April 21, 2023

Enhancing Student Retention: Impacts of a First-Year Seminar Course

Enhancing Student Retention: Impacts of a First-Year Seminar Course

Dixie Watts Dalton and Mary A. Marchant NACTA Conference

Dept. of Agricultural and Applied Economics Penn State

Virginia Tech June 2010

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Today’s PresentationToday’s Presentation

• Introduction

• Data methods

• Results

• Conclusions

• Questions and discussion

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IntroductionIntroduction• Student retention and graduation are

important outcomes for undergraduate programs

• President Obama’s stated goal: “By 2020, America will again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.”

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Introduction (cont’d)Introduction (cont’d)

• A sense of “connectedness” can improve retention (Tinto)

• “Lack of attention” is a source of the problem of “too low” graduation rates (Bowen, et al.)

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Motivation for Virginia Tech’s AAEC

First Year Seminar

Motivation for Virginia Tech’s AAEC

First Year Seminar• Senior exit interviews indicated that students

wished they had met more faculty earlier

• There was a lack of departmental connection with students until the junior year • freshman courses were large and impersonal • few AAEC courses were taken as sophomores

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The SolutionThe Solution

In 1998, the department created a one-credit First Year Seminar for all entering freshmen and external transfer students

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AAEC First Year Seminar (FYS)AAEC First Year Seminar (FYS) Three primary goals:

• To assist students in transitioning to a four-year university while creating a sense of community

• To introduce students to the breadth and depth of AAEC discipline

• To provide a forum for meeting faculty and learning of teaching/research/ outreach interests

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Data methods: Quantitative Analysis of SurveyData methods: Quantitative Analysis of Survey

Conducted alumni survey to determine benefits of FYS course• Emailed through Alumni Association, with

one electronic reminder• Likert-scale questions on usefulness• 20% response rate

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Data methods: Quantitative Analysis of University DataData methods: Quantitative Analysis of University Data Utilizing data from Virginia Tech’s

Institutional Research Division (IRD)• Compared retention and graduation rates,

pre- and post-seminar course• Compared post-seminar rates for AAEC,

college, and university

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Results: Alumni SurveyResults: Alumni Survey Survey question and percent of respondents

indicating “somewhat” or “very helpful”:

Assisting with adjustment to college life 83

Learning about AAEC discipline 91

Learning of faculty teaching/research/extension work 87

Meeting VT AAEC faculty 100

Connecting with fellow AAEC majors 100

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Results: IRD Pre- & Post-FYS Retention & Graduation RatesResults: IRD Pre- & Post-FYS Retention & Graduation Rates

Following implementation of the First Year Seminar, retention (freshman to sophomore) and graduation (4- and 5-year) rates improved

Continued to 2nd Year

Graduated in 4 years

Graduated in 5 years

Pre-seminar 77.6 44.9 58.2

Post-seminar 82.9 61.8 70.1

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Results: IRD Dept. vs. College and University Rates Results: IRD Dept. vs. College and University Rates

Post-FYS, departmental retention and graduation rates exceeded those of the college and exceeded 4-year graduation rates for the university overall

Continued to 2nd Year

Graduated in 4 years

Graduated in 5 years

AAEC 83.2 62.1 69.4

CALS 77.4 49.0 58.0

VT 88.9 52.0 75.0

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ConclusionsConclusions• Student retention is an important issue for

higher education

• Creating connectedness makes a difference

• A first year seminar course creates connectedness and improves retention and graduation rates

April 21, 2023

Working Paper:http://purl.umn.edu/56476Working Paper:http://purl.umn.edu/56476

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ReferencesReferences• Bowen, W.G., M.M. Chingos, and M.S. McPherson (2009).

Crossing the Finish Line: Completing College at America’s Public Universities, Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press.

• Obama, B. (2009). “Remarks of President Barack Obama – Address to Joint Session of Congress.” Text of a speech released by the White House Press Office, February 24, 2009.

• Tinto, V. (1993). Leaving College: Rethinking the Causes and Cures of Student Attrition (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

April 21, 2023

Enhancing Student Retention: Impacts of a First-Year Seminar Course

Dixie Watts Dalton and Mary A. Marchant NACTA Conference

Dept. of Agricultural and Applied Economics Penn State

Virginia Tech June 2010