P.A.S.S. (PROGAM FOR ACCESS TO SCIENCE STUDY)

Professor Michael Weiner

The Program for Access to Science Study consists of a preparatory science course offered in tandem with a special counseling seminar. The science curriculum is divided into cycles, each built around a single topic. A problem set related to the topic and an illustrative lab experiment are introduced. The students perform the experiment, analyze the data obtained, work on a problem set based on the experiment, and take a quiz. The counseling seminar is designed to promote students' ability to monitor, evaluate and adjust their behavior to achieve their academic and personal goals and to address issues relevant to achieving academic and personal success and self-awareness. Students are encouraged to be actively involved in managing and controlling their academic experience and in assessing their own progress. Although problem-solving is taught using the content in chemistry and physics, any combination of the sciences can be used.

Purpose of the Program
PASS is designed to help underprepared students pass their introductory science courses by providing them with an environment in which students are guided and monitored in the development of new learning and thinking strategies and behaviors which promote success in college.

The project addresses the inability of many students to complete the introductory science courses, which lessens the chance that they will successfully complete a science major. A primary cause of failure lies with the student's lack of instruction in problem-solving skills at the pre-college level. It has been demonstrated that students provided with instruction in problem-solving skills exhibit greater academic achievement. When students understand what is expected of them in college and become effective in meeting these expectations, they identify as members of the college community and are more likely to persist until graduation. Students who fail to become integrated into the academic and social life of the college are more likely to drop out.

PASS strives to address both reasons for failure by providing students interested in pursuing science-based careers with essential problem-solving skills, while developing a different approach to life which allows them to achieve their academic and personal goals.

Project Description
The PASS semester includes a preparatory science course which is taught in tandem with a special counseling seminar. Along with formal classes, the students attend weekly two-hour group tutorial workshops. In the following semester, the students are referred to retention programs in science which provide tutorial workshops to supplement the regular introductory science courses.

Problem-solving is taught using content in chemistry and physics. The curriculum is divided into cycles, each built around a single topic. The first class in each cycle is devoted to a general problem set related to the topic and a brief introduction to an illustrative lab experiment. In the second session, the students perform the experiment in the lab. In the third session, they analyze the experimental data obtained and are introduced to a problem set based on the experiment. The fourth (and sometimes fifth) classes involve further discussion of the problem set, a review, and finally a quiz.

The counseling seminar gives students the tools to make real changes in their lifestyles. Using their experience with the science course, the students employ various assessment techniques to evaluate the influences on their behaviors, attitudes, and feelings. Emphasis is placed on observations of behavior patterns and how they affect students' responses to common situations. The goal is to enable them to take responsibility instead of blaming circumstances. The counseling agenda is incorporated directly into the curriculum of the science course with one hour a week (out of four hours) devoted to this seminar.

Our curricular approach, which blends science content and counseling, serves as the model for a unique approach to preparatory courses. Any combination of disciplines can be used with the PASS approach.

Results

(a) The retention rate of students who complete the PASS program is significantly higher than that of the general college population.
(b) Performance level in PASS is a strong predictor of future performance, particularly in the introductory science and math courses, compared with a cohort of students registered in a parallel course.
(c) Successful participants made positive changes in their attitudes and behaviors, as demonstrated by an increased ability to manage their personal lives, to understand the expectations of college life, and to be better problem-solvers in PASS and in their personal lives.