Through the lens of a college success seminar: developing workshops for EOF students

The body of research on first-year seminars has grown considerably and there is much evidence to support that college success seminars have increased student persistence and degree attainment (Fidler, 1991; Keenan & Gabovitch, 1995; O\u27Gara, Karp, & Hughes, 2009; Zeidenberg, Jenkins, & Calcagno, 2007). While most success courses come packaged with content such as study skills, test-taking, and time management, little assessment of the effectiveness of these areas has been conducted. Therefore, this study investigated the specific course components of the College Success Seminar that contribute to student success and used that information to create workshops for students in the Educational Opportunity Fund Program (EOF). This study utilized action research, which is focused on producing improvements and is cyclical (Hinchey, 2008). I collected data utilizing mixed methods. I used surveys to obtain demographic information and information about students\u27 and faculty perceptions of course content using frequency scales, Likert scale, and open-ended questions. The findings revealed that faculty and students agreed that the most effective components of the College Success Seminar are time management, study skills, and test-taking strategies