This week’s episode, hosted by Stephanie Matte, focuses on the impact of first-year experiences on international students' retention and graduation.
View our extended episode notes at https://www.centerforengagedlearning.org/international-students-and-the-first-year-experience/
This week’s episode focuses on the impact of first-year experiences on international students' retention and graduation:
Rust, Dylan, and Raghvendra Singh. 2022. “First-Year Experience Course Impact on Undergraduate International Student Retention and Graduation.” Journal of Educational Research and Practice 11 (1). https://doi.org/10.5590/JERAP.2021.11.1.32.
This episode was hosted by Stephanie Matte, Graduate Apprentice for the Kernodle Center for Civic Life at Elon University. The episode was edited and produced by Jessie L. Moore, Director of the Center for Engaged Learning and Professor of Professional Writing & Rhetoric. 60-Second SoTL is produced by the Center for Engaged Learning at Elon University.
60-Second SoTL
Episode 54 – International Students and the First-Year Experience
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0:03
Jessie L. Moore:
Welcome to 60-Second SoTL! This week’s episode is part of a short series by students in Elon University’s Masters of Higher Education program. The students are exploring first-year experiences as meaningful or high-impact learning experiences. Listen for the other podcast episodes in their series wherever you subscribe to 60-Second SoTL.
(Piano Music)
0:26
Stephanie Matte:
How does first year seminar impact international students and their retention and graduation rates? That’s the focus of this week’s 60-second SoTL from Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning. I’m Stephanie Matte.
0:36
In “First-Year Experience Course Impact on Undergraduate International Student Retention and Graduation.” published in the Journal of Educational Research and Practice, scholars Dylan Rust and Raghvendra Singh explore the relationship between retention and graduation rates between international students that took a first-year seminar course and those that did not.
0:54
The participants in this study were students who were enrolled in at least 12 academic credits at a higher education institution in the United States on a temporary visa. Of the cohort of students only 329 completed the first-year seminar course while 1,307 international students did not take the course. The data from this cohort of students was monitored to follow the students through their undergraduate time and compare graduation and retention rates to determine if there was statistical significance in correlation to students completing the seminar and higher graduation and retention rates.
1:24
The results of this quantitative study found that those who did take a first-year seminar course had significantly higher graduation and retention rates than those who did not. Of the students who completed the first-year seminar, 83% graduated in 4 years while only 25% of those who did not take the first-year seminar graduated in 4 years.
1:42
To learn more about this study, follow the link in our show notes to read this open access article.
1:49
Jessie Moore:
Join us next week for another snapshot of recent scholarship of teaching and learning on 60-second SoTL from Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning. Learn more about the Center at www.CenterForEngagedLearning.org.
(Piano Music)