Responses of 178 first-semester, male college students to a questionnaire of grief reactions during the transition process revealed grief was affected by: (1) being first in one's family to attend college; (2) distance from home; and (3) frequency of home visits. Higher grievers, regardless of ethnicity, evidenced greater pessimism toward college…

Describes a journal-based orientation course at a small, public two-year technical college. Reports on a study of 160 students which found that the orientation-course grade was a better predictor of student success (as measured by timely graduation and grade point average) than high school rank and far superior to the American College Testing…

Freshmen (n=206) at a public university took the Miville-Guzman Universality-Diversity Orientation Scale, a measure of openness to and appreciation of similarities and differences in others. Correlation with results of other instruments found universal-diverse orientation was a predictor of students' attitudes toward help-seeking, their academic…

During the 1997-1998 academic year, 255 students at a four-year college required emergency medical or institutional intervention related to substance abuse. Of these, 42 percent were freshmen. Results suggest the importance of assisting social adjustment of freshmen through cognitive/behavioral counseling and peer education to decrease the…

Describes a comprehensive summer program for freshmen at a large research university. Freshmen enroll in common courses, are housed together, attend workshops on using university resources, and receive the assistance of an upper-division mentor. Evaluation suggests that freshmen who participate in transitional programs are significantly more…

Students believe they learn best when the classroom environment has a high degree of teacher support, when it contains learning enhancement activities such as relating current material to real life, and when the environment contains responsible behavior, such as faculty and students attending class consistently. (Author)

Students participating in a learning community do report an understanding of and appreciation for connected and shared learning. More importantly, according to the qualitative evidence, shared learning is a pivotal antecedent to connected learning. (Author)

Prior to and following their first semester at college, most students view this transition as a normative experience. However, particular areas of concern perceived by students include: the way their interpersonal relationships might change, the length of time it might take to adjust, and the stresses associated with the first semester. (Author)

Survey responses of a group of college seniors to questions about university academic and student services were compiled. More than half of the responses had to do with student interaction with faculty; the importance of positive interaction with faculty was particularly evident for women. (Author)

Students have high expectations for the experience when entering college, but it is unknown if their experiences match their expectations. This study investigates whether expectation-experience discrepancies are related to a diminished experience; it also tests the hypothesis that a focus on first-year developmental advising would be related to…

Evaluation of a summer transition program at the University of Kansas found that, in general, participation did not have a significant effect on students' later grade point averages or retention rates. However, for students with lower academic preparation, there was a significant improvement in academic and social self-efficacy. Qualitative…

This longitudinal study compares academic and social integration and intent to persist of two cohorts of freshmen (total n=132) at the American InterContinental University (England), of whom 70 successfully completed a one-term freshman orientation course and 62 did not take the course. Preliminary results suggest that the course promotes…

Examined the effects on teaching techniques of faculty (n=68) at the University of South Carolina who taught a freshman seminar after completing a training workshop. Many faculty reported that they had transferred the new teaching techniques learned in preparation for the freshman seminar to their discipline-based courses. These included lecturing…

Analysis of data on 1,600 University of North Carolina (Greensboro) students who were enrolled for eight to ten semesters found that less academically talented students were more likely to make changes (in majors, place of residence, and course loads), and experience delayed graduation than more talented students, for whom such changes were fewer…

The University New Student Census was administered to 376 Asian-Pacific-American (APA) incoming freshman students at the University of Maryland (College Park) and analyzed for differences concerning leadership and college expectations. Results suggest that definitions of leadership may need to be expanded to include the various ways leadership is…