From Manuscript:
To date, the effects of student participation in the freshman seminar on the following outcomes have not been systematically evaluated and, thus, are recommended as target areas for future research and assessment.
1. Assessment of What Particular Course Content (Topics) and Instructional Processes (Teaching Strategies) Have the Most Significant Impact on Student Outcomes
This should become a key issue for future research on the freshman seminar because so much evidence has already been amassed in support of the general conclusion that the freshman seminar is effective for promoting student retention and academic success.
2. Assessment of How Participation in the Freshman Seminar Influences Student Satisfaction with the College Experience
Student satisfaction with the freshman seminar has been examined extensively; however, the seminar's impact on students' overall satisfaction with the college experience has received much less attention in the research literature. One major purpose of the freshman seminar is to connect students to the institution, i.e., to its key educational agents, support services, and co-curricular opportunities. So it may be reasonable to hypothesize that these connections, if initially established via the freshman seminar, may then continue throughout the entire first-year experience and perhaps throughout the undergraduate years, thus serving to increase students' overall satisfaction with the total college experience.
3. Assessment of the Impact of Freshman Seminar Participation on Students' Choice of College Major and Time to Graduation
Another long-term outcome of the freshman seminar that may be worthy of future investigation is assessment of whether participation in the freshman seminar influences the type of college majors which students eventually select.
4. Assessing Faculty and Staff Perceptions of How Students' Participation in the Freshman Seminar Affects Their Campus Behavior and Academic Performance
It is not uncommon to hear anecdotal reports from attendees at Freshman Year Experience conferences who claim that faculty on their campus have observed that freshmen are "better prepared" for college life and know how to "behave like college students" after they have participated in the freshman seminar.
5. Assessment of the Impact of Freshman Seminar Participation on the Transfer Rate of
Community College Students
It might be interesting for community colleges to assess whether participation in the freshman seminar affects the educational aspirations of (a) students who are undecided about eventually transferring to a 4-year institution and (b) vocationally-oriented students whose initial goal is a vocational/technical certificate or associate degree.
6. Assessment of Whether Availability of the Freshman Seminar at an Institution can Enhance College Marketing and Student Recruitment
What impact would the availability of a freshman seminar have on attracting students to a college which offers such a course? Research and scholarship point to the conclusion that high school graduates are confused about what to expect in college (Boyer, 1987) and beginning college freshmen are reporting lack of confidence in their ability to succeed in college without the provision of support or assistance (Astin, 1994). The availability of a first-semester seminar designed to support students' high school-to-college transition, reduce their anticipatory anxiety, and promote their college success, might serve as an effective recruitment tool if consciously marketed by postsecondary institutions.
7. Assessment of Whether Student Performance in the Freshman Seminar is an Effective Predictor of Student Success During the First Year of College
At the University of South Carolina, preliminary evidence has already been reported which suggests that a failing grade in the freshman seminar is a "red flag" that can identify students who will later experience academic problems or attrition (Fidler & Shanley, 1993). At another institution, multiple-regression analysis has been used to demonstrate that the grade earned by students in its freshman seminar correlates significantly with student retention, above and beyond mere course participation and completion (Starke, 1993). Such findings suggest that students' academic performance in the freshman seminar may be predictive of their academic success, in general, during their first year of college.
8. Assessment of Students' Retrospective Perceptions of the Freshman Seminar at Later Points in the College Experience
While there have been two reported institutional studies of alumni perception of the freshman seminar after graduation from college, there appears to be little or not research available on the retrospective perceptions of course graduates at later times during their college experience.
9. Assessing the Effectiveness of the Freshman Seminar as a Vehicle for Conducting Comprehensive Student Assessment at College Entry
Not only may the freshman seminar be assessed in terms of its impact on students, it may also be evaluated in terms of its impact on the institution, i.e., how it helps the college fulfill other organizational functions or needs. One such institutional benefit of the freshman seminar is its potential for serving as a mechanism through which the institution may gather comprehensive data on its freshman class at college entry (Cuseo, 1991). This is an essential first step in any effective "student tracking" system designed to assess the institutional experiences of students from entry to exit (Palmer, 1989).
10. Assessment of Whether Student Participation in the Freshman Seminar affects Student Outcomes at Graduation
While there are some campus-specific studies which indicate that student involvement in the freshman seminar increase their persistence to graduation (Barefoot, 1993), there appears to be no reported research on whether course participation affects student outcomes at graduates. At first glance, it may seem far-fetched to expect that participation in a first-semester course will have a significant effect on student outcomes measured over four years later. However, given the seminar's already-demonstrated potential to increase students' utilization of campus resources and support services, as well as student contact with key educational agents outside the classroom, it may be reasonable to hypothesize that the freshman seminar can serve to increase the quantity and quality of student involvement in the college experience which, in turn, may result in more dramatic gains in student outcomes displayed at the time of college completion.
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