why the first-year seminar matters in guided pathways
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Why the First-Year Seminar Matters in Guided Pathways
Christine Harrington Ph.D.
www.scholarlyteaching.org
Learning Outcomes
Participants will be able to
1. Summarize research that shows the value of first-year seminars.
2. Describe how the first-year seminar can be used to help students with career exploration and academic skill development.
3. Describe strategies to be a campus champion for the course.
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Prediction:College Completion Rates
What percentage of first-time community
college students earn a credential from a two-or four-year institution
within six years?
Sources: Complete College America; National Center for Education Statistics; Community College Research Center.
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Prediction:College Completion Rates
What percentage of first-time community college students earn a credential from a two- or four-year institution within six years?
38%
Sources: Complete College America; National Center for Education Statistics; Community College Research Center.
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Prediction: Credits Earned
What is the average number of credits an
associate degree-seeking student accumulates by
the time he/she completes? (60 is
typically required)
Sources: Complete College America; National Center for Education Statistics; Community College Research Center.
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Prediction: Credits Earned
What is the average number of credits an associate degree-seeking student accumulates by the time he/she completes? (60 is typically required)
81
Sources: Complete College America; National Center for Education Statistics; Community College Research Center.
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Changing Major
Approximately what percentage of college students in the U.S. change their majors
before they complete college?
Sources: Complete College America; National Center for Education Statistics; Community College Research Center.
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Changing Major
Approximately what percentage of college students in the U.S. change their majors before they complete college?
Up to 80%
Sources: Complete College America; National Center for Education Statistics; Community College Research Center.
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Guided Pathways
Improving Student
Experiences and Increasing
Student Completion
Guided Pathways
Defining Pathways
Helping Students Choose a
Path
Ensuring Learning
Helping Students Stay on a
Path
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First-Year Seminar and Guided Pathways
Defining Pathways
Helping Students Choose a
Path
Ensuring Learning
Helping Students Stay on a
Path
Student Success
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MAKING THE CASE
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Increased Retention and Persistence
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Increased Graduation Rates
Improved Academic Experience
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Sense of Belonging
All Students Benefit
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Why Everyone?
• FYS only required of at-risk students was least effective (Permzadian & Cred, 2016)
• High-performing peer models is critical (Yeung & Nguyen-Hoang, 2016)
• Mindset and messages are negative (Harrington & Orosz, 2018)
• Everyone benefits from career exploration
Why 3 credits?
• Time is needed for skill development (Karp et al. 2012)
• Faculty and students devalue courses less than 3 credits (Jessup-Anger, 2011)
• Motivation and retention higher (Du, 2016)
Responding to Naysayers
Making the Case Challenges and Solutions
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Helping Students Choose a Career Path
Advising Statistics
• Some Student: Advisor ratios can be up to 1000-2000:1 (average caseload is approximately 300)
• Only 36.5% reported advising was mandatory for all students
• Only 54.1% indicated that professional advisors were assigned advisees
• Average number of professional advisors: 4 per institution
NACADA 2011 Survey
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One Solution: The FYE Course
“Student success courses are an important element of the guided pathways model, as they represent a cost-effective method of providing students assistance in goal formation and program planning”
(Bailey, Smith Jaggars, & Jenkins, 2015, p. 69).
Where Do Students Get Career Information?
• Informally from friends and family
• Faculty rather than career counselor
Greenbank, & Hepworth (2008)
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Are Students Engaged in Career Exploration?
Not much, they take a “serial” approach to
academics and careers, placing greater importance on
assignments and current work
Greenbank and Hepworth (2008)
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Benefits of Career Exploration in First-Year Seminar Course
• 15 weeks for students to engage in self-assessment, research careers, and engage in networking
• Increase exposure to options and learn from peers
• Develops information literacy, critical thinking, and communication skills
• Makes career exploration a priority!
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Who Benefits from Career Exploration?
Up to 70% of students change their major
Albion and Fogarty (2002)
Declared students change their major too!
US Department of Education (2017)
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Making the Case for a Career Focused FYE
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Current Practices:
Career is one of least emphasized topics in FYS
•29.3% of two-year colleges
•13.1% of four-year colleges
Young & Hopp (2014)
Traditional Career Activities in FYS
Self-Assessment Career Information
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Career Exploration Process: Parson and Holland
Choose a CareerMatch Self-assessment with Career Information
Information about careersWebsites, Informational interviews
Self-assessmentValues/passion, Skills/abilities, and Interests
Re-thinking Self-Assessment
Assessments? Actions!
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Reflecting on Actions
What did you enjoy the most about this activity?
What did you enjoy the least?
Was the work/activity meaningful to you?
When you have a great experience/day, what made it great?
When you have a bad experience/day, what made it bad?
What about Networking?
dastornews.com
85% of jobs are filled by networking (Adler, 2016)
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Start Early: Relationships and Skills Take Time to Develop
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Violorio (2011)
Example Assignment
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Example Assignment
Educational Plan
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Helping Students Stay on a Path
Skills Students Need
• Critical Thinking
• Information Literacy
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Do Critical Thinking Exercises Work?
Completing isolated “critical thinking” exercises doesn’t work
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GALT CCTST
Pre-test
Post-test
p= .084 p = .07441
Cotter and Tarry (2009)
More Involved Research Assignments Work!
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PsychBuster Project No project
Pre-test
Post-test
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Pre-test-not significantly different Post-test-significantly different at p < .0005
Blessing and Blessing (2010)
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Information Literacy and Critical Thinking
Need to be explicitly taught-
must carefully craft our assignments
and not leave it to chance
(Hayes-Bohanan & Spievak, 2008)
Skills Needed
“it is evident that students can find information, but have great difficulty interacting with and understanding what they are reading.”
Ludovico & Wittig (2015), p. 37
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Using Research to Build Academic Skills
45Student Success in College: Doing What Works!
Being a Campus Champion
Make the Case Data
Guided Coalition of Advocates
Professional Development
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Resources
Interested in learning about NJCU’s Ed.D. in Community College Leadership?
• A practice-focused 55-credit online program with 1-week summer institute requirements that is designed to be completed by working professionals in 3 years.
www.njcu.edu/ccldoctorate
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Community College ShowcaseJuly 28, 2020, Jersey City, NJ
www.njcu.edu/ccshowcase
Thank you!
• Slides available at www.scholarlyteaching.org
• Questions?
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