Revising a College 101 Course for Sustained Impact: Early Outcomes

• Published in: Community college journal of research and practice 2017-01, Vol.41 (1), p.42-55
• Main Authors: Karp, Melinda Mechur, Raufman, Julia, Efthimiou, Chris, Ritze, Nancy
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Academic achievement; Classroom Observation Techniques; Colleges & universities; Community Colleges; Comparative Analysis; Control Groups; Curriculum Design; Curriculum Development; Educational Change; Educational Opportunities; Experimental Groups; First Year Seminars; Grade Point Average; Learning; Mixed Methods Research; New York (New York); Observation; Outcomes of Education; Program Effectiveness; Program Evaluation; Reforming; Semi Structured Interviews; Skill Development; Skills; Students; Success; Sustainability; Transfer of Training; Two Year College Students; Two Year Colleges
• ISSN: 1066-8926; 1521-0413
• DOI: 10.1080/10668926.2016.1152929

In response to strikingly low completion rates in public 2-year colleges, including for students who are well-prepared academically, most community colleges across the country offer student success courses as one approach to improving outcomes for students. Some colleges have begun to revise these courses in response to research indicating that their impact fades over time. This article examines Bronx Community College's efforts to restructure their student success course into a First Year Seminar (FYS) that integrates college orientation activities, disciplinary content, and academic success skills. The course emphasizes student-centered pedagogies in order to encourage learning that persists beyond the semester of participation. We use mixed methods to assess the early outcomes of students in FYS courses and understand whether and why the course's impact has the potential to be sustained. Using propensity score matching to compare 1,138 FYS participants to 1,138 similar nonparticipants, we find early evidence that the FYS approach leads to positive outcomes, including higher grade point averages (GPA) and earning more credits. Using classroom observations (N = 40), instructor interviews (N = 10), and interviews with participants (N = 27), we find that FYS appears to facilitate student-centered, contextualized, and applied learning, thereby helping students apply their FYS-related skills in future courses. This study has implications for reforming student success courses in a way that achieves long-term positive student outcomes.