羞羞视频

Student-success office studying student outcomes to learn which courses signal likely graduation

In academics鈥攍ike sports鈥攁 good start never hurts. That鈥檚 part of the thinking behind two efforts to ensure students start strong at the 羞羞视频. One of those projects began this spring: Identifying entry-level and gateway courses鈥攖hose required as part of a sequence or as a pre-requisite for future coursework鈥攖o revamp to ensure the future success of students.

鈥淕ateway courses have a profound impact on a students鈥� ability to move forward in their curricula of choice,鈥� says Beth Myers, assistant vice provost for Student Success Initiatives (SSI) in the Office of Undergraduate Education at CU 羞羞视频.听

鈥淲e believe CU, like most institutions, have entry-level courses that have a big impact on long-term student success. We want to understand which courses have these impacts and whether we can make changes to improve student outcomes.鈥澨�

Myers鈥� office is studying student outcomes to learn which courses signal graduation likelihood, those courses with the potential to boost persistence and graduation rates and courses where students struggle the most.听

鈥淔rom that data, during the next academic year (鈥�20-21) we鈥檒l work with the departments to better understand the context of the courses to see if any changes are warranted and then implement changes,鈥� Myers says.听

鈥淲e are really excited to be able to make data-informed decisions based on the outcomes of our students. We definitely don鈥檛 want to revamp something that is working well or has the intended outcomes.鈥�

So far, no courses have been identified for possible restructure, Myers adds.

Myers says SSI鈥檚 second project is evaluating the effectiveness and impact on graduation rates of first-year seminars鈥攖he three-credit courses for first-year undergraduates.听

CU 羞羞视频 piloted first year seminars in 2017 and has offered them every fall since, including the upcoming 2020 fall semester.听

Topics vary widely鈥攅verything from Pink Floyd and Star Wars to global citizenship and happiness. Professors choose subjects that interest them, as long as the courses meet CU 羞羞视频鈥檚 rigorous academic standards and are approved by an advisory board, Myers says听

鈥淭hat generally means instructors are very enthusiastic about what they鈥檙e teaching,鈥� Myers says. Seminars are open to all first-year students but are not required鈥攋ust 鈥渉ighly suggested鈥� for incoming students in the Program for Exploratory Studies. They last one semester, currently only taught in the fall.

SSI reports that since the pilot, more than 2,500 students have taken First Year Seminars.听

鈥淭he feedback has been positive from both students and faculty,鈥� Myers says. 鈥淢any faculty members choose to teach year after year, and students say the courses have helped them learn to work more successfully in groups, discover campus resources, learn to communicate better and understand the university鈥檚 academic expectations. They also like the small class size (they鈥檙e limited to 19 students), their instructors鈥� enthusiasm and passion and how courses boost critical thinking.鈥�

Myers adds the seminars are common at colleges and universities, some of which report the courses have 鈥渉igh-impact potential to help students persist to graduation.鈥澨�

Myers is optimistic for a similar finding at CU 羞羞视频, but she鈥檚 focused on finding facts. 鈥淪ince we only have a few years of data, we don鈥檛 have concrete results to share just yet, but we鈥檙e tracking students who have taken the courses and the outcomes look promising.鈥�

Myers says there鈥檚 no connection between the first-year seminar evaluations and the work on gateway and introduction courses. 鈥淲hile a goal of the first-year seminars is to improve student persistence, the work on those courses didn鈥檛 lead to the work on intro courses.鈥�

鈥淎n overarching goal of the Office of Undergraduate Education is to improve student success as measured by student experience and outcomes.鈥�