One freshman studies program which improved student retention in the first year computer science sequence for majors

At the University of Tennessee at Martin (UTM), freshman computer science majors were being successful in their first quarter in computer science, but many majors were not completing the year sequence (Programming Concepts and Problem Solving I, II, and III). This study describes a freshman studies program that helps increase student retention in the first computer science course.Two populations were used in this study. The first population (Group A) consisted of 25 freshman computer science majors (16 men and 9 women) enrolled Fall Quarter 85 in freshman orientation General Studies GS1000 for one quarter hour credit. The second population (Group B) consisted of 17 freshman computer science majors (12 men and 5 women) enrolled the Fall Quarter 86 in freshman orientation General Studies GS1001 for two quarter hours credit. Both groups were placed in the first course in computer science using the cutting scores ACT English > 17 or 0.78 (ACT English) + 0.49 (UTM Math Placement) > 33. Both Groups A and B had an average ACT English score of 20 and an average UTM Math Placement score of 55. Each quarter during the freshman year, the computer science major enrolls in calculus (4 hrs.), Programming Concepts and Problem Solving (3 hrs.), a laboratory science (4 hrs.), English (3 hrs.), and a humanities course (3 hrs.).Group A was offered a freshman orientation program that involved a pass/fail one quarter hour credit GS1000 which met one hour each day during freshman studies week. Each section consisted of twenty-five heterogeneously grouped students. The course content was review of study skills. Group B was offered a freshman orientation program that involved a pass/fail two quarter hour credit GS1001 which met one hour each day during freshman studies week, plus one hour each week during the first quarter. Each section consisted of only students of a particular major (computer science) and was taught by a faculty member of that department. The topics of this course consisted of a review of study skills, discussions of student problems, special academic speakers, field trips to professional sites, cultural events, meetings with deans and department heads, and a follow-up on study skills. In the meeting before the final exam week, the faculty member dealt specifically with suggestions on preparing for finals.Groups A and B were enrolled in the same first computer science sequence (Programming Concepts and Problem Solving I, II, and III) their freshman year. Both groups had the same instructors, text (Introduction to Computing and Computer Science with Pascal by H. Walker), and course syllabus for this sequence. Both groups carried the same academic course load their freshman year. However, in Group A only 20% (5 out of 25) of the students completed the first computer science sequence with a grade of C or better, while in Group B 41% (7 out of 17) completed the same sequence with a grade of C or better. Student retention is achieved through the students' integration into the academic and social systems of the college by two factors: (1) faculty-student interaction and (2) peer-group interaction. Although the population of this study was small, I believe GS1001 provides one way of increasing student retention in computer science.