Abstract:

In 2010, Dalhousie University's Faculty of Engineering decided it would be productive to help academically dismissed first year students return to university. At this time, approximately 30% were not successfully completing first year. Other resources were put in place to help students succeed. My involvement was in the development of a 10 day summer program, Refining Your Learning Skills for Academically Dismissed Students, to help failed students regain confidence, renew commitment, and refresh and add new study skills to their toolkit. Over the 7 years, approximately 450 students, including those from Faculties of Science, Computer Science, Health and Human Performance, and Arts and Social Science, have participated in Refining.

Refining is an intensive program with classes starting at 9:00 a.m. sharp every day, with a 4-5 page assignment also due at that time. The pass mark is 80% and approximately 80% of the students pass and return to studies. Students fail due to lack of motivation, poor English language skills, and other issues, such as mental health and lack of maturity, which require additional attention.

In 10 short days, the transformation of students is remarkable, and even those who do not achieve the pass mark, demonstrate incredible progress. I believe the shock of academic dismissal, or failure, plays a significant positive role in the change process. I wonder if our efforts to prevent student failure might be a disservice to some students.

In this presentation, I will provide an overview of the content of the program, which we describe as "head, heart, and hands", and share some key success factors that guide program delivery. I am interested in learning about other similar initiatives to help students get back on track, .

Keywords:

Retention, student success, resilience.