An Explorations Approach to Summer Bridge at a Selective Liberal Arts College: One Path toward Equalizing Student Success

Fuente: ERIC Institute of Education Sciences
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Autori principali: Swift, Michael C., Bowers, Lisa, McDonald, Eric, Walter, Anne
Natura: Recurso educativo Open Access
Lingua:en
Pubblicazione: 2019
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author Swift, Michael C.
Bowers, Lisa
McDonald, Eric
Walter, Anne
author_facet Swift, Michael C.
Bowers, Lisa
McDonald, Eric
Walter, Anne
Swift, Michael C.
Bowers, Lisa
McDonald, Eric
Walter, Anne
collection Education Resources Information Center
contents An Explorations Approach to Summer Bridge at a Selective Liberal Arts College: One Path toward Equalizing Student Success Swift, Michael C. Bowers, Lisa McDonald, Eric Walter, Anne Summer Programs Transitional Programs Low Income Students First Generation College Students Nonmajors Biology Science Instruction Interdisciplinary Approach Program Effectiveness Academic Persistence Majors (Students) Skill Development Science Process Skills Inquiry Science Laboratories Concept Formation Scientific Concepts St. Olaf College recently restructured its Summer Bridge Program (SBP) course for incoming low-income (LI) and first-generation (FG) college students from a non-major biology course, "Issues in Biology," to an interdisciplinary "Explorations in Science" course. Two significant changes were made with the intention of giving students more agency as scholars: a) lab-based research projects vs. library projects and b) explicitly taught quantitative skills. Both courses used a coherent theme, outside readings and provided opportunities to practice study and exam taking skills. Here we describe the "Explorations" course in detail and compare the outcomes of its first two offerings to those of the original "Issues" class. Both SBP cohorts were compared to students who were neither LI nor FG. We learned that global outcomes such as average retention rate and major selection were not affected by the new format. However, students in "Explorations" mastered more quantitative skills, succeeded in their independent lab research and met higher cognitive skills on exams while tending toward higher grades. Students in the updated SBP course met our learning goals preparing them to apply critical thinking, writing and analytical reasoning skills as learning tools in subsequent classes.
format Recurso educativo Open Access
id eric_EJ1210876
institution ERIC Institute of Education Sciences
language en
publishDate 2019
record_format eric
spellingShingle An Explorations Approach to Summer Bridge at a Selective Liberal Arts College: One Path toward Equalizing Student Success
Swift, Michael C.
Bowers, Lisa
McDonald, Eric
Walter, Anne
Summer Programs
Transitional Programs
Low Income Students
First Generation College Students
Nonmajors
Biology
Science Instruction
Interdisciplinary Approach
Program Effectiveness
Academic Persistence
Majors (Students)
Skill Development
Science Process Skills
Inquiry
Science Laboratories
Concept Formation
Scientific Concepts
An Explorations Approach to Summer Bridge at a Selective Liberal Arts College: One Path toward Equalizing Student Success Swift, Michael C. Bowers, Lisa McDonald, Eric Walter, Anne Summer Programs Transitional Programs Low Income Students First Generation College Students Nonmajors Biology Science Instruction Interdisciplinary Approach Program Effectiveness Academic Persistence Majors (Students) Skill Development Science Process Skills Inquiry Science Laboratories Concept Formation Scientific Concepts St. Olaf College recently restructured its Summer Bridge Program (SBP) course for incoming low-income (LI) and first-generation (FG) college students from a non-major biology course, "Issues in Biology," to an interdisciplinary "Explorations in Science" course. Two significant changes were made with the intention of giving students more agency as scholars: a) lab-based research projects vs. library projects and b) explicitly taught quantitative skills. Both courses used a coherent theme, outside readings and provided opportunities to practice study and exam taking skills. Here we describe the "Explorations" course in detail and compare the outcomes of its first two offerings to those of the original "Issues" class. Both SBP cohorts were compared to students who were neither LI nor FG. We learned that global outcomes such as average retention rate and major selection were not affected by the new format. However, students in "Explorations" mastered more quantitative skills, succeeded in their independent lab research and met higher cognitive skills on exams while tending toward higher grades. Students in the updated SBP course met our learning goals preparing them to apply critical thinking, writing and analytical reasoning skills as learning tools in subsequent classes.
title An Explorations Approach to Summer Bridge at a Selective Liberal Arts College: One Path toward Equalizing Student Success
topic Summer Programs
Transitional Programs
Low Income Students
First Generation College Students
Nonmajors
Biology
Science Instruction
Interdisciplinary Approach
Program Effectiveness
Academic Persistence
Majors (Students)
Skill Development
Science Process Skills
Inquiry
Science Laboratories
Concept Formation
Scientific Concepts
url https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1210876