John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education

As the overall study findings described in Chap. 2 make clear, the majority of issues contributing to STEM switching or relocation, and to the ongoing difficulties of persisting, converge on student experiences in what are commonly referenced as “weed-out” classes. Overall, 25% of interviewees reported negative consequences arising from aspects of these classes, including 43% of STEM switchers and 35% whose decisions to switch were directly shaped by their weed-out class experiences. Among persisters, 18% also described negative consequences from particular weed-out classes, including 6% who relocated to a different STEM major or dropped a second major. This chapter addresses: what characteristics define certain foundational STEM classes or courses as “weed-out” in their nature and consequences; what do students experience that create learning and persistence difficulties; which student groups do weed-out classes place at most risk of switching, relocation, or dropping out of college? To answer these questions, we draw on findings from four component studies: institutional records analysis from the six sample sites; interview data from 96 switchers and 250 persisters; Student Assessment of their Learning Gains (SALG) surveys deployed in STEM foundation courses across all sites; and findings from an observation study of teaching practices in those same courses. We also present findings from our collaborators in a concurrent study of “DFWI” rates in four foundation-level STEM courses located in each of 36 institutions participating in the Gardner Institute’s “Gateways to Completion” project.

Abstract Drawing on systems theory, this chapter uses two different institutional examples to demonstrate the benefits of combining gateway‐course improvement initiatives with other student success efforts so that the combined approach makes the whole greater than the simple sum of the pieces.