Best Practices for Teaching First-Year Undergraduates
2nd Annual Colloquium Presented by
The Center for Teaching Excellence
Office of General Education
The Altshuler Learning Enhancement Center (A-LEC)
Monday, January 10, 2005
1:00-4:00 p.m.
A-LEC,
Suite 202, Paul B. Loyd Center
1:00-1:45 |
The First-Year Student: An Overview |
1:45-2:20 |
You Aren’t in this Alone: Campus Services |
2:20-2:30 |
Break |
2:30-3:30 |
Break-Out Sessions (see below) |
3:30-3:40 |
Break |
3:40-3:55 |
Pulling it all Together |
3:55-4:00 |
First-Year Reading Announced for 2005 |
A. Clarifying Expectations:
Caroline Brettell, Anthropology & John Wise, Biology. High school students learn to be college students during the courses they take their first year, especially in their first semester. How can tools such as syllabi, assignments and examinations, behavioral contracts, and classroom protocols teach students what we expect of them and encourage the behaviors that lead to active, engaged learning?
B. Getting Students Involved:
Tom Stone, Rhetoric & Mark Chancey, Religious Studies. Because first-year students often see themselves taking courses merely to satisfy a requirement, they may lack the motivation and engagement that are essential to effective learning. How can we help them to understand the significance and implications of these introductory courses? How do we generate and sustain our students’ enthusiastic involvement?
C. Giving Assignments and Feedback:
Judy Etchison, Computer Science & Engineering & Rebecca Innocent, Rhetoric. Too often when grading exams or reading papers, we learn that our students really did not understand what we were asking of them. From the phrasing of the question for a writing assignment to the wording of a multiple-choice exam, how do we ask for what we want so we get what we ask for? How do we provide feedback that teaches as well as evaluates?
D. Teaching the Truly Un(der)prepared:
Alan Brown, Psychology & Wayne Woodward, Statistics. Most of today’s sessions are based on the premise that our first-year students are essentially ready for college and that they can perform well if we make our expectations clear, creating classrooms that engage and challenge and support them as they learn how to learn at the university level. However, what about those who really are not ready to do university-level work and yet are in our classrooms? What can be done for them?