scholarly journals A controlled intervention to improve freshman retention in a STEM-based physiology major

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 334-343
Author(s):  
Miriam Leary ◽  
Aimee Morewood ◽  
Randy Bryner
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
At Risk Students ◽  
Retention Rates ◽  
Control Group ◽  
First Year ◽  
Freshman Retention ◽  
Retention Group ◽  
And Mathematics

Using a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning lens, this study systematically examined if a targeted intervention in at-risk students within a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-based physiology program would elicit positive student perceptions and higher retention rates into the second year. Those students who were considered at risk for attrition (retention; n = 82) were compared against a control group (non-retention; n = 165), and outcomes were evaluated with an End-of-Semester Survey and university enrollment data. Students in the retention group reported more favorable responses to questions pertaining to a first-year seminar course and academic advising. By the start of the following (spring 2019) semester, 48 students transferred out of the program (20%) with little difference between groups (non-retention 19%; retention 22%). At the start of fall 2019 term, 55% of the 2018 freshman class were retained within the program (non-retention 66%; retention 39%), and 85% were retained within the university (non-retention 91%, retention 74%). The intervention was successful in eliciting positive student perceptions of the major, but did not improve retention of at-risk students within the physiology major.

scholarly journals The Transition to STEM Higher Education: Policy Recommendation – Conclusions of the readySTEMgo-Project

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
Greet Langie ◽  
Maarten Pinxten
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
At Risk ◽  
Higher Education Policy ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
At Risk Students ◽  
Retention Rates ◽  
First Year ◽  
Policy Recommendations ◽  
Policy Recommendation ◽  
Key Skills

For Europe to remain at the forefront of scientific and technological devel-opment, the current shortage of persons trained in these fields at secondary and higher education has to be overcome. The readySTEMgo project aims to improve the retention rates of higher education STEM programmes by the identification of at-risk students in an early stage. We successfully identified a number of key skills that are essential for first-year achievement in a STEM programme. Additionally, we investigated which intervention tools can support at-risk students and evaluated their effectiveness. Based on the output of this research project four policy recommendations are formulated.

scholarly journals Predictive Analysis of Higher Education Graduation and Retention in Saudi Arabia u sing Multinomial Logistic Regression

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Ahmed Bagabir ◽  
◽  
Mohammad Zaino ◽  
Ahmed Abutaleb ◽  
Ahmed Fagehi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Logistic Regression ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Degree Completion ◽  
Multinomial Logistic Regression ◽  
At Risk Students ◽  
Retention Rates ◽  
First Year ◽  
Important Indicator ◽  
Admissions Policy

It is suggested that this study contributes by establishing a robust methodology for analyzing the longitudinal outcomes of higher education. The current research uses multinomial logistic regression. To the knowledge of the authors, this is the first logistic regression analysis performed at Saudi higher education institutions. The study can help decision-makers take action to improve the academic performance of at-risk students. The analyses are based on enrollment and completion data of 5,203 undergraduate students in the colleges of engineering and medicine. The observation period was extended for ten academic years from 2010 to 2020. Four outcomes were identified for students: (i) degree completion on time, (ii) degree completion with delay, (iii) dropout, and (iv) still enrolled in programs. The objectives are twofold: (i) to study the present situation by measuring graduation and retention rates with benchmarking, and (ii) to determine the effect of twelve continuous and dummy predictors (covariates) on outcomes. The present results show that the pre-admission covariates slightly affect performance in higher education programs. The results indicate that the most important indicator of graduation is the student's achievement in the first year of the program. Finally, it is highly suggested that initiatives be taken to increase graduation and retention rates and to review the admissions policy currently in place.

scholarly journals Student Talent Enrichment Program

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Don Nix ◽  
Trevor Francis ◽  
Danielle Dunn ◽  
Brett Rankin
Keyword(s):  
Research University ◽  
Retention Rates ◽  
Control Group ◽  
First Year ◽  
Major Research ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Term Retention ◽  
Grant Program ◽  
Enrichment Program ◽  
Financial Need

The Student Talent Enrichment Program was an experimental grant program conducted at a major research university to improve underfunded students’ retention outcomes. This program provided scholarships to 151 first-year students with $5,000 or more in unmet financial need. Participants received a one-time grant in the fall of 2017, with award amounts ranging from $2,500 to $10,000. Grant recipients' retention rates exceeded the control group by small margins. However, these grants failed to make a difference only among the few grantees already in academic jeopardy. For grant recipients who had early GPAs of at least 1.5 prior to receiving financial awards, term-to-term retention rates surpassed the control group by a substantial, expected, and statistically significant margin.

scholarly journals Developing Faculty Communities of Practice to Expand the Use of Effective Pedagogical Techniques

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Hoyert ◽  
Cynthia O'Dell
Keyword(s):  
Student Success ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Retention Rates ◽  
First Year ◽  
Scholarship Of Teaching ◽  
Pedagogical Techniques ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Faculty Group

The scholarship of teaching and learning literature is replete with examples of pedagogical techniques that have been demonstrated to be effective in improving learning, motivation, and student success. The extension of these techniques beyond the original context has tended to be slow, difficult, and incomplete. The following paper examines an intervention designed to encourage the exploration and use of a variety of pedagogical techniques by faculty in a traditional, four-year college faculty within the context of the AASCU Re-imagining the First Year Initiative. Small groups of six to eight faculty, joined and created communities of practice. The groups were known as Pedagogical Interest Groups, or PIGs for short. The faculty read about and analyzed a series of pedagogical techniques and committed to introducing at least one technique into their courses to further explore the techniques. When the techniques were successful, the faculty members redesigned entire classes to expand the impact. The communities of practice were successful in encouraging faculty to explore a wide variety of techniques. The average faculty group explored eight different pedagogical techniques. Faculty were able to use the opportunity to experiment with techniques with the support from their colleagues in their PIG. A dozen techniques were explored across the PIGs and dozens of class sections have been completely redesigned. To date, over 2000 students have experienced redesigned courses. Measures of student success, satisfaction, and interest in those sections have increased. The effort has been accompanied by a robust increase in the campus-wide retention rates. ​

Utilization of Instructional Media and Academic Performance of Students in Basic Science

2018 ◽  
pp. 997-1007
Author(s):  
Stephen Oyeyemi Adenle ◽  
Jennifer N. L. Ughelu
Keyword(s):  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Sample Population ◽  
Instructional Media ◽  
Visual Aids ◽  
Basic Sciences ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
The Impact

The use of instructional media is of vital importance for the teaching and learning of the basic sciences in primary and secondary schools, as it drives home the lesson point of the subject being taught and reduces stress for both teacher and student. The imaginative use of well-planned visual aids during classroom lessons does boost academic performances of students learning physics, chemistry, biology, and mathematics. This chapter investigates the impact of instructional media or design usage on the learning outcomes of students in the basic sciences in Lagos, Nigeria. The research design is Quasi-Experimental. The sample population consists of an experimental and a control group. The experimental group is taught with instructional media for a fortnight. The findings show that the use of instructional media positively impacted the learning outcomes of the students, thus highlighting the vital essence of using instructional media during lessons for enhancement of students' learning.

Views From Parents of At-Risk Students in Singapore Towards the Use of Fun Design-and-Make STEM Projects to Foster Creativity and Joy of Learning

2021 ◽  
pp. 106-131
Author(s):  
Nazir Amir
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
At Risk Students ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
And Mathematics

This chapter reports the views from parents of 38 students, averaging 13 years of age, in a secondary school in Singapore towards the use of appealing design-and-make toy projects to foster joy of learning and creativity in science amongst their children who are in an academically low achieving group. An instrument to capture the parents' views was developed and administered in a parent-teacher conference (PTC) at the end of the school term. In the PTC, parents and siblings of these students had a chance to look through their design journals and fiddled with their toy inventions. Information gathered from the parents highlight that they value the teacher's approach in motivating and engaging their children to learn science and were impressed with the creativity showcased by their children through the toy projects. Such positive views from the parents affirm the use of appealing design-and-make toy projects to promote interest and understanding in science, as well as foster their creativity and inventiveness in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) areas.

scholarly journals Getting Past the Gateway: An Exploratory Case on Using Utilitarian Scientific Literacy to Support First-Year Students At-Risk of Leaving STEM

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 265
Author(s):  
Chambers ◽  
Salter ◽  
Muldrow
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Scientific Literacy ◽  
Student Experiences ◽  
Control Group ◽  
First Year ◽  
Students At Risk ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Stem Pipeline ◽  
Literacy Course ◽  
The Impact

First-year students who enter college pursuing a STEM degree still face challenges persisting through the STEM pipeline (Chen, 2013; Leu, 2017). In this case study, researchers examine the impact of a utilitarian scientific literacy based academic intervention on retention of first-year students in STEM using a mixed methods approach. A sample (n = 116) of first-year students identified as at-risk of not persisting in STEM were enrolled in a for credit utilitarian scientific literacy course. Participants of the semester long course were then compared with a control group of first-year students identified as at-risk of persisting in STEM. A two-proportion z test was performed to assess the mean differences between students and participants of the course were given a survey to gauge student experiences. Quantitative results (φ 0.34, p < 0.05) indicate that the utilitarian scientific literacy course had a statistically significant impact on retention among first-year students at-risk of persisting in STEM. Moreover, qualitative data obtained from participant responses describe internal and external growth as positive outcomes associated with the intervention.

scholarly journals Collaborative Learning Based on Harry Potter for Learning Geometric Figures in the Subject of Mathematics

Mathematics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio-José Moreno-Guerrero ◽  
Marina Rondón García ◽  
Nazaret Martínez Heredia ◽  
Antonio-Manuel Rodríguez-García
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Education ◽  
Collaborative Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Harry Potter ◽  
Learning Processes ◽  
Control Group ◽  
First Year ◽  
Public High School ◽  
Geometric Figures ◽  
The Subject

Nowadays, education requires changes in the teaching and learning processes, through the implementation of innovative and motivating pedagogical actions, owing to the existing needs in society. Education, owing to the current needs of society, requires changes in the teaching and learning processes through the implementation of innovative and motivating pedagogical actions. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the collaborative method, based on the Harry Potter theme, with respect to the traditional method in the first year of Obligatory Secondary Education for the learning of geometric figures in the subject of mathematics. For this purpose, a quasi-experimental, quantitative, descriptive, and correlational study has been designed, using a standardized questionnaire as a technique to collect information. The sample is composed of 236 students from the first year of Obligatory Secondary Education distributed in eight groups (four control and four experimental) from a public high school in the city of Cádiz (Spain). The tests carried out show that collaborative learning generates improvements in the attitudes and mathematical dimensions. Therefore, the collaborative method, developed by means of the Harry Potter theme for students in the first year of Compulsory Secondary Education in the subject of mathematics, causes a better attitude of the student towards the teaching and learning process. Furthermore, it facilitates the acquisition of mathematical contents related to geometry, which does not directly affect the students’ grades because, although those of the experimental group are better than those obtained by the control group, the differences between the two are minimal.

Style Over Substance Reconsidered: Intrusive Intervention and At-Risk Students with Learning Disabilities

2002 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 66-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Abelman ◽  
Anthony Molina
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
At Risk Students ◽  
Retention Rates ◽  
Students With Learning Disabilities ◽  
Grade Point ◽  
Probationary Students ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact

In two recent publications, we reported that the academic intervention process, not the specific intervention content, was responsible for a short-and long-term influx in at-risk student performance (grade-point average) and persistence (retention). All at-risk students who participated in the most intrusive of three interventions had higher cumulative grade-point averages and retention rates than those who received less intrusive interventions. In this post hoc analysis, we looked at probationary students with learning disabilities and found that they are only responsive to the individual attention and personalized accommodation provided under a highly intrusive model, and the impact is temporary.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document