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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
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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.
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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