Working With Students And Parents To Improve The Freshman Retention
...Abstract — The transition from high school to college can be very difficult for many students. The authors believe that students can advocate on their own behalf by educating themselves on challenges they may potentially face, as well as establishing realistic educational and social goals. Concurrently, parents can assist their children by becoming more aware of the transition issues, and learning how to help anticipate transitions. This paper will acquaint the reader with three key transitional challenges new college students face, as well as offer an approach to productive interactions with both students and their parents. As evidenced in steadily improving persistence rates, the University of Pittsburgh has found by educating new students and parents in realistically anticipating first year challenges, students are able to productively work through their freshman year university experience.
I. INTRODUCTION
Numerous studies document the importance of educating parents and family members as well as the students themselves in the process of acquainting all with the new academic setting. Education of this sort can create a positive transition experience for first year students [1 - 5]. Indeed, helping students anticipate and understand life changes can help the university realize a significantly higher first-year student persistence rate [6]. For many years, university programs have correlated these components via the implementation of pre-college orientation programs.
However, in addition to explaining the new policies and procedures to the students it is also important to involve the first year student’s parents in the educational process. Moreover, the expanded objectives of all effective orientation programs should include:
1. Raising the knowledge level of first-year undergraduate students and parents with regard to lifestyle...
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