Upper-Division Transfer Students: Designing a Supplemental Instruction Program for Nursing Students Within a Science Based Curriculum

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

  • Karen M. Clark
  • Isabell Cserno May

The transition to upper-level course work of transferring students, predominantly students from 2-year/community colleges, has been explored in recent education research literature. Yet, it has not been sufficiently explored whether and what academic support programs could be successful in supporting transfer students with the transfer process. This article demonstrates the success of an academic support program for a discipline-specific cohort of transfer students entering their junior year in a nursing program at a public university within the University System of Maryland. The study explored prior academic preparation, results of Nursing Entrance Test scores, and interventions provided by an academic support initiative. For a course in pathopharmacology, this collaborative environment—facilitated by successful peers based on Supplemental Instruction, workshops on accelerated learning techniques, and individual tutoring—indicates that participation in such a comprehensive program resulted in an overall higher grade point average at the end of the first semester. There was also a reduced rate of failure or drop out from 15% to 7% in subsequent semesters. Overall, such an initiative could serve as a model for other institutions.

Original languageEnglish
JournalCommunity College Journal of Research and Practice
Volume39
Issue number6
Pages (from-to)499-514
Number of pages16
ISSN1066-8926
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 03.06.2015