The first year biology program at Flinders University was a traditional, three lectures and one laboratory session per week style science topic, that had not changed in its mode of delivery for a number of years. Arguably, this approach may have been appropriate for a student audience of the past, where the majority were studying towards a general Bachelor of Science degree. However, a quick look at the demographics of our current cohort shows that this scenario no longer reflects our current student body. Flinders University first semester Biology program now services up to 600 students per semester representing 36 different degree programs. 50% of our students have no previous experience with biology, while the remaining 50% studied biology at year 12 level. This difference in student background instantly raises concern about where lecturers should target their lectures so as not to bore students with a biology background, or to confuse and discourage students with no biology background. Compounding this problem is the need for the modern university to address the issues surrounding the transition of students from high school to university studies.
In response to the problems listed above, Flinders University School of Biological Sciences has radically redesigned its first year program to increase student retention through increasing engagement and to better prepare students for the rigours of higher year level studies. In brief, our approach has incorporated:

1. The introduction of a Monday prelecture designed for students without year 12 biology that focuses on providing students with the knowledge and background required to understand the following week's worth of lectures.
2. The introduction of a Monday prelecture designed for students without year 12 biology that focuses on providing students with the knowledge and background required to understand the following week's worth of lectures.
3. A change in lecture delivery with an emphasis on the incorporation of research material into the content, as well as a number of interactive, MCQ questions.
4. The introduction of 'classroom clickers' to the 3 lecture slots in order to allow students to answer questions posed by the lecturer in a secure, anonymous way, allow lecturers to give immediate feedback on the results of questions, and to increase student engagement and interactiveness during lectures.  
5. The changing of the 3rd lecture slot to a 'large group tutorial (lectorial)', in which information from the 2 previous lectures are reviewed and expanded, using a relevant, topical example.
6. The introduction of Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS), facilitated by upper year level, high achieving students who aid current students in their study habits and their understanding of lecture material.
7. Redevelopment of laboratory sessions to link with current lecture content, and to increase the investigative nature of practicals to ensure that students have an opportunity to have a more 'hands on' role in experimental design.

Student feedback to the changes has been very positive. This combined with a 10% reduction in withdrawals, and a 5% reduction in failures for the topic as well as an estimated 8% increase in 2nd year enrolments has been highly encouraging.