This volume reports on the sixth triennial National Survey of First-Year Seminar. Data from more than 600 colleges and universities are analyzed to offer information on the structure, content, and administration of these courses. Changes to the survey capture new information on innovative course practices including using undergraduates as…

An interview with David Riesman, founder of Harvard University's (Massachusetts) freshman seminar program, covers the origins and structure of the seminars, Riesman's own college experience, the importance of the college experience, faculty research, and the role of faculty in student intellectual development. (MSE)

The development of a freshman seminar at Ohio State University over 70 years is chronicled, looking at the impact of historical influences and the changing values of higher education on the character of the course. The structure and content of the current course are also outlined. (MSE)

This article describes the rationale for a first-year seminar for international students and reports the findings of a study examining its effectiveness. The seminar focuses on four primary objectives: (a) policies and procedures of the university's English as a Second Language (ESL) program; (b) university policies and American higher education;…

Thirty-nine at-risk college freshmen participated in an eight week non-credit seminar in the Fall of 1989. At the beginning of the seminar, students indicated that they enjoyed reading, did leisure reading, and felt that lack of vocabulary, slow reading rate, and inability to concentrate were their major reading problems. They also described their…

This monograph contains 15 papers on aspects of college and university student and family orientation programs. Following a prologue, "Reflections on the Future of Orientation," by M. Lee Upcraft, the papers are: (1) "Today's Students and Their Impact on Orientation and First-Year Programs" (Tony W. Cawthon and Michael Miller);…

Two studies evaluated outcomes of a University Experience (freshman seminar) course to ease the transition to college and enhance student retention at the University of South Florida. In the first study, course evaluations of "typical" USF students (N=540) who completed the course in fall 1998 were overwhelmingly positive in support of…

Explores traditional assumptions about the relative emphasis faculty members and student affairs administrators place on cognitive and affective development in the classroom. Examination of 180 students and six teachers suggests that traditional assumptions about the relative emphasis that faculty members and student affairs educators place on…

Reveals that randomly grouping students with wide-ranging levels of academic abilities and life experiences in a freshman seminar class had a number of drawbacks. Suggests that older adults need a different kind of freshman seminar course than the traditional first-year student, and that "gifted" older students might be used to provide "on-campus…

Describes a model of success courses that facilitates the academic and social integration of community college students--and specifically ethnic minority students--into the college environment. Reviews course goals and content, organization and delivery, instructor training, and methods for student recruitment. (KS)

The effectiveness of the Plattsburgh Freshman Seminar program, which was designed to increase student retention, was evaluated. The 45 hour, three credit program was designed to help students clarify educational and personal goals, to increase faculty-student contact, to develop communication skills, and to familiarize the student with the…

Reviews a college freshmen history seminar project in which students wrote, illustrated, and prepared a U.S. history textbook on the 1950s and 1960s. Reflecting on the resulting text, Ramsay questions whether students succumbed to the didactic fallacy; and cites a lack of cohesiveness, but praises the project's value as a teaching exercise. (LS)

A study examined gender differences in 180 college freshmen's development of purpose, mature relationships, academic autonomy, and relationships with freshman seminar instructors. Results indicate significant differences in male and female students' patterns of psychosocial development. The gender mix in the mentoring dyad also appeared to have…

A study investigating the effect of a freshman seminar on students' social and academic adjustment to college (the University of North Carolina (Charlotte) found that seminar participants (n=150) had higher grades and participated in more out-of-class contacts with faculty than did a matched group of non-seminar students. (Author/MSE)

A three-semester study investigated the effects on academic performance of a freshman seminar paired with a core sociology course. Students in the paired course achieved higher grades in the course and higher grade point averages for the semester of intervention than did nonparticipating control group students. After two years, freshman seminar…