Cultivating not Weeding: STEM First Year Learning Community Fosters Student Persistence and Engagement

Abstract

Regional comprehensive universities with access-oriented missions provide critical pathways for increasing the number and diversity of STEM graduates. The BOND program at California State University, Fresno supports the transition to college for first-time, full-time freshmen in selected STEM majors. BOND incorporates a learning community, active learning, and early course-based research experiences. Compared to comparison groups, students that participate in BOND are 1.93 times more likely to persist in STEM into their fourth year despite similar academic achievement in introductory STEM courses. A higher proportion of BOND students also engage with campus resources that support their first and second year on campus, which suggests that appropriate support builds persistence through the challenges of a STEM degree. This study highlights the importance of providing support strategies and resources in the first year for STEM retention, counter to the traditional narrative of “weeding out” students in their first year on campus.

Board 434: Work in Progress: Building a Sustainable Institutional Structure to Support STEM Scholars

“…The SLC met to every two-weeks with activities designed to promote successful academic habits and professional development as well as foster a sense-of-belonging and provide opportunity for both peer and faculty mentorship. Learning communities, especially for first-year students, have proven to be effective at improving retention [7,8].…”