Evaluating the Effect of a First-Year Discipline-Based Seminar on Biology Student Persistence & Performance

The Valparaiso University Department of Biology is responding to a change in student needs post-COVID by implementing a seminar for all first-year students. The first-year seminar (BIO 101) was taught for the first time in the Fall semester of 2023. This course is designed to integrate new biology students into the Biology Department. It is the first course in a four-year cohort-building series. The course focuses on academic and social integration activities to help students in their development as successful biologists. The three main objectives of the first-year seminar are to improve student test scores in the first-year biology course and return to pre-pandemic grade distributions, increase the number of students using university resources such as peer tutoring, and improve the student sense of belonging and community within the Biology Department. Initial results are promising, with gains found in exam scores, utilization of resources, and student sense of belongingness.