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Review of the First-Year Experience at PSU

Review of the First-Year Experience at PSU. Agenda Why am I here? What do research and other program reviews say about improving the first-year experience? What could the process look like? Handout Who typically helps guide these processes? What would success look like? Discussion.

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Review of the First-Year Experience at PSU

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  1. Review of the First-Year Experience at PSU • Agenda • Why am I here? • What do research and other program reviews say about improving the first-year experience? • What could the process look like? Handout • Who typically helps guide these processes? • What would success look like? Discussion

  2. Review of the First-Year Experience at PSU

  3. Research on the First-Year Experience PUBLICATIONS: Books: • Henscheid, J. M., & Keup, J. (2011). Research on college student transitions. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition. • Fidler, D. S., & Henscheid, J. M. (2001). Conducting research on the college student experience. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition.

  4. Research on the First-Year Experience Monographs: • Henscheid J. M. (2004). Integrating the first-year experience: The role of first-year seminars in learning communities (Monograph No. 39). Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition. • Henscheid, J. M. (2000). Professing the disciplines: An analysis of senior seminars and capstone courses (Monograph No. 30). Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition.

  5. Research on the First-Year Experience Book Chapters: • Henscheid, J.M. (In Press). Senior seminars and capstone courses. In Hunter, M.S. and Vakos, T. The senior year: Culminating experiences and transitions. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition. • Henscheid, J. M. (2008). Institutional efforts to move seniors through and beyond college. In B. O. Barefoot (Ed.), New directions for higher education (No. 144): The first year and beyond: Rethinking the challenges of collegiate transition, pp. 79-87. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

  6. Research on the First-Year Experience Book Chapters: • Henscheid, J. M. (2005). Applying developmental theory to learning community practice. In T. L. Skipper (Ed.), Student development in the first college year: A primer for college educators, pp. 91-95. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition. • Henscheid, J. M. (2001). Peer facilitators as lead freshman seminar instructors. In J. E. Miller, J. E. Groccia, & D. DiBiasio (Eds.), Student assisted teaching and learning: Strategies, models, and outcomes, pp. 21-26. Bolton, MA: Anker. 

  7. Research on the First-Year Experience Monograph Chapters: • Hunter, M.S., Henscheid, J.M., & Mouton, M. (2007). Collaborations beyond the advising office. In M.S. Hunter, B. Wriggins, & E. White (Eds), Academic advising: New insights for teaching and learning in the first year (Monograph No. 46. [National Resource Center] Monograph No. 14 [National Academic Advising Association]; pp. 99-113). Columbia, SC: National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition, National Academic Advising Association. • Henscheid, J. M., & Brown, G. R. (2001). Peer leaders and new technology. In S. Hamid (Ed.), Peer leadership: Exploring perspectives, programs, and practices, pp. 84-92. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition.

  8. Research on the First-Year Experience Monograph Chapters: • Henscheid, J. M. (1998). Washington State University’s freshman seminar program. In B. O. Barefoot, C. L. Warnock, M. P. Dickinson, S. E. Richardson, & M. R. Roberts (Eds.), Exploring the evidence: Vol. 2. Reporting outcomes of first-year seminars (Monograph No. 25), pp. 105-106. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition. 

  9. Research on the First-Year Experience Articles in Peer Reviewed Journals: • Henscheid, J., O’Rourke, M., & Williams, J. G. (2009). Embedding the humanities in cross-disciplinary general education courses. JGE: The Journal of General Education 58(4), 279-295. • Brown, G. R., & Henscheid, J. M. (1997). The toe dip or the big plunge: Providing teachers effective strategies for using technology. TechTrends: For Leaders in Education and Training 42(4), 17-21. Peer Reviewed Chapter in Encyclopedia: • Henscheid, J. M., & Barnicoat, L. R. (2001). Senior capstone courses in higher education. Encyclopedia of education (2nd ed.). New York: Macmillan Reference. 

  10. Research on the First-Year Experience Peer Reviewed Chapter in Proceedings: • Henscheid, J. M. (2000). The university student first-year experience: Building an exciting future on an inspiring past. In Soares, A. P., Osorio, A., Capela, J. V., Almeida, L. S., Vasconcelos, R. M., and Caires, S. M. (Eds.), Transicaopara o ensino superior. Este volume reune as communicacoesapresentadas no Transicaopara o Ensino Superior organizadonasinstalacoes de Gualtar da Universidade do Minho (18-19 de Maio 2000): Braga, Portugal. Universidade do Minho.

  11. Research on the First-Year Experience Invited Publications: • Henscheid, J. M. (2004). Learning community assessment: What we know now. Invited essay for the First-year assessment listserv. http://www.sc.edu/fye. • Henscheid, J.M. (2003, November/December). Dear Tom…affectionately, John: Lessons from Adams and Jefferson. About Campus 8(5), 31-32. • Henscheid, J.M. (1998). Preparing freshmen to excel. Bridges to student success: Exemplary programs 1998. Washington, D.C.: National Association of Student Personnel Administrators. • Henscheid, J.M. (1995, June). Freshman learning/living center turns halls into homes. Recruitment and retention in higher education, pp. 1-2.

  12. What research and program evaluations tell us about first-year students • They want to be challenged, not sure what that means • The beeper study • They come from high schools required to do far more than traditional academic preparation • They are children of “No Child Left Behind” testing • In Texas, students are not as well prepared for college as they used to be

  13. What research and program evaluations tell us about first-year students • Forty percent of those who never graduate leave during the first year • They want their instructors to be friendly and are willing to make deals to problem minimize • They are typically accustomed to well-structured problems and the same class meeting five days a week

  14. What research and program evaluations tell us about first-year students • They don’t sleep, eat, exercise, study “right.” • About one-fifth are on prescription medication • They’re more stressed than ever • They’re working and going to school • They want all instructions in and out of the classroom to be clear, not “random.”

  15. What research and program evaluations tell us about first-year students • They want to be treated as adults, even when they occasionally don’t earn it • They want to be taken seriously • They are more dependent on their parents than “we” were “We love you, here’s $25 call us when you graduate.”

  16. What research and program evaluations tell us about first-year students • “In college, the course load is much greater and I get much more work. It is also easier to put things off in college. In high school, every class was five days a week so I had to do the homework for that class every day. But here there is a day between classes, so it’s hard not to put homework off until the night before it is due. I am worried that I may get overwhelmed with the work and not be able to handle it all at once” (Christine) Bette LaSere Erickson, Calvin B. Peters, Diane Weltner Strommer May 2006 Jossey-Bass

  17. The particular problem of many first-year classrooms

  18. What research and program evaluations tell us about first-year students For instructors, core curriculum teaching is often not seen as an intellectually stimulating or rewarding assignment so goes to least experienced (at other institutions!) • The general education “obligation”

  19. What research and program evaluations tell us about first-year students In the early 1980s, Ohmer Milton found that undergraduates are tested almost entirely for their grasp of factual information rather than their ability to understand, apply, or evaluate. Rationale is “they need to know something before they can understand, apply or evaluate it.” • Problem: Don’t really get around to application until graduate school Bette LaSere Erickson, Calvin B. Peters, Diane Weltner Strommer May 2006 Jossey-Bass

  20. What research and program evaluations tell us about first-year students The National Survey of Student Engagement indicates that this practice has changed little over the past 25 years. While only a third of faculty say their courses emphasize memorization, first-year students say about 70 percent of their course work stresses memorization. Bette LaSere Erickson, Calvin B. Peters, Diane Weltner Strommer May 2006 Jossey-Bass

  21. The instruction of too many first-year students Jean’s informal marketing study

  22. “I didn’t want to think about it anymore!!” “I had other tests!” “I was READY to give it back to her!” “I had to remember it for TWO MORE DAYS!!!”

  23. What we can do to improve the first-year experience • Hire for it • Reward it • Make it scholarship (SOTL), make it interesting! • Stop relying on the first two years as the institution’s cash cows – undergraduate upside down cake • Integrate practices that move students from well-structured to ill-structured problems quickly

  24. Integrating Existing and New Through Use New Information Reflection and Readjustment Existing Knowledge New Base of Knowledge Learning That Lasts Adapted from Shulman, L. (1999). Taking learning seriously. Change, 31(4).

  25. What we can do to improve the first-year experience • Get inside the entire curriculum • Ask yourselves “who owns the first-year classroom?” • Get inside the pedagogy • Get inside academic advising

  26. What we can do to improve the first-year experience 5. Get inside academic assistance 6. Pay attention to at-risk students first 7. Get visible support from the formal and informal “top”

  27. What we can do to improve the first-year experience 8. Connect the curricular and co-curriculum 9. Integrate learning outcomes throughout the first-year experience 10. Make sure the entire culture is respectful of first-year students

  28. What we can do to improve the first-year experience 11. Make sure what the website says is real 12. Understand what’s happening in K-12 13. Make sure financial aid really works

  29. What we can do to improve the first-year experience 14. Get inside orientation 15. Do something with assessment results or don’t do assessment 16. Make sure all students know what your culture is about

  30. What we can do to improve the first-year experience 17. Make sure students can become leaders (especially sophomores!) 18. Tackle campus problems bravely

  31. What we can do to improve the first-year experience 19. Make student residence is about learning 20. Use your advancement office to bring attention to and support for the first-year experience

  32. Adapted from: Guidelines for Evaluating The First-Year Experience (2nd Edition) (Four-Year College Version) Source: National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition, sc.edu/fye

  33. What does it cost to do an audit of the first-year experience Full-meal deal fly-in consultants – at least $80,000 + salaries of institutional faculty, staff, administrators

  34. WHO Can Help?

  35. Western Texas A&M University, November 2012 • Western Carolina University, Cullowhee (NC), June 2012 • Champlain College, Burlington Vermont, May 2012 • Oklahoma City University (OK), January 2012 • Lone Star College System, October 2011 • University of North Texas, December 2010 • University of Alaska-Anchorage, May 2010

  36. Eastern Oregon University, February, 2010 • University-Wisconsin/River Falls, April 2009 • University-Wisconsin/River Falls, April 2009 • Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte, NC, June, 2007 • Eastern Connecticut State University, Willimantic, CT, June, 2007 • York Technical College, Rock Hill, SC, April, 2007 • University of Akron, Arkon, OH, April, 2007

  37. State University of New York at Albany, Albany, NY, April, 2007 • Kanazawa University, Osaka City University, Japan, November, 2006 • University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, October, 2006 • Washington State University-Tri-Cities, Richland, WA, September, 2006 • University of Delaware, Newark, DE, June 2006 • Alamo Community College District, San Antonio, TX, June 2006

  38. University of California, Riverside, May, 2006 • Delgado Community College, New Orleans, LA, May, 2006 • Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, May 2006 • University of Washington-Tacoma, University of Washington, Bothell, March 2006 • Eastern New Mexico State University, Portales, NM, July 2005 • Lincoln University of Missouri, Jefferson City, MO, February 2005

  39. Washington State University, Pullman, January-December, 2005 • Galveston College, Galveston, TX, November 2004 • Broward Community College, Fort Lauderdale, FL, October 2004 • Blue Ridge Community College, Weyers Cave, VA, October 2004 • Appalachian State University, Boone, NC, May 2004 • Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, April, 2004

  40. Craven Community College, New Bern, NC, February 2004 • University of Texas at El Paso, November 2003 • Cottey College, Nevada, MO, October 2003 • Tougaloo College, Tougaloo, MS, September 2003 • Delgado Community College, New Orleans, LA, July 2003 • University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, April 2003

  41. Normandale Community College, Minneapolis, May 2003 • Indiana University- Purdue University of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, March 2003 • Florida International University, Miami, February, 2003 • University of Texas at San Antonio, July 2001

  42. University of Minho, Braga, Portugal, May 2000 • University of the Virgin Islands, St. Croix/St. Thomas, The U.S. Virgin Islands, April 2000 • Bowling Green University, Bowling Green, OH, April 2000

  43. What will success look like?

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