Undergraduate Research Communities for Transfer Students

Abstract

Transfer students face many challenges integrating into a 4-year college that affect their retention and success, yet very little research has documented how to create wraparound programming to support them. There remains a need to establish retention models that are adaptable and can serve a variety of students and institutions. The Learning Environment and Academic Research Network (LEARN) Consortium, a partnership of Florida Atlantic University, University of Central Florida, and Western Carolina University whose focus is on engagement in undergraduate research, addressed this need by developing and testing T-LEARN, a new model for a sustainable science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) retention program specifically for transfer students who have transitioned to a university setting after receiving their associate’s degree at a community college. The new model was developed by adapting a successful retention model for 1st-year students at the University of Central Florida centered around three main pillars: (1) academics/research, (2) mentoring, and (3) community building. In this paper, we describe the development of the T-LEARN model, outline the adaptations made to accommodate the specific needs of transfer students, and present 3 years of implementation data we analyzed to determine what factor(s) most impact transfer student retention and success. Our findings indicate that T-LEARN students’ involvement in research during their 1st year was the most significant factor within the T-LEARN program that contributed to their academic success. Additionally, the majority of these students had continued to do research with the same LEARN program faculty mentor 1 year after the program ended.

Impact of Undergraduate Research Experience Intensity on Measures of Student Success

“…Research Intensive (RI) course designation was established in the spring of 2015 to expand the practice of curricular-based research opportunities for undergraduate students and to allow documentation of student engagement in research and scholarly activity on their transcripts. All RI courses include evidence of students completing the entire cycle of research and inquiry including learning gains in content knowledge, formulate questions, plan of action, critical thinking, ethics and communication (Chamely-Wiik, et al, 2014). Courses were submitted and reviewed for RI designation by a university committee using a common rubric to ensure assignments satisfied criteria (Author, 2017).…”

Characterizing intercampus migration in a private university of Baja California, Mexico

“…At an international level, particularly in the United States, students’ migration to other campuses has to do with transportation and mobility to reach the campus ( Chamely-Wiik et al , 2021 ). In other words, those who do not live in the campus’ dormitories deal with transport costs, which increase the risk of desertion.…”

“…Students’ migration is quite natural since Americans face it many times: from community colleges to universities, from a four-year bachelor’s program to two-year bachelor’s program, or from public to private universities ( Ishitani & Flood, 2018 ). So, this branch of the literature concerns generating adaptation strategies ( Chamely-Wiik et al , 2021 ) to support and integrate students from other campuses or regions ( York & Fernandez, 2018 ). For instance, accrediting institutions evaluate the previous programs for students from other countries or regions ( Anwar & Richards, 2018 ).…”

Work-in-Progress: Addressing Recruitment Issues with Potential Transfer Students from State Technical Colleges

“…One of the pathways through which undergraduates may achieve a bachelor's degree is by starting at the community college level. A factor for many students is that tuition of a community college is significantly less than that of a four-year university [5], [6]. Without a scholarship, the cost of attendance at four-year institutions may be unachievable for low-income students.…”

“…Within these programs and studies, there are several common themes and experiences that seem to have the greatest impact on transfer student success. Among these are exposing transfer students to research opportunities [5], [17], providing a stipend or scholarship [6], [18], building connections with faculty members [5], [8], [14], [11], and creating a sense of community [5], [11], [13], [19].…”