First-Year Experiences
Focused on
Intentional Learning and Decision Making
Joanne Damminger, Ed.D.
Rowan University
Annual Conference on the First-Year Experience
February 19, 2007
1
Objectives
To inform participants about:
 A comprehensive learning community
 Research results
 Intentional learning techniques




MyRoad
Discover
Let Me Learn and LCI
LCI First-Year initiative
2
“Visions of the Future” (VOF)
Learning Community
Visions of the Future:
Setting Your Career Plan in Motion
is
A comprehensive first-year learning community
for undeclared students.
It is sponsored by the
Office of VP for Student Affairs
3
Learning Community (LC)
Learning Outcomes
Students will:

Readily meet and know other students, professors and
administrators to ease their social and academic adjustment

Learn about themselves and what it means to become intentional
learners

Be well-informed as a result of community meetings and activities

Understand the value of career advising


Intentional academic advising
Exploring self, learning patterns, majors, and
occupations.
4
Components of the Program







Grouped housing
Paired courses (CCI and Rowan Seminar)
Faculty interaction
Peer mentors
Intentional career advising (more to come)
Sense of community
Structured monthly meetings
 Self-assessment of learning patterns,
interests, values, and abilities
 Exploration of majors and careers
 Socialization
 Time management
 Campus involvement
5
Relationship to Theory

First-year Experience


Tinto’s Integration Theory


Tinto (1987, 1993) states that students who become integrated in the
institution’s social and academic systems maintain commitment to
degree completion.
Theory of Involvement


John Gardner (1999) states that the learning community is the
“structural and pedagogical innovation currently being developed in
American higher education [that] may hold the greatest promise for
improving first-year student academic performance and retention”
(p. v).
Astin (1977, 1993) states student involvement leads to learning
and determining the quality college experience.
NACE Virtual Seminar, Career Counseling & the Elusive
Freshman, 2/6/03

Developmental freshmen need information, self-knowledge,
sense of community, and self-management
6
Self-Assessment, Majors, and
Occupations

MyRoad.com
by Collegeboard.com
 www.collegeboard.com, 1-888-331-8300,
[email protected]
 Personality Profiler


Discover
Both are
Internet
Accessible
by ACT
 www.act.org
 D. Killingsworth, Atlanta, Georgia, 404231-1952
 UNIACT Inventory

7
Career Advising

Build relationship with academic advisor







2 advisors assigned to VOF program
Invited to monthly meetings
Students visit each semester
Include self-assessment results in academic
advising and course selection
Discuss well-matched majors and criteria to apply
Research related occupations
Consider short and long term career plans
8
Learning Connections Inventory (LCI)

Administer Let Me Learn learning preference
inventory by Christine Johnston and Gary Dainton

Learning Outcomes


Students can identify and understand their own
patterns and others’
Students decode assignments and utilize
strategies for academic achievement
Website: www.letmelearn.org, 856-358-0039
9
LCI Patterns
Sequential
 Precise
 Technical
 Confluent

10
The Sequential Pattern
Use First:





I want clear directions.
I prefer step-by-step directions.
I want time to do my work neatly.
I like to do my work from beginning to end.
I want to know if I am meeting the instructor’s
expectations.
Avoid:


I do not value directions, plan or live by a schedule
I find directions confusing and sometimes frustrating
11
12
13
The Precise Pattern
Use First:
 I ask lots of questions.
 I like to answer questions.
 I need to be accurate and correct.
 I want complete and thorough explanations.
 I like a lot of details
Avoid



I rarely read for pleasure and don’t attend to
details
Memorizing is tedious and a waste of time
Much of the conversation going on around me
simply sounds like “blah, blah, blah”
14
15
16
The Technical Pattern
Use First:
 I don’t like to write things down.
 I need to see the purpose of what I am doing.
 I like to work by myself.
 I like to figure things out.
 I don’t like to use a lot of words.
Avoid:
 I don’t like to take things apart; I hire others for
building and repairs.
 I problem solve with others, not by myself.
17
18
19
The Confluent Pattern
Use First:




I don’t like doing the same thing over and over.
I see situations very differently then others do.
I like to do things my own way.
I don’t like following the rules.
Avoid:


I think taking risks seems foolish and wasteful.
I like to be very careful and cautious in making life
decisions.
20
Safety Patrol Report
No Report
21
22
LCI Freshman Initiative

Fall 2006, 73% of class took LCI via email
communication


Learned about its value at Orientation, Residence Hall
programming and RS class
Fall 2007, first-year students are taking with NJ
Placement Test
Challenge is informing all constituencies –
campus, students and parents
23
Benefits









Assist with academic and social adjustment
Meet and know peers and faculty
Explore self, patterns, majors and related
occupations
Apply to well-matched majors in timely fashion
Promote faculty interaction
Increase active student classroom involvement
Encourage campus involvement
Provide transitional support
Foster and model collaboration
24
VOF Retention Data
VOF Retention to Second Fall
2001
2002
2003
2004
Overall Freshman
Cohort
83.7%
85.4%
86.2%
87%
Undeclared Students
83%
83.7%
83%
83.54%
VOF Cohorts A and B
NA
95%
90%
A) 95%
B) 100%
VOF Retention to Subsequent Years
To Third Fall (Jr.)
Overall 76.3%
85%
79%
NA
To Fourth Fall (Sr.)
Overall 72.5%
81%
NA
NA
Note: 2005-2006 retention data not yet available.
25
Faculty Feedback
FACULTY SAY
VOF students:
 Develop a sense of community




Students are different in class
They take care of one another
Have an awareness of one another
Interact more frequently

Fail and drop out of class less frequently

Are more engaged in class
26
Student Feedback
STUDENTS SAY

It’s an experience you will thank your parents for. The moderators and advisor
are really enjoyable to be around and they help you understand college and
key strategies for successfully getting through your first two semesters.

VOF helped me learn a lot about choosing a major and gave lots of advice
about getting involved on campus.

While it was not something I was thrilled to join it has helped me make friends
and become comfortable on campus!

In the confusion of freshman year, VOF is a guide providing information and
clearing up any misconceptions. VOF is a bank of information and everything
one could know about Rowan!
27
Learning Community Model
in Academic Departments
 Currently



Biology all majors
R/TV/Film Pilot
History 2-year model
 Fall

2007
Computer Science
28
Applicability
Easily applied and
adapted to other
institutions
29
Contact Information
Joanne K. Damminger, Ed.D.
Rowan University
201 Mullica Hill Rd.
Glassboro, NJ 08028
(856) 256-4453
[email protected]
30
References

Astin, A. W. (1977). Four critical years. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Astin, A. W. (1993, Fall). What matters in college? Liberal Education, 79(4), 4-13.

Gardner, J. N., & Levine, J. H. (1999). Trends and future directions. In J. H.
Levine (Ed.), Learning communities: New structures, new partnerships
for learning (Monograph No. 26) (pp. 9-18). Columbia, SC:
University of South Carolina, National Resource Center for The First-Year
Experience and Students in Transition.

Tinto, V. (1987). Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student
attrition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Tinto, V. (1993). Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student
attrition. (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Wallace, N., February 6, 2003. Career counseling and the elusive freshman, why
and how. [NACE Virtual Seminar].
31