A Newsletter from the Center for Teaching and Learning at Western Kentucky University

December 1996          "Ideas not Absolutes"                         Vol. 11, No. 3

46%=F in Retention - Jacqueline Addington

New at the Center: two reviews:
• Making Large Classes Interactive-a video
• Digital Camera-a review

Faculty Webpage Addresses

46%=F in Retention

In America too many students leave higher education without earning a degree. Only 46 percent of students were still enrolled at Western after four years (entering class of 1991 data). The national rate is 61 percent (1986 data). For even the callous among us, this is not acceptable. One of the measures for quality of life is the educational level of one’s citizens. Kentucky does not compare well in this regard, ranking 48th in the country in college educated citizens. We can choose to blame others for these statistics or we can accept that part of the responsibility is ours. Western Kentucky University is accepting its share of the responsibility. The Board of Regents approved the New Level task force’s plan which recommended a University College with a Freshman Seminar as the structure to reduce attrition and increase college success.

Research reflects that early and intrusive support for students is the most important institutional characteristic for improving retention. For those who think that “good students” (high ACT, grades, etc.) are not as likely to drop out, it is surprising to learn that the majority of students who leave college do not leave because of academic deficiencies, personal problems, or financial difficulties; they leave because they do not feel they belong. Their experiences with the institution are unsatisfactory (Tinto, l987). For those who think that students who depart their institution will return when they “grow up,” it is also surprising to learn that approximately 75% never complete a degree of any kind.
WKU Freshman Seminar

The plan for WKU is a University College which will serve primarily as an academic home for students entering the university. The purpose is to provide intensive guidance as the student makes the transition to college. The Freshman Seminar instructor serves as the primary advisor for the undeclared student and the second advisor for those who know their major. The Seminar instructor also provides transition support and enhances academic performance.

The pilot for the Freshman Seminar is currently underway with approximately 100 students enrolled in five classes. Richard Wilson and Mary Barr Humphrey from Ogden College, Jacqueline Addington from Academic Affairs, Lee Emanuel from the Community College, and Cindy Jones from Education and Behavioral Sciences are currently teaching the five classes. Dedicated, committed, frustrated at times, exhilarated and searching for answers describe this faithful team. They meet weekly to weigh the strategies and approaches as they report back to the larger University College committee on what is and is not working. The University College committee is made up of 14 faculty and staff who received two days of training in early February and who have served to develop policies, agree on concepts, and develop the curriculum for the Freshman Seminar.
Research

From a research standpoint, few topics have been scrutinized more than retention and effective means to reduce attrition. The University of South Carolina, a leader in this regard, has collected data indicating that students participating in their freshman seminar course have exhibited higher sophomore retention rates than nonparticipants for fourteen consecutive years (Fidler, 1991). Numerous others have found similar results. Arguably, there may be more empirical research supporting the value of this seminar than for any other single course offered in higher education largely because traditional courses have never had to document their value empirically. (Cuseo, 1991).

Though the educational and economic advantages of the Freshman seminar are well documented, the content and its administrative delivery are more varied. However, even though there are questions about the framework for delivery, there are some empirically researched knowns (Cuseo, 1991). A brief summary of these follows:

•Institutions should offer a full semester freshman seminar course for all entering freshmen during their initial semester on campus.

•Institutions should conduct a freshman seminar as a credit earning course in which students receive grades.

•Institutions should consider offering the freshman seminar as a general education requiremen
t.

•Institutions should offer multiple sections of the freshman seminar to insure small class size.

•Institutions should involve college faculty in the freshman orientation seminar.

•Institutions should integrate the freshman seminar with the pre-college orientation program.

•Institutions should use the freshman seminar as a mechanism for exposing beginning students to key support service professionals.

•Institutions should use the freshman seminar as a mechanism for gathering important entry data on the freshman class.
WKU Preliminary Experience

It should not be surprising that the planning committee for WKU’s Freshman Seminar is recommending the use of these well-researched components in its delivery system. By no means do we have all the answers to the retention questions but we are conducting our own evaluation to gather empirical evidence that will guide us in further refining our approach. Although we are early in the pilot phase, we already know many things that don’t work and many things that do work. Dr. Richard Wilson best sums up his experience to this point in the pilot phase.

In addition to teaching the content topics of study skills development, support service awareness, making social connections, personal health resources, understanding academic procedures and career choices, my students have established a mentoring relationship with me. Granted, the relationship is only in the infant stages, but at least they have made a contact with someone representing WKU who is not threatening and who projects a genuine desire to help students succeed.

This reaction is similar to that of the other four faculty who teach pilot sections. One instructor encouraged a son to enroll. If we are to succeed with reducing attrition at WKU, we must create a campus wide commitment that echoes Dr. Wilson’s. It is this campuswide commitment that will make a difference. We know the approaches we are using are effective but nothing will take the place of a committed faculty who recognize and use good practices in student retention.

New at the Center

MAKING LARGE CLASSES INTERACTIVE

Those of us who teach large classes know how difficult it is to create an atmosphere where real student learning takes place. This tape illustrates several alternatives to the traditional classroom lecture format which facilitate this goal. The major point stressed is that student involvement is critical to the learning process. An interactive classroom creates a better environment for student learning than the traditional “lecture, lecture, lecture” format. To be effective, teachers must address multiple learning styles and multiple intelligences in the classroom. Pointing out the relationship between subject matter and the students’ everyday lives also enhances the learning process. Several techniques for creating an atmosphere where students interact with each other and their teacher are illustrated for classes in physics, art history, biology, and psychology at a large research university. Students are shown in the classroom actively involved in the learning process with their classmates and teacher.

Several teachers are shown using discussion groups in the classroom to create an interactive atmosphere allowing all students to participate in the class. Students broaden their learning experience by hearing various ideas and viewpoints. Having students use video tapes outside of class to prepare for their classroom discussions is an interesting idea which saves valuable classroom time. Interactive clusters are used in a large psychology class to make the class “psychologically small.” Students are shown using computers in a physics class allowing them to interact with their teacher’s demonstrations. Using a classroom “question box” where students may submit questions to be answered during the next class allows students some control over the classroom learning format.

I found this tape both interesting and helpful, and recommend it to anyone who teaches large classes. Teaching large classes, especially at the general studies level is a tremendous challenge. This tape illustrates several potentially useful ideas to help us meet this challenge.

Digital Camera

This semester, I am teaching one of the sections of the University 101/Freshman Seminar course. I decided that I wanted a file on each student that includes a current picture. I had read about the digital camera being available from the CTL and decided to try it. After a very brief session with a very helpful staff, I brought the camera to my class. The camera itself was very popular, most of the students were intrigued by the technology; as for having their pictures made I heard the usual grumbling! If you have any reason for digital pictures, I would encourage you to check it out. We put together a newsletter in the Department of Consumer and Family Sciences for our alumni. Getting pictures in has always been a hassle. Next time we will just borrow the camera, save them on a disk, and have computer access. It will make photography on our homepage easy too! Thanks, CTL for keeping up to date with technology.
(Editor’s Note: The digital camera is available for check-out from the Center for Teaching and Learning, Cravens Ground Floor. Call 6508 to reserve or for more information.)

Faculty Webpage Addresses

Other faculty have expressed interest in seeing their colleagues’ web pages. We would like to publish your address. If you are willing, e:mail Sally Kuhlenschmidt or give us a call at 6508.

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