Senior capstone experiences, one of a number of high-impact educational practices promoted by the Association of American Colleges and Universities, provide students with an opportunity to integrate and apply what they have learned throughout their undergraduate years. Participating in capstone experiences have been linked to engagement in deep learning and gains in personal and social development, practical competence, and general education. The 2016 National Survey of Senior Capstone Experiences is an institution-level study designed to gather a national profile of campus efforts to promote student success in the senior year. This research report presents findings related to institutional priorities for the senior year, the types of capstone experiences offered, and the organization and administration of select capstone experiences.

First-year seminars have been widely hailed as a high-impact educational practice, leading to improved academic performance, increased retention, and achievement of critical 21st Century learning outcomes. While the first-year seminar tends to be narrowly defined in the literature, national explorations of course structure and administration underscore the diversity of these curricular initiatives across and within individual campuses. What then are the common denominators among these highly variable courses that contribute to their educational effectiveness?

This collection of case studies--representing a wide variety of institutional and seminar types--addresses this question. Using Kuh and O’Donnell’s eight conditions of effective educational initiatives as a framework, authors describe the structure, pedagogy, and assessment strategies that lead to high-quality seminars. Introductory and concluding essays examine the structural conditions that are likely to support educational effectiveness in the seminar and describe the most commonly reported conditions across all cases. What Makes the First-Year Seminar High Impact? offers abundant models for ensuring the delivery of a high-quality educational experience to entering students.

Published in partnership with the Washington Center for Improving the Quality of Undergraduate Education

First-year seminars and learning communities are two of the most commonly offered high-impact practices on U.S. campuses. The goals of these initiatives are similar: helping students make connections to faculty and other students, improving academic performance, and increasing persistence and graduation. As such, it is not surprising that many institutions choose to embed first-year seminars in learning communities.

This volume explores the merger of these two high-impact practices. In particular, it offers insight into how institutions connect them and the impact of those combined structures on student learning and success. In addition to chapters highlighting strategies for designing, teaching in, and assessing combined programs, case studies offer practical insights into the structures of these programs in a variety of campus settings.

For a quarter century, the National Resource Center has been examining the prevalence, structure, and administration of first-year seminars on American college campuses. The 2012-2013 administration of the National Survey of First-Year Seminars was expanded to explore the connection between the seminar and other high-impact practices in the first college year, including learning communities, service-learning, common reading programs, undergraduate research, and writing instruction. Findings are disaggregated by institutional characteristics and seminar type so that readers may easily identify the course features with the greatest relevance for their own context.

Surveys of employers continually highlight the need for better communication skills among recent college graduates. Yet writing instruction in higher education serves far more than a transactional purpose. Writing facilitates learning, helps students gain skills in analysis and synthesis, and supports a range of other personal and intellectual developmental outcomes also important to employers. To that end, Writing in the Senior Capstone offers the rationale and practical guidance for infusing writing into culminating academic experiences for college seniors. Recognizing that writing-intensive capstones already exist on many campuses, the authors also offer a range of strategies and activities to support the development of independent senior projects, while honing students’ thinking, writing, and presentation skills. A valuable resource for any educator seeking to improve the writing and critical thinking skills of college seniors.

In an effort to capitalize on some of the more positive aspects of peer influences, colleges and universities have created a wide range of peer-to-peer education, leadership, and mentoring roles—especially in the first college year. Yet, the use of peers in first-year seminar instruction is still far from commonplace. Latino and Ashcraft offer guidance on defining the role of peers as co-instructors; recruiting, selecting, and training peer educators; facilitating relationship building within the instructional team; and assessing the impact of peer leaders on the course, the students served, and the peers themselves. Sample training agendas and activities, course syllabi, and evaluations are included.

Other volumes in the series:
Volume I: Designing and Administering the Course
Volume II: Instructor Training and Development
Volume III: Teaching in the First-Year Seminar
Volume V: Assessing the First-Year Seminar is out of print, but the publisher anticipates creating an eBook of the 5 Volume Set in late 2023.

Building on the conversation begun in Volume II on instructor training and development, Garner delves deeper into the concepts and strategies undergirding effective educational practice. Highly practical in nature, yet grounded in educational theory and research, Volume III offers a concise guide to teaching in the first-year seminar from organizing a syllabus, structuring individual class sessions, and engaging students in the classroom to conducting meaningful assessments of their learning. Because Garner focuses on the learning process rather than specific content, the strategies are highly portable to a range of seminar types and undergraduate courses. An invaluable resource for college instructors looking to improve their own teaching.

Other volumes in the series:
Volume I: Designing and Administering the Course
Volume II: Instructor Training and Development
Volume IV: Using Peers in the Classroom
Volume V: Assessing the First-Year Seminar is out of print, but the publisher anticipates creating an eBook of the 5 Volume Set in late 2023.

Guided by an understanding of adult development, the authors suggest strategies for designing and presenting a comprehensive faculty development program in support of the first-year seminar. Chapters focus on the organization of one-shot and ongoing development efforts, content for training programs, evaluation as a development activity, and strategies for recruiting and maintaining a dedicated instructor team. While focused on the first-year seminar, the volume offers useful insight for anyone charged with designing faculty development initiatives for first-year instructors.

Other volumes in the series:
Volume I: Designing and Administering the Course
Volume III: Teaching in the First-Year Seminar
Volume IV: Using Peers in the Classroom
Volume V: Assessing the First-Year Seminar is out of print, but the publisher anticipates creating an eBook of the 5 Volume Set in late 2023.

The volume opens by defining common seminar configurations, goals, and course topics, drawing on national studies and institutional research reports. It also offers guidance in selecting a seminar model. The authors also address strategies for launching and administering the seminar and successfully managing change within the course. Broadly conceived, this first volume in the five-volume series lays the ground work for more in-depth coverage to follow.

Other volumes in the series:
Volume II: Instructor Training and Development
Volume III: Teaching in the First-Year Seminar
Volume IV: Using Peers in the Classroom
Volume V: Assessing the First-Year Seminar is out of print, but the publisher anticipates creating an eBook of the 5 Volume Set in late 2023.

Published in partnership with the Association of Deans & Directors of University Colleges & Undergraduate Studies

Organizing for Student Success draws on data from more than 50 institutions to provide insight into how university colleges are organized, the initiatives they house, and the practices in place to ensure their effectiveness. Twenty case studies from 15 different campuses offer an in-depth understanding of institutional practice. Ultimately, university colleges are not only a structure for organizing educational experiences but also a catalyst for creating institutional change. An invaluable resource for first-year experience steering committees, general education reform committees, and other groups or administrators charged with reorganizing and revitalizing the delivery of undergraduate education.