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Betsy Barefoot, EdD July 20, 2009 22 nd International Conference on The First-Year Experience

Standing on Common Ground: Lessons Learned from over 20 years of International Focus on the First Year. Betsy Barefoot, EdD July 20, 2009 22 nd International Conference on The First-Year Experience. Let’s Make It Personal. “ Moi ” - 1962. Duke University.

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Betsy Barefoot, EdD July 20, 2009 22 nd International Conference on The First-Year Experience

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  1. Standing on Common Ground: Lessons Learned from over 20 years of International Focus on the First Year Betsy Barefoot, EdD July 20, 2009 22nd International Conference on The First-Year Experience

  2. Let’s Make It Personal “Moi” - 1962 Duke University Excited, unfocused, needed my glasses

  3. What About You? How would you describe yourself as a first-year student?

  4. What has changed in higher education over the past 40 – 50 years? If you had fallen asleep in class for 40+ years, what would you find different about higher education? The students who are entering a college or university today

  5. The Country I Know Best

  6. The Familiar Process of Separating Students The Sheep The Goats

  7. Survival of the Fittest Charles Darwin

  8. Our Accomplishments • Shared responsibility for student success. • Collaboration between those who teach and those who support students out of class. • Many special initiatives for first-year students. • “The First-Year Experience” has a defined meaning in the higher education lexicon.

  9. Lessons Learned My list • Early experiences matter. • Students learn from other students. • A crisis is a terrible opportunity to waste. • What happens in first-year instruction is essential to student success. • Evaluation of first-year efforts is essential. • There is no substitute for student motivation. • We must partner with schools to solve the remediation problem. • “Student success” has many components, many layers.

  10. Lesson #1. Early Experiences Matter • The first 6 weeks? • The first 3 weeks? • The first 3 days? • The first 3 minutes? • Findings are institution-specific. • What is your campus doing, early in the term to help new students feel welcome – to help them put their best foot forward?

  11. Lesson #2. Students Learn a Great Deal from Other Students • Actually, they may learn more than from adults on campus. • What are they learning? • To play the “game” called higher education • The costs and benefits of different levels of intellectual engagement • Involve upper-level students in your first-year initiatives as mentors, role models, guides.

  12. Lesson #3. A Crisis Is a Terrible Opportunity to Waste The catalyst for many first-year efforts: the retention crisis What are the other first-year problems, needs, or crises? - Student disengagement? - Lack of purpose? - Depression/mental health problems? - Dysfunctional behavior?

  13. Lesson #4.What Happens in First-Year Instruction is Essential to Student Success Fragmented piecemeal efforts may be antidotes. What’s the REAL experience? Parking Food Registration hassles  Instruction  (classroom, online)

  14. Lesson #5. If You Don’t Evaluate, You May Evaporate • Need for continual evaluation of first-year initiatives • Use qualitative, even anecdotal evidence. • But - QUANTITATIVE EVIDENCE is most valued in higher education. • Advice: Be reasonable in projecting outcomes. • And remember: Even positive outcomes might not guarantee program survival.

  15. Lesson #6. There Is No Substitute for Student Motivation • A function of maturity and age (MIT brain research) • But many younger students are also motivated. • Until we develop a “motivation tonic” . . .

  16. Motivation Strategies • Help students discover a pathway toward their personal goals and sense of purpose. • Connect them with more experienced students who are motivated. • Increase their commitment to your particular institution.

  17. Lesson #7. Colleges and Universities Cannot Solve the Remediation Problem all by Themselves • Need to work with schools • to align standards for exit and college entry • Need to align curricula • Need to move from “time in instruction” to • “achievement” as a criterion for progression • (Web resource on developmental education)

  18. Lesson #8. Student Success is Made Up of Many Components, Many Layers • One definition of success – student retention (persistence) • The problems of measuring retention and graduation rates for institutions • The difficulty of measuring “persistence” for each individual student. • Another definition of success – the grade point average.

  19. Considering a Broad Definition of Student Success Identity Development • Intellectual competence • Relationships Career Decision Making Health & Wellness Faith & Spirituality Multicultural Awareness Civic Responsibility Retention (Persistence) – the base

  20. How Does Your Institution Define First-Year Student Success? • Is your definition broad? • Or is it narrow?

  21. Take Advantage of This Unique Opportunity • Let go of your assumptions. • You will find common ground but many surprising and exciting differences.

  22. Let’s Hear from You • What lessons about the first year would you add to my list? • Other questions/comments

  23. Contact Information Betsy Barefoot, EdD Vice President & Senior Scholar John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education Brevard, NC, USA barefoot@fyfoundations.org

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