Many students entering junior college English classrooms have serious problems due to their educational or environmental backgrounds. Programs with integrated curriculums have been developed to help these students by making English more relevant to their lives.

Texas A&M University changed the criteria for freshman admission after a legal decision in 1996 removed ethnicity from the list of possible admission criteria. The process now includes subjective criteria such as activities, leadership, service and awards as well as the traditional objective criteria such as test scores and rank in high school class. The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between some of the admission criteria and retention of freshmen from the first fall to the second fall. Retention of freshmen is a performance indicator for higher education in Texas. The results of the logistic regressions showed that the relationships were modest at best and had a very small pseudo r2. The objective criteria of test scores and high school rank were either not significant or did almost nothing to increase the odds ratio. The only variable that was significant in the regression, but had a modest odds ratio, across the regression for all students and for the regressions for the subgroups of female and male students, Anglo, Hispanic and Asian American students, and for students from targeted, disadvantaged high schools was parents' education level. The points assigned to students by admissions counselors for self-reported leadership activities were significant for the regressions for all students, for female students and for Anglo students, but did very little to increase the likelihood of retention. Test scores were significant in the regressions for all students, for female students and for Hispanic students, but did almost nothing to increase the likelihood of retention. None of the variables were significant in the regression for the small group of African American students. One conclusion from the analysis is that some students whose parents have the lowest levels of education and some students from targeted high schools have unmet needs that cause higher attrition rates for these groups. However, even within these groups, there are other factors driving the students' commitment to stay enrolled for the second year at the institution than those included in this study.

The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore the effectiveness of a freshman orientation program on second-semester retention, second-year retention, and cumulative GPA for students enrolled in a community college in the Deep South. The problem addressed in this study is a lack of sufficient academic and social support for college students, limiting their ability to remain in school and with high levels of academic performance (Nora & Crisp, 2007). For this study, the following research questions were analyzed: (1) Are there differences in 1st to 2nd semester retention for program completers with a 17-18 ACT as compared to non-program completers with a 19-20 ACT? (2) Are there differences in 1st to 2nd year retention for program completers with a 17-18 ACT as compared to non-program completers with a 19-20 ACT? (3) Are there differences in cumulative GPA for program completers with a 17-18 ACT as compared to non-program completers with a 19-20 ACT? Data for these research questions were collected from the school’s director of data management and imported into SPSS software for analysis. The findings of this study indicated students who completed the program, despite having lower composite ACT scores compared to program non-completers, were 15.8 times more likely to enroll in the next semester and 2.42 times more likely to enroll in the 2nd year compared to those who did not complete the program but had higher composite ACT scores. Additionally, program completers had significantly higher cumulative GPAs than did program non-completers. Based on the findings, this study should target other moderating factors that might contribute to student retention.

This study attempts to discover what types of errors are commonly made by students in freshman chemistry classes. It considers the errors resulting from the students' lack of knowledge of the subject taught, and errors attributed to their failure to use correct English in their expression of ideas.

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This study investigates factors influencing matriculation decisions for freshman applicants in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) at the University of Arizona. Two different modeling approaches are used on a five-year cross-sectional sample of applicants. Consistent with previous literature, a parametric logistic regression is specified to estimate the probability that a freshman applicant will matriculate in CALS. Additionally, this study also uses non-parametric gradient boosting methods to predict whether an applicant will matriculate. As a byproduct of using two different techniques to model matriculation decisions, an additional academic interest is to see how these two distinct approaches compare in terms of explanation and predictive capabilities. The results show that students who apply early and applicants with high standardized test scores are significantly less likely to matriculate. Moreover, applicants who attend campus tours, honor students, and students from high schools with many applicants are more likely to matriculate.

At the beginning of the novel, the main character, J. D. Alfred, is a young, immature college freshman, naive both socially and sexually. In the initial chapter, however, he encounters a "mysterious" dark-haired girl, older than himself and very experienced. Near the middle of the novel J.D. begins a quest, not quite sure what it is he is looking for. As he moves from place to place, he discovers more and more about his family, his friends, the world around him, and the woman with whom he has become entangled, discoveries which he chooses to ignore until too late. He is left with only one choice to make, whether to die a fiery death, or live to deal with problems which he is not yet equipped to handle.

When an engineering student attends four or five years of college to become a professional engineer one makes the assumption that they approach this learning process in such a way to gain the most knowledge possible. The purpose of this study is to measure the learning approach (deep versus surface) of first-year engineering students, test the impact of two interventions (journaling and learning strategy awareness) on increasing the deep approach to learning, and determine the relationship of the approach to learning on retention within an engineering program. The study was conducted using a quantitative self-reporting instrument to measure surface and deep learning at the beginning and end of the first and second semesters of the freshman year in an engineering program. Retention was measured as the continuous enrollment of a student in the second semester of the first-year engineering program. Results indicate that the first-year engineering students have a slightly higher level of the deep approach to learning than a surface approach to learning when they begin college. However, the results also indicate that the deep approach to learning decreased during the first semester and during the second semester of their freshman year. A student's approach to learning can be impacted by their prior knowledge, the teaching context, the institutional context or the motivation of the student. Results surrounding the learning strategies intervention also indicate that the first-year engineering students do not possess the strong learning strategies that are anticipated from students accepted into an engineering program with stringent application requirements. Finally, results indicate that a deep approach to learning appears to have a positive relationship and a surface approach to learning appears to have a negative relationship to retention in an engineering program. This study illustrates that incorporating learning theory and the use of current learning strategy measurements contributes to the understanding of a freshman engineering student's approach to learning. The understanding of the engineering student's approach to learning benefits faculty in establishing curriculum and pedagogical design. The benefit to the student is in understanding more about themselves as a learner.

This study was initiated to assess the effectiveness of a special orientation program with the purpose of reducing the anxiety of entering freshmen and easing their adjustment to the campus environment. The criteria of evaluation were retention, satisfaction, and academic achievement. The 468 subjects were first-time freshmen from outside Tarrant County entering Texas Christian University in the fall of 1980. Half of the subjects participated in the experimental program, Operation Welcome, and the other half served as a control group. Those in Operation Welcome were grouped in teams with eight other freshmen, two upperclassmen serving as a big brother and big sister, and a local alumni family. Each of the freshmen in the program received letters of welcome prior to leaving home and participated in special events upon arrival on campus.

This study identifies and discusses the academic activities and support services that second-year-engineering students perceived as having impacted their freshman year academic performance. Guided by Astin's (1984) student involvement theory, this investigation involved a total of 34 participants, and was conducted at a large land-grant university in the southeastern United States during the spring semester of the 1998/99 academic year. The following questions were addressed by this study: (1) Which academic activities do students consider as important to their academic performance? (2) Which academic support services do students consider as important to their academic performance? (3) Are there academic performance level-related differences in students' perceptions of the impact of various academic activities in which they are involved, relative to their academic performance? (4) Are there academic performance level-related differences in students' perceptions of impact of the academic support services they use, relative to their academic performance? (5) Are there gender-related differences in students' perceptions of the impact of various academic activities in which they are involved, relative to their academic performance? (6) Are there gender-related differences in students' perceptions of impact of the academic support services they use, relative to their academic performance? (7) Are there race-related differences in students' perceptions of the impact of various academic activities in which they are involved, relative to their academic performance? (8) Are there race-related differences in students' perceptions of impact of the academic support services they use, relative to their academic performance? The data for this study were gathered from 9 focus group interviews and from an accompanying open-ended questionnaire. The 34 participants were divided into groups according to their academic performance levels, gender and race. There were six unsuccessful academic performers with below 2.00 GPAs; 12 low academic performers with GPAs below 2.7 but not less than 2.00; and 14 high academic performers with GPAs of 2.7 and above. The racial and gender composition was: 25 White students, 9 Black students; and equal numbers of males and females (17 each). The criteria for participation were being a second-year, full-time student enrolled in the 1998/99 academic year. Data were analyzed through content analysis, constant comparative data analysis and supplemented by NUD*IST. The resulting findings demonstrate a link between academic involvement activities and academic performance. The academic involvement factors that students perceived as either positively or negatively impacting their freshman year academic performance were identified and categorized into three general themes: (1) effort and involvement, (2) peer interaction and (3) faculty interaction. Effort and involvement factors refer to the specific learning activities implemented and the academic support services students used during the freshman year. Peer interaction factors are the relationships and contacts with fellow students that were perceived as impacting academic performance. Faculty interaction refers to a student's contact with professors inside and outside of the classroom and the perceived impact of these interactions on academic performance. The critical factors identified for success in engineering include doing homework and completing assignments, making good use of one's time, using supportive programmatic resources, and receiving academic support from interacting with peers and faculty. Students who expend effort in these areas are more likely to perform at a higher academic performance level than those who do not. / Ph. D.