First Year Science in a Commuter University: Where to Intervene

A study of first year science students in a large Canadian commuter university shows that integration/involvement variables are important in explaining a number of desired outcomes. Most evident is the fact that students who were satisfied with the quality of instruction, and students who felt that topics cov- ered in classes were important to future career success, were more likely than others to score high on a number of desired outcomes. By way of comparison, variables falling in the social integration/involvement category, by and large, were not important in explaining desired outcomes. For example, in contrast to previous findings on factors affecting student development, the number of out- of-class contacts with faculty had no impact on any of the outcomes under con- sideration Overall, the findings, and possible avenues of improvement that they sug- gest, reflect the fact that in a large commuter university classroom contact rep- resents the main link between the institution and the individual. As a result, it is likely that improvements in curriculum and teaching would have large payoffs for both students and the institution. The university under study is a commuter university in a large city with large first year science classes. Where similar conditions can be found in other Canadian universities, it is likely that various outcomes can be explained by ref- erence to similar factors. By extension, it is equally probable that changes likely to enhance outcomes would also lead to improvements elsewhere