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Examining Timely Positive Interventions Utilized by First-Year Students to Improve their Course Grades in Science and Engineering

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Conference

2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Baltimore , Maryland

Publication Date

June 25, 2023

Start Date

June 25, 2023

End Date

June 28, 2023

Conference Session

First-Year Programs Division (FYP) - Technical Session 5: Supporting Success 2

Tagged Division

First-Year Programs Division (FYP)

Tagged Topic

Diversity

Page Count

15

DOI

10.18260/1-2--43527

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/43527

Download Count

122

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Paper Authors

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Sunai Kim California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

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Andrew Forney Loyola Marymount University

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Prof. Andrew Forney is an Assistant Professor in Computer Science at Loyola Marymount University with research interests broadly at the intersection of cognitive psychology, artificial intelligence, and experimental design. He has worked with the UCLA Cog

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Christopher Cappelli Loyola Marymount University

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Lambert Doezema

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Vanessa Corinne Morales Loyola Marymount University

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Pornchanok Ruengvirayudh Ph.D. Chiang Mai University

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Pornchanok Ruengvirayudh is a faculty member of the School of Politics and Government, Faculty of Political Science and Public Administration, at Chiang Mai University in Thailand. Her goal is to apply her knowledge and experiences in statistics and quantitative research to the field of Political Science. When she was Associate Director of Grant Evaluation and Statistical Support at Loyola Marymount University in California. She worked with faculty and staff, consulting and conducting analyses. Her application of statistics to research studies has led to publications in STEM and other fields. She has expertise in statistics and public speaking, making her a statistician who can present statistical results in lay language. She is also a storyteller through data visualization. She earned her PhD in Educational Research and Evaluation from Ohio University. During her PhD, she served as a Graduate Associate in the Statistics and Research Lab, which allowed her to practice consulting with students on their doctoral dissertations in the field of Education, especially in research design and statistical analyses.

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Abstract

This Complete Research paper will address the timely interventions the first-year science and engineering students used at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) to reverse their initial struggles, measured by an early alert and/or midterm deficiency, to improved course grades. First-year undergraduate students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines face many challenges, including (1) transition and adjustment from high school to college, (2) time management skills with academic, personal, and social responsibilities, and (3) addressing different levels of preparation for their STEM classes. To address the struggles that the students face, the First-Year Advising Committee (FYAC) at LMU conducted a qualitative study to better understand what differentiates students that are able to reverse their initial struggles from those that continue to struggle. A total of 19 students were interviewed to identify the first-year students’ struggles and to examine their strategies to overcome those struggles. The majority of students (n = 14) were those who initially struggled (measured by an early alert and/or midterm deficiency) but later improved their academic performance within their first semester in fall, 2021. Their responses were supplemented by five students who did not struggle (measured by a lack of early alert and/or midterm deficiency) but rather thrived throughout the entire semester. Semi-structured one-on-one interviews were conducted, and the transcribed contents were analyzed to identify themes and sub-themes, to show similarities and differences among the students’ responses. The themes identified through these interviews provide insights for university stakeholders of student success, especially in a post-pandemic return to college.

Kim, S., & Forney, A., & Cappelli, C., & Doezema, L., & Morales, V. C., & Ruengvirayudh, P. (2023, June), Examining Timely Positive Interventions Utilized by First-Year Students to Improve their Course Grades in Science and Engineering Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--43527

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