Student Success and Retention Efforts at the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Western Michigan University

Transcription

1 Student Success and Retention Efforts at the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Western Michigan University Andrew Kline, Ph.D., Assoc. Prof. Dept. of Chemical and Paper Engineering Edmund Tsang, Ph.D., Assoc. Dean Western Michigan University Oakland University Student Retention Conference Paper # 93, March 14-15, 2013

2 Overview This presentation describes the CEAS student retention efforts between (STEP) Our Challenges Our Strategies Results Impact on Institutional Policies STEP Beyond

3 Our Challenge Diverse academic preparation of 1 st -time, 1 st -year CEAS students Year Calc. II/ Higher First-Semester Math Placement Calc. I Pre- Calculus Algebra II Algebra I/ Lower Over 50% of incoming students are not prepared to take Calculus I No MATH

4 Our Challenge No common first-year curriculum among 15 undergraduate programs (other than technical communication, calculus, and general chemistry) Baseline 2 nd Year Retention Rates (averaged over ) = 60.0% to CEAS; 74.3% to WMU 3 rd Year Retention Rates = 40.6% to CEAS; 61.1% to WMU

5 Our Strategies Much literature on positive impact of learning community or cohort on 1 st -year student success and retention

6 Our Strategies Learning Communities: place ~20 students in the same 3-to-5 courses together to promote connection and study groups Learning Communities based on majors (CCE, ECE, Chemical/Paper, Undecided) or math placement (calculus, pre-calculus, algebra) Mentored by faculty preferably in an anchor class Influenced by UTEP s Circles of Learning for Entering Students (CircLES) program

7 Our Strategy 400 Total No. of Students in STEP Cohorts About 85% of students are placed into a cohort during orientation

8 WMU strategies to build cohorts # students/cohort = ~24 based on section size of technical communication/engineering graphics lab, chemistry lab (take 12 seats from 2 labs) and other labs, and mathematics Importance of an anchor class Our Strategy Use admit and historic yield data, as well as MATH ACT subscore to project # seats required Submit seat requests in January for summer orientation/fall registration; early October for spring registration; complete iterations in February/late October Keep departments informed of seat usage; release unused seats immediately

9 Our Strategy Factors in placing students in cohorts Fall Semester pre-register students during Summer Orientation Spring Semester students meet with academic advisor in late October to review recommended Spring Semester schedule; advising staff overrides registration restriction to enroll students in mid-november

10 Our Strategy Examples of cohort course templates

11 Our Strategy Examples of cohort course templates

12 Our Strategy Examples of cohort course templates

13 Our Strategy Other programmatic components Content tutoring on evenings and weekends that supplement tutoring provided by math, chemistry, and physics Co-curricular activities (academic/professional and social) to explore career, CEAS, WMU, and self Created new learning community for students placed into Algebra I and lower in , , Revision of 1 st Year STEM Courses (Chemistry I, Technical Communication, Algebra II)

14 Other programmatic components Faculty Learning Community meet once a month to discuss reading, coordinate co-curricular activities, share and discuss mentoring strategies Created parent program in to engage the helicopter parents they receive a monthly about critical events Created engineering residence program in 2006 with 101 (88)* students;170 (146) in 2007; 213 (179) in 2008; and 226 (176) in Our Strategy * Numbers in parenthesis are first-time first-year students

15 Assessment Our Strategy Western Identification Number (WIN) are used to track students placed in cohorts Track performance in 1 st Year STEM courses Retention to CEAS Satisfaction Survey

16 Results Performance in 1 st -Year STEM Courses % Grade =/> C Fall 2005 Fall 2006 Fall 2007 Fall 2008 Fall 2009 STEP Comp STEP Comp STEP Comp STEP Comp STEP Comp Algebra II Precalculus Calculus IA Calculus IB* Chemistry I 54, Engineering Graphics Technical Communication *Calculus I for Science and Engineering Bold means statistically significant at α <0.05

17 CSDRE 1 Results WMU Retention 2005 Baseline (30.4%)* (28.0%) (20.9%) (24.8%) (29.6%) nd Yr (%) rd Yr (%) NA th Yr (%) NA th Yr (%) th Yr (%) For all institutions, (Highly Selective, Selective, Moderately Selective, Less Selective) 2 Averaged % graduated in a STEM field in 6 years + 3.3% continued in 7 th year % continued in 5 th year + 9.5% graduated with CEAS degrees * % students placed in Alg. 2 or lower % returned to CEAS in Year graduated with CEAS degrees % continued in 6 th Year % graduated with CEAS degrees % continued in Year % graduates with CEAS degrees

18 Results STEP has improved student success and retention 2 nd -year retention to CEAS has improved by 10% above baseline 5-year graduation and 6 th year continuation in CEAS has improved by 9% above baseline Retention and graduation rates match national averages published by CSRDE which includes all types of institutions (Highly Selective, Selective, Moderately Selective, and Less Selective); WMU is Moderately Selective

19 Student satisfaction survey Results % of Students Who Responded Strongly Agree or Agree I know at least 6 other cohort students I have studied with other cohort students I know where to get tutoring for core classes I have used a tutor for one or more core classes The objective of building community through cohorts has been met While students know where to find tutoring help, many did not take advantage of resources Change name of tutoring center to Student Success Center Increased marketing effort of SSC

20 Impact on Institutional Policies Placing students in cohorts has been a standard practice for Summer Orientation since 2006; focus has shifted from course registration to learning about programs and success strategies In-semester progress reports from instructors mid-term grade reporting in 2006 Student release form software that allows students to grant access to registration and grade records to parents in 2007 Increased collaboration between academics and student life V.P. of Student Life joined Advisory Board in 2007 New STEP funding in 2010 on Effective Academic and Student Affairs Collaboration (STEP award # )

21 STEP Beyond Expanded target populations to 1 st -time 1 st -year students, returning sophomores, 1 st -time transfers 3 Student Success Centers located in residence halls across campus Women in Engineering Mentor Network pair practicing female engineers with female CEAS students Summer Bridge program for Algebra II students Task force created to address critical engineering science foundation courses STEP achieved sustainability: CEAS Strategic Plan identifies sustaining STEP as an objective; Differential Tuition allocation to fund STEP activities

22 Acknowledgment National Science Foundation STEP - # Opinions expressed are solely the presenter and does not represent the views of NSF