Expanded Orientations Make a Difference for Community Colleges, Too!

American College Personnel Association Annual ConferenceMarch 18, 2002 Long Beach, California

Melissa Edson, M.S., & Merril Simon, Ph.D., NCCC

Esau Tovar, M.S. Santa Monica College &Santa Monica College, Calif. State Univ., NorthridgeSanta Monica, California simon_merril@smc.edu310/434-4012

Susan Maiorano, SMC alumna/UC Berkeley student

Need for Project

High probationary rates Low persistence rates At-risk population Replication with larger

sample with pilot study1

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Research Questions

What are some of the factors that are related to community college students’ success?

What effect do collaborative approaches used in orientation have on student satisfaction, academic achievement, and persistence?

What effect do collaborative learning approaches employed in English and math classes have on student satisfaction, academic achievement, and persistence?

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Theoretical Support

Astin’s theory of student  involvement

 Tinto’s model of social  and academic integration

Collaborative learning  theories

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Professional Faculty Involvement

College-wide Various fields

Interventions Orientation

Provided by team of counseling and instructional faculty

7.5 hrs. (vs. control of 2 hrs.)

Available for course credit5

Orientation Activities

Interactive & small groups Included social integration

cases Provided food Parent Orientation available Campus tour Campus fair

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Follow-up Interventions

Collaboratively taught English & developmental math classes

Courses from other disciplines:

(Biology, Geography, Speech, and Sociology)

Student Success Seminar   (Human Development 20)

Other out-of-class activities

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Interventions (cont’d.)

Follow-up Services Follow-up Orientation Advising/Counseling

(academic & career) Mentoring

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Quantitative Measures

GPA Deans’ list Success rate Persistence Retention

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Qualitative Measures

Instructional faculty reflective journals

Student relationship with  academic counselors

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Highlights / Lowlights

Persistence rates

Retention rates

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Highlights/Lowlights (cont’d.)

Students who participated in SSP orientation expressed a higher level of satisfaction than those regular orientation participants.

 The GPA of the study group overall  was significantly higher than the control group.

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Highlights/ Lowlights (cont’d.)

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Participants expressed a high level of satisfaction with collaborative learning approaches.

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Highlights/ Lowlights (cont’d.)

The two factors most often  mentioned by students as  success inhibitors were: (1) job responsibilities and (2) commuting

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Funding

Matriculation

Title III Grant

Fund for Instructional Improvement–State of California Chancellor’s Office Competitive Grant

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Replication & Future Planning

Modifications More counseling staff,

training and increased use of intrusive advisement

Expansion Incorporate additional

fields of study

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Recommendations

Provide professional development for faculty on teaching/learning approaches with special emphasis on collaborative learning.

Implement out-of-class activities that promote collaborative approaches and relate to in-class learning/assignments.

Promote collaboration between academic and student affairs.

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Recommendations (cont’d.)

Make student success an institutional commitment.

 Promote evaluation of  institutional programs through research.