2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This Complete Research paper will address the timely interventions the first-year science and engineering students used at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) to reverse their initial struggles, measured by an early alert and/or midterm deficiency, to improved course grades. First-year undergraduate students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines face many challenges, including (1) transition and adjustment from high school to college, (2) time management skills with academic, personal, and social responsibilities, and (3) addressing different levels of preparation for their STEM classes. To address the struggles that the students face, the First-Year Advising Committee (FYAC) at LMU conducted a qualitative study to better understand what differentiates students that are able to reverse their initial struggles from those that continue to struggle. A total of 19 students were interviewed to identify the first-year students’ struggles and to examine their strategies to overcome those struggles. The majority of students (n = 14) were those who initially struggled (measured by an early alert and/or midterm deficiency) but later improved their academic performance within their first semester in fall, 2021. Their responses were supplemented by five students who did not struggle (measured by a lack of early alert and/or midterm deficiency) but rather thrived throughout the entire semester. Semi-structured one-on-one interviews were conducted, and the transcribed contents were analyzed to identify themes and sub-themes, to show similarities and differences among the students’ responses. The themes identified through these interviews provide insights for university stakeholders of student success, especially in a post-pandemic return to college.