Full Paper: Incorporating Academic Coaching in First-Year Engineering Program to Support Student Success and Persistence

Aysa Galbraith; Heath Aren Schluterman; Leslie Bartsch Massey; Gretchen Scroggin

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Conference: 14th Annual First-Year Engineering Experience (FYEE) Conference
Location: University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee
Publication Date: July 30, 2023
Start Date: July 30, 2023
End Date: August 1, 2023
Conference Session: S6B: Full Papers - One Size Does Not Fit All
Tagged Topic: Full Papers
Page Count: 8
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--44828
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/44828
Download Count: 134

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Paper Authors

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Aysa Galbraith University of Arkansas

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Dr. Aysa Galbraith is a Teaching Associate Professor in the First-Year Engineering Program at University of Arkansas. She received her PhD in Chemical Engineering from Chemical and Biomolecular Department at North Carolina State University in 2006. She is responsible from coordinating the First-Year Honors Research Experience, teaching Introduction to Engineering, developing course material, and advising freshmen engineering students.

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Heath Aren Schluterman University of Arkansas

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Dr. Heath Schluterman is a Teaching Associate Professor and the Associate Director of Academics for the First-Year Engineering Program at the University of Arkansas. Dr. Schluterman completed his B.S. and Ph.D in Chemical Engineering at the University of

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Leslie Bartsch Massey University of Arkansas

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Leslie Massey is an instructor in the First-Year Engineering Program at the University of Arkansas. She received her BS in Biological Engineering and MS in Environmental Engineering from the University of Arkansas. She previously served as a project mana

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Gretchen Scroggin University of Arkansas

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Abstract

The First-Year Engineering Program (FEP) was designed to deliver foundational knowledge of engineering studies, to provide proactive support for all new freshmen entering the College of Engineering and to help the College’s efforts to increase retention and graduation rates. Since FEP was established in 2007, the 2nd year retention rates for College of Engineering increased from 61% to around 70%. For the last several years, the rate has been fluctuating around 71-72%. FEP continually explores new ways to support the freshmen engineering students and increase retention rates. Time management and study skills are key areas with which most new freshmen engineering students struggle. FEP added academic coaching to its services in 2018 to better equip our students to prepared for those academic struggles outside of learning course content. The academic coaching team started as one coach and continually grew; currently, there are two full-time academic coaches that are supported by two part-time academic coach graduate assistants. This paper focuses on the impacts of the addition of academic coaching components to our First-Year Engineering Program. Academic coaches provide individualized academic support to students in the College of Engineering to improve student persistence and degree completion. The coaches schedule one-on-one meetings with students to co-create a success plan that considers life experiences, academic goals, and long-term professional aspirations. The Academic Coaching team also offers in-class presentations, group coaching, and monthly skill-based success workshops for engineering students. Additionally, academic coaches also connect students to appropriate services on campus, such as mental health services, tutoring, career guidance, learning accommodations, and more. In this paper, we share the results of the feedback collected from students on group coaching sessions and in-class presentations given by the academic coaches. We will also examine the impact of an 8-week course offered in spring 2022 for students placed on probation after their first semester. This course was a combination of self-awareness and college learning topics, and was offered free of charge for students who made a passing grade in the course.

Citation
Format

Galbraith, A., & Schluterman, H. A., & Massey, L. B., & Scroggin, G. (2023, July), Full Paper: Incorporating Academic Coaching in First-Year Engineering Program to Support Student Success and Persistence Paper presented at 14th Annual First-Year Engineering Experience (FYEE) Conference, University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. 10.18260/1-2--44828

TY - CPAPER
AB - The First-Year Engineering Program (FEP) was designed to deliver foundational knowledge of engineering studies, to provide proactive support for all new freshmen entering the College of Engineering and to help the College’s efforts to increase retention and graduation rates. Since FEP was established in 2007, the 2nd year retention rates for College of Engineering increased from 61% to around 70%. For the last several years, the rate has been fluctuating around 71-72%. FEP continually explores new ways to support the freshmen engineering students and increase retention rates. Time management and study skills are key areas with which most new freshmen engineering students struggle. FEP added academic coaching to its services in 2018 to better equip our students to prepared for those academic struggles outside of learning course content. The academic coaching team started as one coach and continually grew; currently, there are two full-time academic coaches that are supported by two part-time academic coach graduate assistants. This paper focuses on the impacts of the addition of academic coaching components to our First-Year Engineering Program.
Academic coaches provide individualized academic support to students in the College of Engineering to improve student persistence and degree completion. The coaches schedule one-on-one meetings with students to co-create a success plan that considers life experiences, academic goals, and long-term professional aspirations. The Academic Coaching team also offers in-class presentations, group coaching, and monthly skill-based success workshops for engineering students. Additionally, academic coaches also connect students to appropriate services on campus, such as mental health services, tutoring, career guidance, learning accommodations, and more.
In this paper, we share the results of the feedback collected from students on group coaching sessions and in-class presentations given by the academic coaches. We will also examine the impact of an 8-week course offered in spring 2022 for students placed on probation after their first semester. This course was a combination of self-awareness and college learning topics, and was offered free of charge for students who made a passing grade in the course.

AU - Aysa Galbraith
AU - Heath Aren Schluterman
AU - Leslie Bartsch Massey
AU - Gretchen Scroggin
CY - University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee
DA - 2023/07/30
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Full Paper: Incorporating Academic Coaching in First-Year Engineering Program to Support Student Success and Persistence
UR - https://peer.asee.org/44828
DO - 10.18260/1-2--44828
ER -