A controlled intervention to improve freshman retention in a STEM-based physiology major.

Using a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning lens, this study systematically examined if a targeted intervention in at-risk students within a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-based physiology program would elicit positive student perceptions and higher retention rates into the second year. Those students who were considered at risk for attrition (retention; = 82) were compared against a control group (non-retention; = 165), and outcomes were evaluated with an End-of-Semester Survey and university enrollment data. Students in the retention group reported more favorable responses to questions pertaining to a first-year seminar course and academic advising.