Classroom design is related to student satisfaction and learning, but its effect on student retention is unknown. This exploratory study compared the impact of classroom design on social integration and retention among STEM first-time, full-time college freshmen in a first-year seminar course by comparing classroom sizes (large (LL) vs. small (SL) lecture), classroom formats (lecture (SL) vs. flipped classroom (FC)), and classroom student composition of students at risk of attrition based on low math placement scores (combined low math (CLM) vs. separated low math (SLM)). To capture social integration of freshman after their first semester, students completed a survey for course credit. Retention rates of freshman returning to the university for their second year were included. Almost all students in all classrooms had made friends in college; most had made friends with peers in the course and were spending time with them outside of class. Compared with LL students, SL reported lower satisfaction with their overall social life. More FC students were satisfied with their social life, and fewer found making friends to be harder than expected. These findings showed even greater disparities between groups for at-risk students. SLM students exhibited lower social integration than CLM students. The CLM flipped classroom retained the highest percentage of students at the university into the second year. Findings from the present study suggest that integrating at-risk students into a first-year seminar flipped classroom that matches student composition of the major benefits social integration and retention into the second year, for all students as well as those with low math scores.

中文翻译：

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第一年研讨会课堂设计对STEM第一次全日制大学新生社会融合和保留的影响

课堂设计与学生的满意度和学习有关，但其对学生保留的影响尚不清楚。这项探索性研究通过比较教室大小（大 (LL) 与小 (SL) 讲座），比较了课堂设计对第一年 STEM 全日制大学新生在第一年研讨会课程中的社会融合和保留的影响，课堂形式（讲座 (SL) 与翻转课堂 (FC)），以及基于低数学安置分数（组合低数学 (CLM) 与分离低数学 (SLM)）而有流失风险的学生的课堂学生构成。为了捕捉第一学期后新生的社会融合，学生完成了一项课程学分调查。包括大一二年级返校留校率。几乎所有教室里的所有学生都在大学里交到了朋友；大多数人在课程中与同龄人交朋友，并在课外与他们共度时光。与LL学生相比，SL对他们整体社交生活的满意度较低。更多的 FC 学生对他们的社交生活感到满意，更少的人认为交朋友比预期的要困难。这些发现表明，高危学生的群体之间存在更大的差异。SLM 学生的社会融合度低于 CLM 学生。CLM 翻转课堂在大学第二年保留了最高比例的学生。本研究的结果表明，将有风险的学生纳入第一年的研讨班翻转课堂，这对所有学生以及数学成绩低的学生来说，主要有利于社会融合和保留到第二年的学生构成。