultural and…

Nursing students' success and satisfaction with the major require early, proactive practices. This study examined two such practices utilized with prenursing students: freshman seminar and Appreciative Advising (AA). This study explored whether AA integrated into freshman seminar would impact prenursing students' academic major satisfaction. An…

Librarians struggle with using the Framework for Information Literacy (ACRL, 2015) to guide information literacy instruction (Downey, 2016; Hess, 2015; Stevens & Tieman, 2017). Infusing theoretical concepts is difficult in an applied discipline like information literacy and library science (Chang & Chen, 2015; Downey, 2016; Hess, 2015;…

The authors report on a pilot project designed to integrate habits of mind into a skills-based first-year seminar. This project featured the development of a curriculum map outlining the primary learning objectives for seven habits of mind--curiosity, perseverance, introspection, courage, humility, empathy, and civility--and this study shares that…

Scholars in college learning and writing studies have argued that reading has an image problem: we have trouble "seeing" it. This study contributes to making reading visible by collecting a series of images used by faculty and students enrolled in first-year experience courses. Qualitative analysis of interviews with five faculty and 34…

This study examined how students perceive the impact of a mandatory first-year seminar course on their success and persistence at a 2-year institution. Specifically, the study focused on the influence of the course curriculum and objectives to promote success and perseverance and how the campus community supports student success and persistence.…

The quality of education of an educational programme is a function of the value of the educational goals that the programme aims at, together with the effectiveness and efficiency of the means that it employs to achieve those goals, including pedagogical strategies and assessment tasks. Hence, in order to raise the quality of education, the…

This chapter describes a professional development program that integrates training in college teaching with an authentic classroom teaching experience. Benefits to graduate students in the program and undergraduate students in the linked disciplinary first-year seminar are discussed.

First-year seminars (FYS) are courses "intended to enhance the academic and/or social integration of first-year students" (Barefoot, 1992, p. 49). In 2008, the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) introduced a list of 10 high-impact practices (HIPs) that had been tested and found to have significant positive…

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…

Adult learners have different needs than traditional college-aged students. We present the first-year results of a targeted learning community for high-achieving, low-income engineering and engineering technology adult students. Students in this project received academic support and mentorship to prepare them for entering the engineering…

This study used a narrative inquiry and content analysis of student reflections in a first-year seminar (FYS) course to explore the experiences of diverse students transitioning into college during the COVID-19 pandemic in Fall 2020. All traditional, undergraduate, first-year students enrolled in the FYS, either online or hybrid, were asked to…

Peer mentoring programs have repeatedly shown that peer-to-peer support is a vital part of the transition process for new college students. Sometimes, what a student needs most in those imperative years is someone who can identify with them and provide the advice needed to get them to the finish line. In August 2019, the University of Nevada, Las…