Table Of ContentCite as:
Chism Schmidt, L., & Graziano, J. (Eds.). (2016). Building synergy for high-impact educational
initiatives: First-year seminars and learning communities. Columbia, SC: University of South
Carolina, National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience & Students in Transition.
Copyright © 2016 University of South Carolina. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be
reproduced or copied in any form, by any means, without written permission of the University of
South Carolina.
ISBN: 978-1-889271-98-9
Published by:
National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience® and Students in Transition
University of South Carolina
1728 College Street, Columbia, SC 29208
www.sc.edu/fye
The First-Year Experience® is a service mark of the University of South Carolina. A license may
be granted upon written request to use the term “The First-Year Experience.” This license is not
transferable without written approval of the University of South Carolina.
Production Staff for the National Resource Center:
Project Manager: Tracy L. Skipper, Assistant Director for Publications
Design and Production: Allison Minsk, Graphic Artist
External Reviewers: Juan Huerta, Director University Core Curriculum
Programs, Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi
Emily Lardner, Director, Washington Center for the
Improvement of Undergraduate Education
Karen L. Weathermon, Director, Learning
Communities/Freshman Focus, Washington
State University
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Schmidt, Lauren Chism, editor. | Graziano, Janine, editor. |
National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience & Students in Transition
(University of South Carolina)
Title: Building synergy for high-impact educational initiatives : first-year seminars and learning
communities / edited by Lauren Chism Schmidt and Janine Graziano, editors.
Description: Columbia, SC : National Resource Center for the First-Year
Experience & Students in Transition, 2016. | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015025072 | ISBN 9781889271989
Subjects: LCSH: College teaching--Methodology. | College freshmen. |
Seminars. | Professional learning communities. | College
teaching--Methodology--Case studies. | College freshmen--Case studies. |
Seminars--Case studies. | Professional learning communities--Case studies.
Classification: LCC LB2331 .B793 2016 | DDC 378.1/25--dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015025072
About the Publishers
National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and
Students in Transition
The National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students
in Transition was born out of the success of University of South Carolina’s much-
honored University 101 course and a series of annual conferences focused on the
freshman year experience. The momentum created by the educators attending
these early conferences paved the way for the development of the National
Resource Center, which was established at the University of South Carolina in
1986. As the National Resource Center broadened its focus to include other
significant student transitions in higher education, it underwent several name
changes, adopting the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience
and Students in Transition in 1998.
Today, the Center collaborates with its institutional partner, University 101
Programs, in pursuit of its mission to advance and support efforts to improve
student learning and transitions into and through higher education. We achieve
this mission by providing opportunities for the exchange of practical and
scholarly information as well as the discussion of trends and issues in our field
through convening conferences and other professional development events such
as institutes, workshops, and online learning opportunities; publishing scholarly
practice books, research reports, a peer-reviewed journal, electronic newsletters,
and guides; generating, supporting, and disseminating research and scholarship;
hosting visiting scholars; and maintaining several online channels for resource
sharing and communication, including a dynamic website, listservs, and social
media outlets.
The National Resource Center serves as the trusted expert, internationally
recognized leader, and clearinghouse for scholarship, policy, and best practice for
all postsecondary student transitions.
Institutional Home
The National Resource Center is located at the University of South
Carolina’s (UofSC) flagship campus in Columbia. Chartered in 1801, the
University’s mission is twofold: (a) to establish and maintain excellence in its
student population, faculty, academic programs, living and learning environment,
technological infrastructure, library resources, research and scholarship,
public and private support, and endowment; and (b) to enhance the industrial,
economic, and cultural potential of the state. UofSC offers 324 degree programs
through its 14 degree-granting colleges and schools. Students have been awarded
more than $16.7 million for national scholarships and fellowships since 1994. In
fiscal year 2013, faculty generated $220 million in funding for research, outreach
and training programs. UofSC is one of only 63 public universities listed by the
Carnegie Foundation in the highest tier of research institutions in the United
States.
Washington Center for Improving Undergraduate Education
The Washington Center for Improving Undergraduate Education, a public
service center of The Evergreen State College, is a statewide resource for two-
and four-year higher education institutions with a national reach and a sustained
record of educational reform.
We focus on
• helping campus teams develop sustainable, high-quality learning com-
munity programs that engage and support learners at critical points in
their educational pathways;
• collaborating with campuses to insure that their learning community
programs are in sync with other campus reform efforts and student suc-
cess initiatives;
• providing high-quality, professional development workshops focused on
effective teaching, on campuses and at state and national gatherings;
• working with statewide and regional consortia to provide curriculum
planning retreats aimed at strengthening classroom and institutional
practices;
• collaborating with other professional organizations to provide technical
assistance and coaching for national educational reform projects; and
• expanding connections between campuses and communities through
projects like Curriculum for the Bioregion.
As the National Resource Center for Learning Communities, the
Washington Center organizes the National Summer Institute on Learning
Communities; publishes Learning Community Research and Practice, a biannual,
open-access peer-reviewed electronic journal; supports the development
of statewide and regional learning community networks; offers an online
integrative learning library; and hosts the learning community directory and the
LEARNCOM listserv.
Contents
Tables and Figures .............................................................................ix
Foreword .......................................................................................... xi
Tracy L. Skipper
Introduction .................................................................................xv
Janine Graziano and Lauren Chism Schmidt
Part I: Rationale for and Implementation of Combined Programs
Chapter 1............................................................................................3
The Case for Connecting First-Year Seminars and Learning Communities
Ashley Finley and George D. Kuh
Chapter 2..........................................................................................19
National Practices for Combining First-Year Seminars and Learning Communities
Jean M. Henscheid, Tracy L. Skipper, and Dallin G. Young
Chapter 3..........................................................................................41
Administering Combined First-Year Seminar and Learning Community Programs
Nia Haydel and Liya Escalera
Chapter 4..........................................................................................61
Teaching in Combined Programs
Lisa Dresdner and Ruthanna Spiers
Chapter 5..........................................................................................83
What Should We Be Assessing and Why?
Michele J. Hansen and Maureen A. Pettitt
Part II: Contexts for Implementation:
Models From Two- and Four-Year Institutions
Case Study 1 ...................................................................................105
Inviting the Mother Tongue and a First-Year Seminar to Promote Success Among
Spanish-Speaking ESL Students
Bronx Community College
Case Study 2 ...................................................................................115
The Metro College Success Program: Redesigning the First Two Years of College
City College of San Francisco and San Francisco State University
Case Study 3 ...................................................................................127
The Targeted Learning Community: A Comprehensive Approach to Promoting
the Success of First-Year Students in General Chemistry
Kennesaw State University
Case Study 4 ...................................................................................139
Common Courses: A Developing Linked Coursework Perspective
The University of South Carolina
Case Study 5 ...................................................................................151
Need a Little TLC? Incorporating First-Year Seminars in Themed Learning
Communities
Northern Illinois University
Case Study 6 ...................................................................................159
Writing Across the Curriculum Through Community Engagement: Exploring the
Foster Care System in a Thematic Living and Learning Community
Cabrini College
Case Study 7 ...................................................................................171
Advancement via Individual Determination (AVID)
Mt. Hood Community College
Conclusion .....................................................................................179
Lauren Chism Schmidt and Janine Graziano
Index ..............................................................................................185
About the Contributors .................................................................205
Tables and Figures
Tables
Table 1.1 Effects of Participating in High-Impact Activities on Student
Engagement ........................................................................................................................5
Table 1.2 Effects of Participating in High-Impact Activities on Deep/
Integrative Learning and Gains ...............................................................................6
Table 2.1 Connection of Seminar to LC by Seminar Type......................................24
Table 2.2 LC Features by Seminar Type ..............................................................................25
Table C1.1 Comparative Outcomes for First-Time, First-Year
ESL 03 Students .........................................................................................................110
Table C3.1 Comparison of Pre- and Post-MSLQ Scores...........................................133
Table C3.2 Student Feedback to Focus-Group Questions .......................................134
Table C4.1 Common Courses Student Survey Responses,
Fall 2012 Cohort..............................................................................................................145
Table C4.2 EBI First-Year Initiative Survey Responses (Common
Courses Versus Randomized Sample of All U101 Sections). .......147
Table C4.3 Independent Samples t-Test for Academic Performance
Differences for A&S Course Sections ..........................................................147
Table C5.1 EBI Map-Works Factors and Associated Questions ...........................154
Table C5.2 Students’ Map-Works Factors by Program Type ..................................155
Table C5.3 Students’ GPA and Retention by Program Type ..................................156
Table C7.1 Pre- and Post-Survey Comparison for AVID LC Students,
Fall 2012 – Winter 2013 .......................................................................................176
Figures
Figure 2.1 LC Characteristics When Co-enrollment in Some
or All Courses Present ...............................................................................................25
Figure 2.2 Role of FYS in LC Based on Open-Ended Responses to the
2012-2013 NSFYS ......................................................................................................26
Foreword
Emily Lardner and Tracy L. Skipper
Figure 2.3 Characteristics of HIPs Shared by LCs and FYSs ....................................35
Figure 4.1 Cycle of Disengaged Teaching and Learning .............................................64
Figure 4.2 Taxonomy of Significant Learning.....................................................................74
Figure 4.3 The Interactive Nature of Significant Learning ..........................................74
Figure C2.1 Transfer Preparedness of Metro Versus Non-Metro Students, City
College Metro Academy of Health, 2010 and 2011 Cohorts .......120
Figure C2.2 San Francisco State University Metro Persistence Rates as
Compared to All Non-Metro First-Time, Full-Time First-Year
Students ...........................................................................................................................120
Figure C2.3 San Francisco State University Metro Academies of Health and
Child Development Four-Year Graduation Rates as Compared
All Non-Metro First-Time, Full-Time First-Year Students and
Non-Metro Historically Underrepresented First-Year Students,
2010 Cohort .................................................................................................................121
Figure C2.4 Cost Comparison of Metro Versus Non-Metro Students ..............122
Figure C3.1 Letter Grade Distribution Among First-Year Students Enrolled in
TLC as Compared to All Other First-Year Students Enrolled in
General Chemistry I ................................................................................................132
Figure C4.1 Alignment Across Common Courses, Goals, and Assessment
Methods ..........................................................................................................................143
Figure C5.1 Map-Works Risk Factors for Withdrawal by Program
Participation .................................................................................................................157
Figure C7.1 First-Year Course Sequence Featuring LC and Stand-Alone Course
Tracks ................................................................................................................................173
Figure C7.2 Retention of Developmental Reading and Writing Students in
AVID LC Versus Stand-Alone Courses, Winter 2013 – Winter
2015 ....................................................................................................................................175
Figure C7.3 Average Pass Rates for Developmental Coursework, AVID LC
Versus Stand-Alone Courses, Spring 2013 ................................................176
