Utilizing culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) to acculturate first-time-in-college students attending minority-serving institutions into the postsecondary setting is a higher educational imperative. The current study utilizes Ladson-Billings' (1995b) CRP as a theoretical frame to explore the teaching practices in the first-year seminars (FYSs) at…

Evaluating information is an essential skill, valued across disciplines. While librarians and instructors share the responsibility to teach this skill, they need a common framework in order to collaborate to design assignments that give students multiple opportunities to learn. Librarians and First Year Seminar faculty at Belmont University…

Students in The Honors College at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh are required to take a team-taught first-year seminar in their first semester. The seminar is theme-based and taught by two professors from two different disciplines. The theme of the seminar is food, one teacher is a professor of geography and the other a professor of…

Higher education often involves academic challenges like course selection or financial aid navigation. Developing effective study skills, mastering time management, refining note-taking techniques, and tackling complex course content demands dedication and proactivity. However, support services such as academic skills workshops and writing centers…

This article argues for a pedagogical approach to the sociology of sport and physical education that centers writing. Drawing on student reflections from my first year seminar in academic writing 'Social Inequality and Sports,' I demonstrate that students are more inclined to entertain the imperatives of critical pedagogies in the context of sport…

Instruments for teaching and assessing student understanding of the five core concepts in biology from "Vision and Change" are needed. We developed four Biology Core Concept Instruments (BCCIs) that teach and assess students' ability to describe a concept in their own words, identify concepts represented in biological phenomena, and make…

Our faculty development (FD) work applies Dee Fink's (2013) integrated course design model. In this article, we describe the situational factors related to supporting faculty who teach a required, academically-focused First Year Seminar course at a large public university. We then describe how we designed a suite of FD opportunities with goals…

Choosing a career can be a daunting task and oftentimes may cause challenges for first-year college students when they enter higher education. Understanding that career indecision is normal within this population, it is essential to learn more about how potential related constructs may be significant to supporting one's career decision-making…

College retention is a primary focus within many institutions of higher education; however, retention efforts have largely been unsuccessful in impacting first-year completion rates and eventual degree attainment. Drawing on research that demonstrates the value of a strong faculty-student relationship and an engaging classroom environment, this…

We analyze the identity trajectory of a single case study, Cassidy, within the physics community. We focus our analysis on two settings in the physics community: an undergraduate research experience, and undergraduate coursework. We use video data from three interviews (spanning roughly fifteen months) to longitudinally analyze shifts in…

This study brings together insights from the Science Education Initiative with a new course, "Spy Novel Diplomacy: Propaganda and International Relations," which has been taught as a General Education Seminar for first year students. The class will continue on an annual basis from the spring semester of 2020 onward. Thus what follows is…

Students acting as co-creators of academic material is growing in popularity as a pedagogical approach in higher education. With student engagement and persistence consistently being emphasized for student and institution well-being, educational praxis must foster engaged, high-retention student cohorts. This exploratory research uses a…

This chapter presents mindfulness relaxation activities used in a first-year seminar, discusses Eastern ancient meditation methods as alternative Western contemplative inquiry, and suggests teaching practices in adult and higher education for holistic education and well-being.

In fall 2018, our university launched revised first-year experience course. The curriculum focused on topics of identity, self-awareness, inclusion, diversity, and community, along with the existing outcomes of socialization, wellness, and university-level skill development necessary to transition successfully through the first semester of…

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of first-year seminar (FYS) course modality on first-semester GPA and second-semester retention of community college students' system-wide. For many student's community colleges serve as an affordable option for higher education. The first-year seminar course connects students to the college to…