Work In Progress - academic and student affairs collaboration to enhance student success in engineering and applied sciences

Looking for an ounce of prevention : the potential for diagnostic assessment in academic acculturation

“…Further to the implementation of learning communities, the same university also launched the Engineering House (EH) program as part of their First-Year Engineering Experience (FYEE) program (Tsang, Darrah, Engelmann, Halderson, & Butt, 2009). I'he department recognized that EH would enable students, who spend the majority of their time outside of the classroom, to "develop the life skills, academic habits, and connections that will help them persevere and become successful in engineering and applied sciences" (Tsang et al, 2009). In its first year, the EH had 41 residents, but by its third year it had grown to 178 residents.…”

“…In an FYEE survey, the EH students scored significantly higher on items relating to having friends in their cohort and knowing how to use various academic supports available on campus. Through this initiative, Tsang et al (2009) again highlighted the need for collaboration between student support services and faculty members as these groups worked together to plan and implement various events for the EH students to encourage their integration into the program and the university (see also Tinto, 2009;Nelson et al, 2012).…”

“…However, her efforts were not always successful. (2009) found that building an engineering social network contributed to students' decisions to stay in engineering (see also Tsang et al, 2009). In her first weeks of engineering, Anna frequently looked for members of her cultural community and students from her high school that might be able to help her.…”

“…Peer mentors provided her with suggestions on how to prepare for midterm exams, how to find answers on her own, and who to contact when she needed help with her course work. This entire process afforded Anna opportunities to build her cultural capital and benefit from kairotic moments (see Artemeva, 2005;Bourdieu, 1977;Tsang et al, 2009;Watson et al, 2010).…”

“…So, although actually using the support services is likely a decision best left to the students themselves, all first-year students identified as potentially at-risk may greatly benefit from being required to visit the drop-in centre at least once to discuss their SAFE results. This will provide them with the opportunity to connect with upper year students and thus potentially take advantage of their own kairotic moments and build their cultural capital (Artemeva, 2005;Bourdieu, 1977;Tsang et al, 2009;Watson et al, 2010).…”