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Each fall first-year college students have met and overcome many challenges and
transitions. However, one-third of first-year students who enter college in the U.S. do not
return for their second-year. Making the first-year a critical juncture for students,
administrators, and institutions. First-Year Seminars were created to help assist students
with their transition to college and have been identified as an effective initiative to aid in
first-year retention.
What role do institutions play in addressing the issue of retention? Some say that
those who teach the Seminars matter. The purpose of this study is to explore the
relationship among Seminar characteristics and instructor type. Ultimately, the goal is to
further administrators’ understanding of how Seminar characteristics and who is teaching
them are associated.
This study used the theoretical frameworks: Student Departure, Marginality and
Mattering, Student Involvement, and Engagement. In addition the Input-Environment-
Output model was included. Using the secondary data from the 2009 Survey on First-
Year Seminars which reported Seminar program characteristics by administrators, the
researcher conducted Chi-Pearson analysis to explore the relationships among Seminar
characteristics and instructor type.
There were statistically significant results that indicated that there were
relationships among some of the Seminar program characteristics and who taught the
Seminar. These results further indicated that administrators looking to enhance their
first-year retention rates need to explore specific Seminar characteristics along with
instructor type to better address challenges of first-year retention.
Advisor: | Reynolds, Candyce |
Commitee: | Job, Andy, Haley, Karen, Labissere, Yves |
School: | Portland State University |
Department: | Education |
School Location: | United States -- Oregon |
Source: | DAI-A 81/10(E), Dissertation Abstracts International |
Source Type: | DISSERTATION |
Subjects: | Educational leadership |
Keywords: | Decision-making, Engagement, First-year seminars, Instructor type, Retention |
Publication Number: | 27741466 |
ISBN: | 9798607300722 |