EDUC-6263

Week 6 Application: Proposed Solution

Walden University

June 10, 2017

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for

EDUC - 6263- 2

Dr. Margaret Dam

1

Abstract

Although community colleges serve a majority of undergraduate students in the United States, many of these students never reach their stated educational goal. Learning communities and first-year seminars are discussed as potential solutions to increase the first to second year student retention rate in community colleges. Rationales for success and potential costs are also discussed for each program.

Background

Community colleges serve a majority of undergraduate students in the United States (Windham et al., 2014). However nearly half of these students drop out before they reach their goal (Windham et al., 2014). Research has indicated that the largest proportion of students exit higher education during their first year, which is a crucial time for student retention (Tinto, 1988; Tinto, 1996). For community colleges, most students leave in the beginning of the first semester of the first year (Windham et al., 2014). In order to address the issue with first year to second year student retention at community colleges, and increase the retention rate, two proposed solutions are discussed in this paper. Rationales for success and potential costs are also discussed for each program.

Learning Communities

Learning communities consist of a cohort of students that take classes together, allowing for communal studying and learning (Tinto, 1996; Tinto 1998). The cohorts are not put together randomly; they are organized by themes, such as a certain career or developmental studies (Tinto, 1996; Tinto 1998). Students in learning communities have been shown to spend more time with each other, both inside and outside the classroom and more time is devoted to their schoolwork; in this way learning communities provide students with both an academic and a social support system (Tinto, 1996; Tinto 1999). Learning communities have an established record of success in community colleges as well as residential colleges (Tinto, 1997).

Learning communities are not a novel approach, and not very difficult to implement; the concept of learning communities can be applied to any theme (Tinto, 1996). Based on actual data from community colleges, the cost of implementing learning communities is around $600 per student every semester (MDRC, n.d.). These costs consist of time and training for instructors and student support staff, costs for program data collection, analysis, and evaluation, marketing costs to enroll students, costs to administer the program, and technology fees associated with the program (Guskin, Marcy, & Smith, 2004). Learning communities offer a high return on the initial investment by way of increased retention rates (Guskin, Marcy, & Smith, 2004).

First-Year Seminars

First-year seminars vary on presentation across institutions. The topics around which first-year seminars are organized may be academic or professional in nature, or they may focus on college success or remedial skills (Lafferty, 2015). However, what all first-year seminars have in common is they are designed with the intent of helping first-year students with the academic and social transition into college, and to help students become aware of available resources (Koch & Gardner, 2014). Instructors for first-year seminars may consist of faculty, upperclassmen, guest lecturers, or student-support staff, and team teaching is sometimes utilized (Lafferty, 2015). First-year seminars enroll a limited number of students (Koch & Gardner, 2014), as they are discussion oriented and collaborative and active learning methods are frequently employed (Lafferty, 2015). It has been established that students in first year seminars have increased interactions with faculty and staff students and utilize campus resources to a greater degree than other students (Lafferty, 2015). Previous research has also shown that regardless of the theme of the first-year seminar, they all indicate increased persistence to the second year for students (Lafferty, 2015).

The flexibility associated with the format of first-year seminars means they are easy to implement and they are also very cost-effective (Lafferty, 2015). The costs are similar to those associated with learning communities (see above), with one exception, there are no marketing costs required as all first year-students would be enrolled. Research has indicated that for every dollar spent on a first-year seminar, the return is over $5.00 in tuition for persistent enrollment (Lafferty, 2015).

Rationale for the Success of these Programs

Both learning communities and first-year seminars are successful in promoting persistence because they increase engagement and involvement. While persistence in higher education can be attributed to a varied assortment of factors, both personal to the student and related to the establishment or institution (Kuh, Cruce, Shoup, Kinzie, & Gonyea, 2008), research has indicated that student engagement and involvement influence persistence (Kuh, 2009). According to Kuh (2009), engagement refers to the amount of exertion and time students apply to activities related to their schooling (Kuh, 2009). Engagement and involvement are not just related to educational activities though; social activities also influence persistence (Tinto 1939; Tinto, 1996). When students are engaged they become integrated into the institution of higher education, and the chances of persistence increase (Kuh, Cruce, Shoup, Kinzie, & Gonyea, 2008; Tinto 1996). When other contributing factors are controlled for, research indicates that the inability to engage increases the likelihood students will abandon their educational pursuits (Bridges, Cambridge, Kuh, & Leegwater, 2005).

Research has established that students in learning communities demonstrate persistence in higher education, even when other influential factors are considered (Kuh, Cruce, Shoup, Kinzie, & Gonyea, 2008). Minority students in learning communities demonstrate even higher persistence rates (Kuh, Cruce, Shoup, Kinzie, & Gonyea, 2008). The success of learning communities can be attributed to increased academic and social engagement amongst students (Tinto, 1996). Similarly, students who take first-year seminars also show higher persistence rates when other factors are considered, through increased academic and social engagement (Cuseo, 2010). Students in first-year seminars reported more involvement in both active and communal learning, feeling more academically challenged, and reported more interactions with instructors and staff (Cuseo, 2010). While academic engagement is particularly valuable for community college students who do not reside on campus, first-year seminars also allow students to integrate with both instructors and peers as well as with the campus and available resources, which contributes to their success (Lafferty, 2015).

Conclusion

Improving student retention is an important issue for community colleges in the United States, particularly in the crucial first-year (Tinto, 1988; Tinto, 1996). Increasing academic and social engagement amongst students are some of the most effective ways to increase persistence (Lafferty, 2015). Implementing either learning communities or first-year seminars should increase engagement and improve retention at community colleges.

References

Bridges, B. K., Cambridge, B., Kuh, G. D., & Leegwater, L. H. (2005). Student engagement at minority serving institutions: Emerging lessons from the BEAMS project. New Directions for Institutional Research, 2005(125), 25-43.

Cuseo, J. (2010). The empirical case for the first-year seminar: Promoting positive student outcomes and campus-wide benefits. In The first-year seminar: Research-based recommendations for course design, delivery, and assessment. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt.

Guskin, A. E., Marcy, M. B., & Smith, B. L. (2004). Learning Communities and Fiscal Reality: Learning in a Time of Restricted Resources. Washington Center for Improving the Quality of Undergraduate Education, National Learning Communities Project, Evergreen State College.

Koch, A.K. & Gardner, J.N. (2014). A history of the first-year experience in the United States during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries: Past practices, current Approaches, and future directions. The Saudi Journal of Higher Education, 11, 11-44

Kuh, G. D., Cruce, T. M., Shoup, R., Kinzie, J., & Gonyea, R. M. (2008). Unmasking the effects of student engagement on first-year college grades and persistence. The Journal of Higher Education, 79(5), 540-563.

Kuh, G. D. (2009). What student affairs professionals need to know about student engagement. Journal of College Student Development, 50(6), 683-706.

Lafferty, K. (2015). The Impact of Participation in a First-year Seminar on Increased Usage of Campus Resources, Academic and Social Integration and First-to-second-semester Persistence at a Two-year Community and Technical College (Doctoral dissertation, University of Louisville).