SUPPORTING FIRST-­‐YEAR STEM STUDENTS WITH TLC: RESULTS FROM A TWO-­‐YEAR STUDY OF A TARGETED LEARNING COMMUNITY
Hillary H. Steiner, Ph.D. Stephanie M. Foote, Ph.D. with acknowledgements to Michelle L. Dean, Ph.D.
Annual Conference on The First-­‐Year Experience LEARNING COMMUNITIES AT KSU § Kennesaw State University: 32,000 students § First year requirement: FYS or LC § Learning CommuniRes Program: § Housed in Dept. of First-­‐Year and TransiRon Studies § Faculty-­‐driven § Linked-­‐course model § Served about 1/3 of incoming students last year ORIGINS OF THE TLC
•  In the beginning… there was “Adam.” •  How can we serve first-­‐year students enrolled in high-­‐stress, high D/F/W “gateway” STEM courses? –  Held brainstorming sessions with chemistry faculty, other first-­‐year faculty –  Held focus group for former CHEM 1211 students TLC STRUCTURE AND MARKETING
•  KSU 1101 + CHEM 1211 + CHEM 1211 Lab •  Year One: markeRng sent via email to all science-­‐
interested students •  Year Two: increased markeRng during orientaRon advising sessions ELEMENTS OF THE TLC: ACADEMICS
•  InstrucRon in metacogniRon and memory •  ReflecRon on mastery of topics with each quiz •  Strategies for moRvaRon and Rme management •  Study sessions with peer leader •  InstrucRon in specific study strategies •  ApplicaRon: The “Strategy Project” Allowed them to try out all these strategies to study for their second CHEM test ELEMENTS OF THE TLC: CAREER/RESEARCH
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Career assessment and invesRgaRon project Exposure to undergraduate research opportuniRes Guest speakers Field trips OTHER ELEMENTS OF THE TLC
•  Peer leading •  Learning Community bonding acRviRes •  T-­‐shirts! RESEARCH QUESTIONS
•  To what extent does TLC impact student success and retenRon in chemistry? •  To what extent does the TLC impact students’ metacogniRon? •  To what extent does the TLC impact student adtudes toward chemistry? TLC PARTICIPANTS
•  Two secRons of First-­‐Year Seminar (N=24 in each) embedded in one secRon of Gen Chem (N=123) •  Year One: Gen Chem open to all students •  Year Two: Gen Chem only open to first-­‐year students •  TLC Group = Non-­‐TLC Group in: –  SAT math score –  Declared majors DATA SOURCES
Research Ques:on Data Sources RetenRon Gen Chem withdrawal rates Achievement Gen Chem grades ACS Exam Scores MetacogniRon Abbreviated MSLQ Strategy Project Self-­‐assessment of mastery Adtude Toward Chem ASCI-­‐V2 (Benefits of LC) Focus Groups (year one) Course evaluaRons OUTCOMES OF THE TLC: YEAR ONE
•  RetenRon: the DFW rate for students in the learning community was nearly half that of the comparison group (20% and 37.8%, respecRvely) •  Achievement (grades): Although the students in the TLC earned fewer A’s, a significantly larger number of B’s and C’s were earned by members of the TLC. 50"
Percent'of'First-year'Students'
45"
40"
35"
30"
25"
Non1LC"
20"
LC"
15"
10"
5"
0"
A"
B"
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Le4er'Grade'
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OUTCOMES OF THE TLC: YEAR ONE, CONT
•  Achievement (ACS scores): no significant difference •  MetacogniRon*: TLC students made gains in those factors that best aligned with the specific metacogniRve instrucRon delivered in the TLC. Comparison of Pre- and Post MSLQ Scores for TLC students
Factor
Controlling of learning beliefs
Test anxiety
Self-­‐efficacy for learning and performance
Metacogni:on and self-­‐regula:on
Peer learning
Effort regula:on
Help seeking
* p < 0.05
Z
p
-­‐2.912
0.004*
-­‐0.039
0.969
-­‐2.828
0.005*
-­‐3.028
0.002*
-­‐1.197
0.231
-­‐2.451
0.014*
-­‐0.560
0.576
*MetacogniRon and adtude toward chemistry was measured only in the TLC group, as too few non-­‐TLC parRcipants returned consent forms. OUTCOMES OF THE TLC: YEAR ONE, CONT
•  Adtude Toward Chemistry*: no significant difference from beginning to end of semester •  QualitaRve data: Data from the Strategy Project indicated that many students had lisle confidence in trying new strategies to study Chemistry, and appreciated being “forced” to try new ones. “The strategy project was of a great help to me; it aided in compiling all the study techniques learned in class and u:lizing them on the test. KSU 1101 taught me how to truly study through avenues such as metacogni:on and ac:ve note taking, and this project allowed me to show it off. Hopefully, I can con:nue to employ these strategies throughout the rest of my college career.” *MetacogniRon and adtude toward chemistry was measured only in the TLC group, as too few non-­‐TLC parRcipants returned consent forms. OUTCOMES OF THE TLC: YEAR ONE, CONT
–  Even those whose grades did not change as a result of the Strategy Project menRoned that they would use these strategies in the future. “Just because I got the same grade, does not mean I feel that the strategies that I tried did not work. I s:ll recognize that the way I felt during and aKer the test was more comfortable and more confident.” OUTCOMES OF THE TLC: YEAR ONE, CONT
Focus Group Ques:on
How do you feel your KSU 1101 course or the Learning Community helped you succeed in CHEM 1211? Major Theme in Responses
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How do you feel your KSU 1101 course or the Learning Community helped you build your iden:ty as a science major?
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Are you con:nuing to pursue a major in science? • 
Able to create study group with peers The first-­‐year seminar instructor/peer leaders taught us how to study, gave opRons for study strategies, forced us to study via strategy project Bonding with other students who had common interests Integrated KSU 1101 and CHEM with strategy project and other assignments Helped with sedng priori:es/:me management GeZng to know faculty, science administraRon, upperclassmen, and future employers in science Guest speakers were important Field trips showed us what was available and how we could apply our learning to real world Showed us the importance of research Helped us bond with students in the same major Nine of 47 students commented they would possibly or definitely change their majors. OUTCOMES OF THE TLC: YEAR TWO*
•  Comparisons between TLC and non-­‐TLC parRcipants: –  No significant difference in ACS Exam Scores or Grades –  No significant differences for gains in metacogniRon –  No significant differences in gains in adtude toward chemistry *Emerging data IMPLICATIONS
•  Enhanced metacogniRve skills •  Transferability of strategies and knowledge –  Effect of cross-­‐disciplinary approach •  Modeling transfer and integraRve learning •  Impact of LC parRcipaRon on student success and retenRon in chemistry (short-­‐ and long-­‐term) –  Affirmed or challenged interest in chemistry •  Influence on teaching pracRces and pedagogical approaches FUTURE DIRECTIONS
•  ConRnuing to partner with Chemistry to revise the TLC model •  IniRaRng partnerships with Math –  NSF-­‐IUSE grant proposal to study the TLC with Calculus I •  STEM colleagues strongly believe that this model, with revision, will provide major academic and affecRve benefits for their first-­‐year students