Symp.improving first yearretentionthroughsocialnetworking
1. Improving First-Year Student Retention
Through Social Networking and Learning
Communities
Indiana University South Bend Spring Symposium
Friday, April 22, 2011
Ronald Kovach, Ed.D. Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Purdue University Calumet
kovachr@purduecal.edu
Cathi Kadow, M.A., Manager of Academic Advising, Purdue University Calumet
catkadow@.purduecal.edu
Lisa Kovacs, B.S. Manager of Retention Initiatives, Purdue University Calumet
kovacs@purduecal.edu
2. Objectives
You will understand the basic concepts
of the program as well as the
theoretical knowledge supporting the
program
You will understand how the university
implemented the program from the
beginning and how to generalize this to
your student population
3. Starting from the
Beginning
Purdue University Calumet—Who are we?
Four-year, regional campus
Predominantly commuter campus
Majority first-generation college students (over 60% of new students)
Title III institution (33% minority population)
10,000 students, NW Indiana - 27 miles from Chicago
Foundations of Excellence study
Our findings
What we did to implement our recommendations
4. The Whole Package
Pilot Program for IPEDS Cohort of Undecided Students
Learning Community
Block Scheduling
Common Reading Program
Portal and Social Media (Facebook) Initiatives
Academic Alert System
Added a virtual learning community component using the
University’s new Portal Project and social media
Created a new assessment course in Behavioral Sciences to
formally assess the FYE; experiential learning course
designation
5. Program Concepts
Meeting students where they’re at
Easing transitions
Connections to faculty
Connections to peers
Student Satisfaction
Longitudinal Effects on retention/
persistence
6. Importance to Students
The first six weeks are imperative for
student connectivity
Current student characteristics
99% of college students believe that the
internet is for communication purposes
Studies show students want personal
connections with faculty and peers over the
internet
7. Why Virtual Learning
Communities?
Upcraft, Gardner, & Barefoot (2005) mention that the
“integration of technology into first year initiatives” has
been one of the biggest accomplishments of the first-year
seminar’s success in the past twenty years.
This technological integration, however, focuses mostly on
academic support services that help first-year students
persist and succeed, not on other areas of student
integration.
Unfortunately, there is still a large deficit in universities’
attempts to harness current technological trends in the
way of social networking websites to best serve their
students.
8. Our Learning Community
New students were placed into a physical as well as virtual
learning community.
The learning community consisted of a block schedule of
classes based upon the students’ English and math
placement and preference for day or evening classes.
Groups in Facebook as well as the university portal –
myPUC - were created for students and faculty. Both
faculty and students were instructed on how to use the
groups and the portal.
A common learning experience was incorporated into the
block scheduled courses.
Faculty of the First-Year Experience courses had access to
an online Academic Alert System to report student issues.
9. Block Schedule
Block schedules were designed to give new students the
foundational courses they needed to be successful.
Students were grouped together so they would see many of
the same people in their first-semester courses.
A common theme was incorporated into the first-semester
classes. The common reading program provided a means
for students to connect the core classes to the First-Year
Experience course.
10. Common Reader
The book selection for the common
reading program was Nickel and Dimed,
by Barbara Ehrenreich.
Nickel and Dimed is about one woman’s
experiences trying to make a living in
low-paying jobs. Her “real” job was investigating
the day-to-day hardships of America’s working poor.
Students read the book in their First-Year Experience
course and had assignments related to the text in
their English, speech, and math courses.
11. myPUC Portal & Facebook
MyPUC is a web portal and hub of the
university’s online resources.
A large group for all new students was created as well as
groups for individual classes and their instructors. Links
to the Facebook groups were also available for easy
access in the portal. Facebook groups allowed students
and faculty to post and discuss course material.
A schedule of relevant communications
was developed for weekly “Personal
Announcements” to the larger group.
Some of the topics included: Learning
Styles, Study Skills, Financial Literacy,
Choosing a Major, as well as event
announcements and general reminders.
14. Academic Alert System
An online Academic Alert System was provided through
the portal to faculty teaching the First-Year Experience
courses.
Faculty were encouraged to report attendance and other
issues that could affect a student’s grade (excessive
absences or tardiness, missing homework, poor
performance on test/quizzes, etc). 93% of faculty used the
online system.
The Center for Student Achievement acted as a clearing
house for these notifications and referred them to the
appropriate academic advisors for personal follow-up
with the students.
In Fall 2010, 107 students were referred
through the system with most notifications
occurring at weeks 2, 3, 6, and 7.
15. Summer Preparation
Graduate students and research team
contacted faculty preparing for participation
Created a curriculum for a faculty training on
Facebook with the university portal
Created predetermined Facebook groups for
the student courses and an overall social
group for students
Scheduled one-hour training with each FYE
seminar course to guide students to groups
and connect them electronically to myPUC,
the university portal
16. Faculty Minimums to
Meet Requirements
Course hour dedicated to setting
up portal
Posting on Facebook
Campus events
Class related events
Class related discussion
Survey participation
17. Survey
The last two weeks of class students take a survey
on …
personal connections
transitions
Overall satisfaction
Control group is given the same survey for
comparison.
Both groups will be followed longitudinally through
the school system to check GPA and enrollment
after an 18-month period.
21. Problem Solving
There were some initial issues with the training and
support of the Limited Term Lecturers.
(We have full-time advisors as instructors as well as
LTLs.)
One or two instructors were fearful of the entire
concept out of a general fear of identity theft.
Plus some of our LTLs were not computer savvy.
Students who used an alias were not easily
recognized by their instructors when they submitted
emails or phone messages.
22. Privacy Concerns
Recommended students make their Facebook profiles
“private” and not “friend” their instructor.
Same for instructors, and not to “friend” their students.
Students were allowed to go by an alias on their Facebook
profile as long as researchers were given their university-
recognized name (in order to give them credit for
participating in the survey) .
Very few students chose to opt out of Facebook
participation due to security concerns.
23. Preliminary Findings
The more the instructor and other students used the Facebook
groups, the more the students enjoyed it/found it useful.
Students who indicated less satisfaction/utility with the
Facebook groups were members of classes in which the
instructor used it less. There were student comments
lamenting the fact that they wanted to utilize the media and
were disappointed that their instructor and classmates did not.
Instructor feedback has indicated similar findings; the
instructors who used it frequently found it to be very helpful.
Several instructors are using Facebook groups for their spring
semester classes as well.
24. Comments from the
Student Survey
“I liked the Facebook group because it made school an
everyday activity for me. It was very convenient.”
“I liked how I was able to talk or discuss things about
school online. If I forgot something for a class I was
able to ask someone for help.”
“It was cool to see other students that I see in school
on there. We could message each other and make
friends.”
25. Citations
• Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2007). The benefit of
Facebook “friends.” Social Capital and college students’ use of
online social networking sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated
Communications, 12(3).
• Martinez Aleman, A. M. & Wartman, K. L. (2009). Online social
networking on campus: Understanding what matters in student
culture. New York: Routledge.
• Morris, J., Reese, J., Beck, R., & Mattis, C. (2009). Facebook
usage as a predictor of retention at a private 4-year institution.
Journal of College Student Retention, 11, 311-322.
• Nora, A., & Snyder, B. P. (2008). Technology and higher
education: The impact of e-learning approaches on student
academic achievement, perceptions and persistence. Journal of
College Student Retention, 10, 3-19.
