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FSP 101: What to expect when teaching your first FSP course . Tom Hagedorn FSP Faculty Workshop May 12, 2011. First Year Experience. Program of academic and co-curricular activities Orientation Summer Readings and Community Learning Day Welcome Week First Seminar Courses
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FSP 101: What to expect when teaching your first FSP course Tom Hagedorn FSP Faculty WorkshopMay 12, 2011
First Year Experience • Program of academic and co-curricular activities • Orientation • Summer Readings and Community Learning Day • Welcome Week • First Seminar Courses • Living/Learning Communities • Community Engaged Learning Program • Information Literacy (IDS 102) • 95% retention rate
What is a FSP course? FSP webpage (for students, list of topics) http://www.tcnj.edu/~liberal/fsp/index.html FSP webpage for faculty (course resources) http://fspfaculty.pages.tcnj.edu/
Mission Statement • The First Seminar Program (FSP) consists of content-based seminars that introduce entering first-year students to serious scholarship and the life of the mind. FSP courses are based on themes designed to engage students in academic inquiry; they are intellectually stimulating, writing intensive, and inclusive of students across all programs. Professors serve as mentors, assisting students in thinking about college and life. FSP courses cannot count toward fulfillment of major requirements, although it may satisfy one of the Broad Sectors of Human Inquiry requirements.
FSP Learning Goals • Foster intellectual curiosity • Foster a culture of intellectual engagement outsidethe classroom • Concept of a well-rounded education beyond immediate professional or academic field
FSP Learning Goals • Improve critical thinking skills about world, culture, and beliefs • Encourage greater responsibility for learning • Introduce college-level assignments/expectations • Accomplish LL domain/interdisciplinary goals
Two Types of FY Seminar • The Policy Center on the First Year of College: • academic theme seminars more effective than U101 or “transition” seminars for improving academic/cognitive skills and improving critical thinking skills. • Increase from 17% (1990) to 29% (2000) in number of academic seminars
Comparison • Weissman, J. & Magill, B. A. (2008). Developing a student typology to examine the effectiveness of first-year seminars. Journal of the First-Year Experience & Students in Transition, 20(2), 65-90.
Comparison • Weissman, J. & Magill, B. A. (2008). Developing a student typology to examine the effectiveness of first-year seminars. Journal of the First-Year Experience & Students in Transition, 20(2), 65-90. • academically motivated students • discipline-based academic seminars
Comparison • Weissman, J. & Magill, B. A. (2008). Developing a student typology to examine the effectiveness of first-year seminars. Journal of the First-Year Experience & Students in Transition, 20(2), 65-90. • academically motivated students • discipline-based academic seminars • students with lower academic preparation • orientation-style seminars.
Components of FSP Course • Academic Learning Goals • Writing Intensive Course
Components of FSP Course • Academic Learning Goals • Writing Intensive Course • Living and Learning Community Goals • Community Engaged Learning • About 50% of sections have a CEL component • Coordinated by Bonner Center
Living/Learning Communities Goals: • Assist creation of peer communities and social bonds • Academically supportive residential environment • Encourage intellectual community; socializing around academic interests and unmoderated intellectual discussions
LLC Goals, cont. • Encourage responsibility for community/nation • Involve faculty in residence halls • Promote faculty/Student Life staff cooperation • Facilitate out-of-classroom learning activities
Writing in the FSPs • Intensive writing courses at first-year (FSP), intermediate, and senior level (capstone). • WRI 101/102 are writing instruction courses. Students may/may not need to take them. • http://www.tcnj.edu/~writing/faculty/index.html
FSP Writing • Writing to further course learning goals. • Not a long research paper. Use informal and formal types of writing that will: • Engage students with course concepts and questions • Allow students to explore ideas in new ways • Give practice in the formal structures and styles expected of college-level work in your discipline • Establish revision as standard for college-level writing • Revisions based upon faculty feedback.
FSP Writing II • How much writing? 16-20 pages of polished written work. • How much feedback? • Not a copy editor. • Revision as a process of creating effective writing: • Logic • Facts • Rhetoric.
Our Incoming Students • Beloit College, http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/ • Making the Most of College, Richard Light • Students value classes that make them “a slightly different person” (p. 47) • The First Year Out, Tim Clydesdale, • Students don’t generally want life-changing experiences in their first year of college.
Most Popular FSP Titles • Mortality, Mind, and the Meaning of Life (215) • Multicultural New York: The City From its Beginning to the Present • The Persistence of Memory • The Movie That Changed Your Life • The Beatles and Their World • Wit & Humor as Art and Social Tool • The Mind-Body Connection • Corrupting the Youth: The Power of Philosophy • The Cultural Phenomenon of Harry Potter • Music & the Natural World • Humanity’s Quest for Meaning and Justice (113)
Vision vs. Reality • The Vision: Students choose a topic of vital interest to them.
Vision vs. Reality • The Vision: Students choose a topic of vital interest to them. • The Reality: Students take the FSP • that fits into their schedule, • that their major requires, • that their mother picked for them, or • that they think is going to be something it’s not.
How Are FSPs Assigned? • 6 unranked choices • FSPs not part of majorhttp://www.tcnj.edu/~liberal/courses/seminar.html • All count for a Domain of Human Understanding • Some count for Civic Responsibilities
What Makes a Good FSP? • Pique intellectual curiosity • Strengthen intellectual skills • Not survey courses • Points of view/controversies about areas of knowledge • Free exchange of ideas
Additional Standards • Opportunities for research • Early experience of scholarship
Putting It All Together Planning your FSP course
FSP Planning Worksheet Step 1: Questions and Controversies What are the major questions and controversies in your discipline/course topic? Question/Controversy 1 Question/Controversy 2 Question/Controversy 3 Question/Controversy 4
FSP Planning Worksheet Step 1: Questions and Controversies What are the major questions and controversies in your discipline/course topic? Question/Controversy 1 Question/Controversy 2 What is the fairest way to pick a winner in an election with three candidates?Bush/Gore/Nader Question/Controversy 3 Question/Controversy 4
FSP Planning Worksheet Step 1: Questions and Controversies What are the major questions and controversies in your discipline/course topic? Question/Controversy 1 Question/Controversy 2 What is the fairest way to pick a winner in an election with three candidates?Bush/Gore/Nader What is a fair way to rank a field of candidates?Lani Guinier, tyranny of the majority Question/Controversy 3 Question/Controversy 4
FSP Planning Worksheet Step 1: Questions and Controversies What are the major questions and controversies in your discipline/course topic? Question/Controversy 1 Question/Controversy 2 What is the fairest way to pick a winner in an election with three candidates?Bush/Gore/Nader What is a fair way to rank a field of candidates?Lani Guinier, tyranny of the majority Question/Controversy 3 Question/Controversy 4 How should the President be elected? Is the electoral fair?Large states vs. small states
FSP Planning Worksheet Step 1: Questions and Controversies What are the major questions and controversies in your discipline/course topic? Question/Controversy 1 Question/Controversy 2 What is the fairest way to pick a winner in an election with three candidates?Bush/Gore/Nader What is a fair way to rank a field of candidates?Lani Guinier, tyranny of the majority Question/Controversy 3 Question/Controversy 4 How should the President be elected? Is the electoral fair?Large states vs. small states Is there a fair way to divide up resources? Divorce, Global Conflicts
FSP Planning Worksheet Step 2: History of Questions/Controversies What is the history of these questions and controversies? 1. Origins of Questions/Controversy 2. Paradigm Shifts 3. Important Contributors 4. Current Status
FSP Planning Worksheet Step 2: History of Questions/Controversies What is the history of these questions and controversies? 1. Origins of Questions/Controversy 2. Paradigm Shifts Contested Elections; Louisiana 3. Important Contributors 4. Current Status
FSP Planning Worksheet Step 2: History of Questions/Controversies What is the history of these questions and controversies? 1. Origins of Questions/Controversy 2. Paradigm Shifts Contested Elections; Louisiana Development of Principles For Fairness 3. Important Contributors 4. Current Status
FSP Planning Worksheet Step 2: History of Questions/Controversies What is the history of these questions and controversies? 1. Origins of Questions/Controversy 2. Paradigm Shifts Contested Elections; Louisiana Development of Principles For Fairness 3. Important Contributors 4. Current Status Condorcet, Lewis Carroll
FSP Planning Worksheet Step 2: History of Questions/Controversies What is the history of these questions and controversies? 1. Origins of Questions/Controversy 2. Paradigm Shifts Contested Elections; Louisiana Development of Principles For Fairness 3. Important Contributors 4. Current Status Condorcet, Lewis Carroll Slow adoption
FSP Planning Worksheet Step 3: “Big Questions” Who cares? Why are these questions/controversies important and worth study? • What first interested you in this topic? 2. Broader implications for knowledge of world? 3. Philosophical/ethical implications? 4. Contribution to human/social progress?
FSP Planning Worksheet Step 3: “Big Questions” Who cares? Why are these questions/controversies important and worth study? • What first interested you in this topic? 2. Broader implications for knowledge of world? Bush/Gore/Nader 3. Philosophical/ethical implications? 4. Contribution to human/social progress?
FSP Planning Worksheet Step 3: “Big Questions” Who cares? Why are these questions/controversies important and worth study? • What first interested you in this topic? 2. Broader implications for knowledge of world? Bush/Gore/Nader Simple methods mightnot work 3. Philosophical/ethical implications? 4. Contribution to human/social progress?
FSP Planning Worksheet Step 3: “Big Questions” Who cares? Why are these questions/controversies important and worth study? • What first interested you in this topic? 2. Broader implications for knowledge of world? Bush/Gore/Nader Simple methods mightnot work 3. Philosophical/ethical implications? 4. Contribution to human/social progress? Fairness
FSP Planning Worksheet Step 3: “Big Questions” Who cares? Why are these questions/controversies important and worth study? • What first interested you in this topic? 2. Broader implications for knowledge of world? Bush/Gore/Nader Simple methods mightnot work 3. Philosophical/ethical implications? 4. Contribution to human/social progress? Fairness Accurate Representation
FSP Planning Worksheet Step 4: Relevance to Students How might my seminar’s questions/controversies intersect students’ lives? 2. Topical relevance to pop culture 1. Fun facts to know & tell 3 candidates, can have Election in which majority Always prefers another Candidate to winner Academy Awards, MVP, Heisman 4. The unexpected and mysterious 3. Personal stories Student elections Choosing a voting system can determine the types of winning candidates
FSP Planning Worksheet Step 1: Questions and Controversies What are the major questions and controversies in your discipline/course topic? Question/Controversy 1 Question/Controversy 2 Question/Controversy 3 Question/Controversy 4
FSP Planning Worksheet Step 2: History of Questions/Controversies What is the history of these questions and controversies? 1. Origins of Questions/Controversy 2. Paradigm Shifts 3. Important Contributors 4. Current Status
FSP Planning Worksheet Step 3: “Big Questions” Who cares? Why are these questions/controversies important and worth study? • What first interested you in this topic? 2. Broader implications for knowledge of world? 3. Philosophical/ethical implications? 4. Contribution to human/social progress?
FSP Planning Worksheet Step 4: Relevance to Students How might my seminar’s questions/controversies intersect students’ lives? 2. Topical relevance to pop culture 1. Fun facts to know & tell 4. The unexpected and mysterious 3. Personal stories