Direct Effects of High-Impact Practices on the Success of Business Majors in Large, Mostly Nonresidential Public Universities

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-65
Author(s):  
Malu Roldan ◽  
Tanvi Kothari ◽  
Linda M. Dunn-Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Student Success ◽  
Degree Completion ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
High Impact ◽  
First Year ◽  
Direct Effects ◽  
Underrepresented Minority ◽  
Business Majors ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
High Impact Practices

High-impact practices (HIPs) have been shown to be effective in helping first-year students successfully transition into college. However, since most of the research on HIPs has been done in small liberal arts settings, little is known about the efficacy and implementation practices of HIPs in large, public, primarily nonresidential institutions, or business schools within these institutions. This article seeks to address this need. Our study suggests that a comparison among students involved in HIPs versus those who forgo the experiences shows significant differences in impact, particularly on degree completion. However, further analysis shows that the gains were primarily achieved among students who were not members of underrepresented minority (URM) groups. As institutions face pressure from key constituents to improve graduation rates while reducing achievement gaps, it is becoming increasingly important for administrators and faculty to assess which approaches are most likely to achieve both these aims, particularly as scaling HIPs to larger settings is expensive and fraught with difficulties. This study reports on the effectiveness of HIPs for supporting the success of both URM and non-URM students and makes recommendations for building student success programs that ensure the success of all students, especially in large, diverse higher education institutions.

scholarly journals A Case Study on Experiential Learning in a First-Year General Education Course

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Niki Weller ◽  
Julie Saam
Keyword(s):  
Experiential Learning ◽  
Student Success ◽  
General Education ◽  
High Impact ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
First Year ◽  
Learning Collaborative ◽  
Indiana University ◽  
High Impact Practices

Experiential-learning provides opportunities for students that feature a variety of high-impact practices including first-year seminars, internships, community learning, collaborative projects, and capstone seminars. To offer these high-impact practices for students, faculty from across disciplines and majors must be willing to incorporate these opportunities within their courses and degrees. Indiana University Kokomo has offered two successful programs to support these high-impact practices. One program, the Kokomo Experience and You (KEY), supports faculty in the development and implementation of events and activities to support student learning. The other, the Student Success Academy Faculty Fellows Program, provided faculty members the opportunity to examine research and concepts so that they can better promote student success in their classrooms. Building on the success of these two programs, a third initiative, the Experiential Learning Academy (ELA), was launched in 2018, funded by a Reimagining the First Years mini-grant from AASCU.

scholarly journals Measures of Student Engagement as Predictors of Grade Point Average (GPA) and Degree Completion at Andrews University

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Michael Milmine
Keyword(s):  
Student Engagement ◽  
Student Success ◽  
Degree Completion ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Academic Degree ◽  
Andrews University ◽  
Engagement Factors ◽  
Senior Students

Purpose of the Study In a time of rising costs, social discourse questioning value of an undergraduate degree, and declining enrollment, institutions of higher education are under increasing pressure to provide stakeholders and potential students with measures of accountability and student success. These pressures renew the need to leverage student engagement data to understand what makes undergraduates successful in their academic programs. An understanding of student engagement factors is key to helping all students succeed, but especially to identifying areas that colleges and universities can devote their attention in order to improve their students’ likelihood of success. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between student engagement and both academic performance and degree completion. Method The present study was designed as a secondary quantitative analysis of non-experimental descriptive data collected using survey methodology. The instrument, referred to as the NSSE, was used to gather information on students’ engagement with their coursework, peers, professors, and academic institution. The data was gathered from 375 first-year and senior undergraduate students attending Andrews University in 2013 and 2015. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to determine a statistical model to use student engagement variables to predict for student GPA scores. Discriminant Function Analysis (DFA) was used to determine which student engagement variables were best able to discriminate between students who would and those who would not complete their academic degree. Results Upon some revision, the SEM model for the first-year students predicted 19% of GPA and indicated that the most important predictors were Academic Challenge and Student-Faculty Interaction. Also, upon some revision, the SEM model for the senior students predicted 9% of GPA. This senior model indicated that the only significant predictor of GPA was Quality of Interactions. DFA for first-year students was statistically significant and predicted degree completion at a rate of 66.9%, with the best predictors (both positive) being Learning Strategies and Reflective & Integrative Learning. DFA for senior students was not statistically significant. Conclusions Engagement factors are important in predicting first-year student GPA and likelihood of degree completion. Engagement factors that predict GPA are different and weaker for senior students, and do not predict likelihood of degree completion. This study provides evidence for the increase of specific types of engagement to improve student success and graduation rates.

scholarly journals Maintaining High-Impact Bridge Programming at Scale

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Windrow ◽  
Ryan Korstange
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Student Success ◽  
High Impact ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Decision Points ◽  
Early Arrival ◽  
Middle Tennessee

This paper uses Middle Tennessee State University’s MT Scholars Academy, an extended early arrival program targeting first-year students who are classified as at-risk by a variety of measures, as a case study for demonstrating the effectiveness of AASCU’s Re-Imagining the First-Year (RFY) initiative. In particular, this case study demonstrates the implications of RFY’s foundational assumption that successful practices are known well in student success literature and need to be enacted. The case study demonstrates the scholarship which undergirds the program and describes a series of decision points that have been encountered as these research proven strategies have been put into practice. The current iteration of the program is also described thoroughly, and its results for student success are articulated.

Decoding Black Iconography

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alix Pierre
Keyword(s):  
Visual Culture ◽  
African Diaspora ◽  
Women Artists ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Critical Examination ◽  
First Year ◽  
Women's College ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Pedagogical Tool ◽  
Spelman College

The paper examines how the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, the only one in the country dedicated to the work of African descended women artists, is used as a pedagogical tool in the interdisciplinary African Diaspora and the World course to help students further explore the depiction and visualization of diasporan aesthetics during their matriculation. From a visual culture perspective, this is a critical examination of the process of looking among non-art major college goers. The emphasis of the analysis is on the perceiver or the “educand” as Paulo Freire puts it, and ways she is trained to visually represent Africa and its diasporas. The article discusses how the subjects, first year students at a black liberal arts women’s college, are taught to construct meaning from and respond to imagery made by women artists from the diaspora. At the heart of the study is the response of the perceivers, through an Audio Narrative assignment, to artefacts that communicate an African and Afro-descended iconography. 

scholarly journals How Do Their Initial Goals Impact Students' Chances to Graduate? An Exploration of Three Types of Commitment

2006 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven S. Graunke ◽  
Sherry A. Woosley ◽  
Laura L. Helms
Keyword(s):  
Degree Completion ◽  
Academic Major ◽  
Institutional Commitment ◽  
First Year ◽  
Educational Goal ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Theory Research ◽  
The Impact ◽  
First Time ◽  
Students Success

Although previous research has not consistently shown that uncertainty about academic major negatively impacts graduation, commitment is largely believed to affect college students' success. We investigated the impact of institutional commitment, commitment to an educational goal, and commitment to an academic major on the probabilities of graduation for a cohort of first-time first-year students. Results indicate that students with high institutional commitment and commitment to an educational goal were the most likely to graduate within 6 years, while commitment to an academic major was negatively associated with probabilities of degree completion. Suggested implications for advisors include fostering educational development, enhancing a student's bond with the institution, and encouraging students to explore academic major options. Relative emphasis: * theory, research, practice

scholarly journals Strengths-Based Advising Approaches: Benefits for First-Year Undergraduates

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 55-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krista M. Soria ◽  
Nicole L. Laumer ◽  
Dale J. Morrow ◽  
Garrett Marttinen
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Student Success ◽  
Academic Advising ◽  
First Year ◽  
Matched Pairs ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
First Year Retention ◽  
Matching Techniques ◽  
Academic Self Efficacy

We explored the benefits of strengths-based academic advising approaches for first-year students (N = 1,228). We used propensity score matching techniques to create matched pairs of students who did and did not engage in strengths-based advising conversations with an advisor. First-year students who experienced strengths-based conversations had significantly higher rates of first-year retention and graduation in 4 years, levels of engagement, and academic self-efficacy than students who did not participate in these conversations. Focus groups of 21 advisors provided insights into strengths-based advising in 3 findings: strengths approaches facilitated advising relationships (thereby supporting students' engagement, retention, and graduation), enhanced students' self-awareness and confidence, and advanced advisors' own personal and professional development (thereby positively influencing student success).

scholarly journals Understanding the University and Faculty Investment in Implementing High-Impact Educational Practices

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 118-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison White
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
High Impact ◽  
First Year ◽  
Educational Practices ◽  
High Impact Practices ◽  
Completion Agenda ◽  
Cumulative Learning ◽  
The University

A variety of assessment options utilizing high-impact educational practices have emerged to assist faculty in higher education with college student learning outcomes. High-impact practices are defined as teaching and learning designs which have been demonstrated to increase student engagement and persistence. Practices such as first-year seminars, tech-rich learning communities, collaborative projects, undergrad research, global/diversity learning, service learning, practicums, and internships are educational tools making it possible to assess the practices’ contribution to students’ cumulative learning. However, utilization of these practices is unsystematic due in part to the required investment of time, training, and money. This paper describes high-impact practices that support course and program level learning outcomes in conjunction with the investments for implementation. Exploration into why these types of practices are effective and which students have access to them emphasizes the need for this investment to meet accreditation standards and the mandates of our government’s “completion agenda” geared towards preparing America’s future workforce.

First-year student's understanding of academic dishonesty : a case study

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Carole K. Douglas
Keyword(s):  
Academic Dishonesty ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Collaborative Study ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
University Of Missouri ◽  
Academic Assistance ◽  
System Data ◽  
Strong Deterrent

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] This case study examines first-year first-time college students’ understanding of academic dishonesty. The study used data from interviews with twenty-seven first-year students at Lyon College, a small, private, liberal arts institution that utilizes a traditional honor code system. Data from direct observations, a physical artifact search, and a document search were also used. Four main themes emerged from the data: (Not) Learning about Academic Dishonesty, Stepping Stone, Degrees of Dishonesty, and Fear. First-year students had a narrow understanding of academic dishonesty and expressed a desire to know more. Students also indicated that fear of losing financial aid or disappointing parents were reasons to engage in academic dishonesty, while the fear of punishment was not a strong deterrent to engaging in academic dishonesty. Further, first-year students were fearful of engaging in collaborative study and asking peers for academic assistance. Specific recommendations for changes to institutional policies and procedures are discussed.

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