Understanding difference through dialogue: A first-year experience for college students.

The prevalence and severity of mental health issues are increasing among college students, and such issues pose a threat to health and academic performance. Responses from 66,159 undergraduate students about mental health and academics from the American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment II were examined using regression analyses. Differences in mental health diagnoses were found by classification with first-year students reporting higher rates of self-injury and seriously considering suicide. Upperclassmen reported higher rates of academic impact from mental health factors. Findings indicate one’s first-year of college as the prime time to promote awareness of and strategies to prevent mental health issues or negative academic effects; implications for first-year experience programs are discussed.

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An optics first year experience course for community college students

10.1117/12.825042 ◽

2009 ◽

Author(s):

Judith Donnelly

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Community College ◽

Community College Students ◽

First Year Experience ◽

First Year

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Know Your Safe Drinking Skills: Adaptation Strategies for the College Effect

Social Sciences ◽

10.3390/socsci11010018 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 18

Author(s):

Carolyn A. Lin ◽

John L. Christensen ◽

Anne Borsai Basaran

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

The United States ◽

First Year Experience ◽

First Year ◽

Alcohol Prevention ◽

Post Intervention ◽

College Life ◽

First Year College ◽

First Year College Students ◽

Drinking Frequency

Objective: The current study investigates the effects of an alcohol-prevention program delivered to college students in a formal classroom setting. Participants: The sample comprised 231 first-year college students who enrolled in a multisection “First Year Experience” course at a large northeastern university in the United States. Method: A naturalistic experiment was conducted, with a baseline evaluation at the beginning of the semester and a post-experiment evaluation near the end of the semester. Results: Social drinking attitudes, proximal drinking norm and the college effect are significant predictors of pre- and post-intervention episodic drinking frequency. The intervention reduced episodic drinking frequency as well as perceived distal and proximal drinking norms. It also increased drinking attitudes and did not change perceived efficacy or drinking-outcome expectancies. Conclusions: Practitioners could consider implementing a similar intervention to allow students to learn and practice safe drinking skills in the first year of their college life.

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The Impact of Dosage on a Mindfulness Intervention With First-Year College Students

Journal of College Student Retention Research Theory & Practice ◽

10.1177/15210251211041695 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 152102512110416

Author(s):

Elizabeth S. Bambacus ◽

Abigail H. Conley

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Repeated Measures ◽

Binary Logistic Regression ◽

First Year Experience ◽

Outcome Variable ◽

First Year ◽

Grade Point ◽

Mindfulness Intervention ◽

Quasi Experimental ◽

The Impact

While mindfulness intervention research is prevalent, it is limited in (1) relation to college students’ grade point average (GPA) and retention and (2) minimum dosage recommended for the intervention. This repeated-measures quasi-experimental nonequivalent control groups study investigated differences in mindfulness, stress, flourishing, GPA, and retention between students ( n = 248) in first-year experience seminars who received a brief mindfulness intervention and the comparison group ( n = 125) who did not receive the intervention. The intervention consisted of three- to five-minute mindfulness exercises at the beginning of class that met once a week. In contrast to results of previous studies, this study—when controlling for class sections and gender—showed no significant differences in any outcome variable between groups. These results provide important evidence that a mindfulness dosing limit might exist. A post hoc binary logistic regression supported previous findings that GPA predicts retention. Implications are discussed in regard to college administrators, faculty, and student affairs professionals.

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A Qualitative Exploration of the First-Year Experience of Latino College Students

NASPA Journal ◽

10.2202/0027-6014.1189 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 40 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

John C. Hernandez

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Predominantly White ◽

Latino Students ◽

First Year Experience ◽

First Year ◽

Latino College Students ◽

Qualitative Research Study ◽

White Institutions ◽

Qualitative Exploration ◽

The Impact

Although the impact of the first-year experience has been investigated, there is little information on what this experience is like for Latino students particularly at predominantly White institutions. The primary purpose of this qualitative research study is to understand the first-year experience as recounted by 10 Latino college students. The findings include four major themes. Implications for practice are discussed.

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Prioritizing Reflection and Integrative Learning in First-Year Seminar Courses

Journal of College Orientation, Transition, and Retention ◽

10.24926/jcotr.v25i2.2121 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 25 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Dianna Z. Rust ◽

Ryan Korstange

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Academic Skills ◽

Transition To College ◽

First Year Experience ◽

First Year ◽

Integrative Learning ◽

First Year Retention ◽

College Learn ◽

First Year Seminar

First-Year Seminar (FYS) or First-Year Experience (FYE) courses help college students transition to college, learn valuable academic skills, and create successful habits. This research analyzes the benefit of reorganizing FYS curriculum around reflection and integrative learning, by comparing students who participated in this redesigned curriculum with those who participated in a skills-based, extended orientation first-year seminar course. The two groups were compared on several measures, including perception about the utility of reflective and integrative thinking, first year retention, and first year GPA. Our findings suggest that prioritizing reflection and integrative learning in a FYS seminar is beneficial.

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