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In Tandem We Persist: First Year Learning Communities and its Multi-cultural and Athletics Support Services Implications. Courtney Tsumoto Academic Advisor (Football & Cheer). University of Hawaii Mānoa Student-Athlete Academic Services (SAAS)
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In Tandem We Persist: First Year Learning Communities and its Multi-cultural and Athletics Support Services Implications Courtney Tsumoto Academic Advisor (Football & Cheer) University of Hawaii Mānoa Student-Athlete Academic Services (SAAS) Office of the Vice-Chancellor for Undergraduate Education (OVCUE) Katie Tuisalo’o Graduate Assistant (Football)
The University of Hawaii Mānoa (From the Manoa Institutional Research Office-- MIRO)
Evolving Demographics of College Students Veterans & GI Bill No Child Left Behind Gear Up AVID Minorities Disability Non-Traditional Transfer Students Student-Athletes
565 Student-Athletes • 21 Division I Sports • Academic Advisors • Program Development: • SAAS Peer Mentoring Program • Ikaika Program (academically at-risk students) • Tutorial Program
Historic Context • In 2005, UH Football lost 5 scholarships
Developmental Challenges Developmental Challenges
First Generation College Students Received Academic Assistance
Solution: Learning Communities Bandura (1991) • Social Cognitive Theory • human behavior is purposive, regulated by forethought Tinto (1999) • Learning Communities • social support strengthen academic self-efficacy and persistence Vygotsky (1978) • Zone of Proximal Development • instructional adaptivity, including scaffolding
Learning Communities to Support Freshmen • Students placed into groups “pods”. • Four interacting pieces to the puzzle. • Advisor and GA: work closely together to strategize. • GAs mobilize Group Leaders • Group Leaders work with their students (pods). • Group leaders chosen for their diverse academic backgrounds to provide wide-range of support (resources) • Group Leaders assigned to pod. • Mentor students individually & coordinate group study sessions.
Direct Leadership Development Goal: Utilize skillsets of all students Benefits: social support, college skill development, positive interactions • Strong students lead study groups supported by pod group leader. • Demonstration of study skills used by the student leaders (modeling). • Student leaders must understand material and learn how to break it down for others.
Skill Building & Development Goal: Develop learning communities and partnerships within pods as well as leadership qualities. Benefits: Social support, college skill development, positive interactions • Group discussion & review of class content. Alternate student leader. • Peer mentor: facilitate note taking strategies and higher level thinking processes • Develop and reinforce rewriting of notes
Interaction with Faculty Goal: Encourage positive interactions with faculty. Benefits: Put professional communication skills into practice, connects with the university. • Students schedule appointments with professors • Organize and talk through questions they have prior to meeting • Debriefing sessions in study hall • What went well/wrong? • Will students meet with other professors?
Peer Mentor & Staff Involvement Peer Mentors focus on Organization and Time-Management • Weekly priority list • Test Prep Worksheet • Travel Plans • Goal Setting • Daily reading objectives • Going through the full writing process Study Skills and Strategy Enhancement • Integrating technology • Utilizing Cell phones • Online Library Access • Visual Organizers • Writing Center • Self-Exploration • Learning Style Assessments • Multiple Learning Strategies • Critical Thinking
Writing Center Forms Study Hall Forms
Outcomes: GPA and APR FB Multi-Yr APR Trend FB GPA Trend
Outcomes: Student Perception After a year in study hall I developed the skills to work more independently 53.33% Strongly Agree 46.67% Agree After a year in study hall, my peers began to recognize me as a leader: 33.33% strongly agree, 60% agree, 13.33% Disagree In my academic pursuit I feel I am supported by the university: 42.86% Strongly Agree, 57.14% Agree
Students are impacted in different ways Student 1 (Lance): Student 2 (Nick): Student 3 (Leo):
Bringing Learning Communities into Your Institution- What we Learned: • Have programs synergistically work together. • Forms are communication tools: If they don’t exist, create them! • Staff: One person can’t do it all. Everyone has a role. Students, peer mentors, GAs, & advisors. • Location: Need to have designated spaces.
References Bandura, A. (2000). Exercise of human agency through collective efficacy. Current directions in psychological science, 9(3), 75-78. Chen, X., & Carroll, C. D. (2005). First-Generation Students in Postsecondary Education: A Look at Their College Transcripts. Postsecondary Education Descriptive Analysis Report. NCES 2005-171. National Center for Education Statistics. Tinto, V. (1999) Taking Retention Seriously: Rethinking the first year of college. NACADA Journal 19(2). Vygotsky, L. (1987). Zone of proximal development. Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes, 52-91.