First-Year Seminars...
Characteristics
of Successful First-Year Seminars
Barefoot & Fidler
Tips
for Teaching First-Year Seminars
M. Stuart Hunter
Nine
Characteristics of Successful First-Year Seminars
As reported by Barefoot and Fidler (1996), -it has been
observed that "successful" seminars
- those that enjoy strong, broad-based institutional support and long
life - are those that exhibit the characteristics listed
below. Although there are exceptions
to this list and many possible additions to it, both empirical evidence
and the collective experience of professionals at the National
Resource Center for The
First-Year Experience and Students in Transition confirm the importance
of these nine characteristics.
- They
carry academic credit.
- They
are centered in, rather than tangential to, the first-year curriculum,
serving as an integral
part of
general education,
core, or major requirements.
- They
include academic content - often extra or interdisciplinary content
that is woven into essential
process elements such
as study skills, library
use, writing,
etc.
- Faculty
are involved in all stages of program design and instruction.
- Student
affairs professionals are also involved in all stages of program
design and instruction.
- Instructors
are trained in basic methods of group facilitation and active learning
pedagogies: Course process
becomes
as important as course content.
- Instructors
are paid or otherwise rewarded for teaching the seminar.
- Upper-level
students are involved in course delivery.
- Courses
are evaluated on a regular basis, and results of this evaluation
are made available
to the
entire campus community.
From
Barefoot, B., & Fidler, P. (1996). The 1994 National
Survey of Freshman Seminar Programs: Continuing Innovations
in the
Collegiate Curriculum (Monograph
No. 20). National Resource Center for The Freshman Year
Experience & Students
in Transition. University of South Carolina.
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Ten Tips
for Success in Teaching First-Year Seminars
Building upon Diane Strommer's "Teaching first-year
college students: ten tips for success" in Solid Foundations.
building success for first year seminars through instructor
training and development, the following
are additional
tips suggested for success in teaching first-year seminars.
- Embrace
high expectations and demand quality work
- Learn
names early and use them
- Demonstrate
self-disclosure
- Give
students ownership for some aspects of the course
- Involve
students in teaching the course
- Remember
that process is content
- Meet
at least once with each student individually
- Obtain
feedback throughout the term
- Provide
opportunity for synthesis and projection
- Know
that teaching new-student seminars is a continual work in progress
Strommer, D.W. (1999) Teaching first-year college students: ten
tips for success. In M.S. Hunter & T.L. Skipper (Eds) Soild
Foundations, Building success for first-year seminars through training
and development (Monograph No.29)(pp.39-52). Columbia,
SC: University of South Carolina, National Resource Center for the
First-Year Experience and Students in Transition.
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