FYE Instructors Jessica Tvrdy, Michael Rideout, Marci Barnes,

1. First-Year Experience (FYE) Seminars/Courses Create Community, and a Strong Foundation for Students’ Personal and Professional Development FYE Instructors Jessica Tvrdy, Michael Rideout, Marci Barnes, Michelle Wagner & Denise Marchionda FYE Students Marie Degou and Dennis King Jo Mucci, Director First-Year Experience & Student Success

2. It’s all about the first year…FYE at MCC!

3. First-Year Experience (FYE) Quiz ____________________________provide freshman the opportunity to engage with a faculty member in a low stress, usually small class (15-20 students) environment that eases the transition to college life, but remains both academically enriching and reasonably challenging.

4. Research: National Survey of First-Year Seminars • Research consistently shows that first-year experience courses/seminars that are linked and create a learning community are effective programming efforts for: • retention and student success • responding to the academic, social and personal • needs of first-year students • assisting first-year students in becoming integrated • into an institution’s academic environment

5. Rationale for Making the FYE Course a Requirement It is the intention of this course to link the First-Year Experience Seminar with a General Education course to accomplish the following: • Make the traditional First-Year curriculum explicitly relevant to the students by connecting it to a course in which the “content” seems apparent, and, therefore, more academic  • Create FYE curriculum that will give students the opportunity to practice skills that they will need to be successful in all of their college courses • Introduce students to the MCC ISLOs by creating opportunities for students to reflect on these skills in “real world” situations • Help students begin to take ownership of their education by creating both short-term and long-term educational plans • Allow students to have a wide variety of seminar experiences that can be combined (“bundled”) to fulfill a General Education elective 

6. Key Observations of First-Year Experience Seminars • First-year seminars are taught by faculty members (including adjuncts) and professional staff, who develop and teach the seminars. • A typical first-year seminar can meet anywhere between one and four hours per week. • Instructors are often granted a significant amount of freedom regarding the topics of first-year seminars as long as seminars involve interdisciplinary topics and develop skills identified in the program’s overarching philosophy. • Institutions indicate that academic advising is extremely important and tied into first-year seminars at most institutions. Academic advisors also help promote first-year seminars among students.

7. Why did MCC develop their First-Year Experience Seminars/Courses? Middlesex Community College has developed the First-Year Experience Seminar and other Interdisciplinary Studies (IDS) courses to foster a strong sense of community through the use of small classroom settings, group projects, presentations and course offerings that is topical and accessible to all students. The seminars develop students’ oral and written communication skills while promoting strong relationships among students, their instructors and the college community.

8. Introduced to ISLOs

9. IDS 101: General Education Seminar: FIRST-YEAR EXPERIENCE (1 Credit) The First-Year Experience (FYE) is a one-credit seminar experience that can be linked with introductory, college-level courses to form Learning Communities. Students learn essential student success skills, behaviors and habits of mind that will increase their college success. Students will also learn about student support, co-curricular services and other college resources to develop and strengthen their skills and abilities.

10. Examples of Linked Courses • Preparation for College Math • Introduction to Sociology • Introduction to Psychology • Explorations in Human Behavior • Explorations in Humanities • Explorations in Science • Basic Writing • English Composition I • Speech • Education (EDU & PSY)

12. Interdisciplinary Studies (IDS) Schedule Fall 2013 FIRST-YEAR EXPERIENCE (FYE): IDS 101 SERVICE LEARNING: IDS 102 LEADERSHIP: IDS 103 RESEARCH: IDS 104 CAREER EXPLORATION: IDS 106 CAREER DEVELOPMENT: IDS 107 WELLNESS: IDS 108

13. What’s Important in an FYE Course? Everything! Instructors and lots of very committed people, throughout the college Advising Resources Activities/Projects Engagement opportunities ePortfolios It takes a village!

14. Some Important Observations Some linked courses are showing higher retention than they have had in the past Linked partners are noticing that students are bonding and participating more More collaborative, group work in both FYE and linked courses Stronger sense of community Students are more engaged More students are attending college-wide events Students are helping other students

15. Student Reflection “I learned a lot this year. I discovered how to stay on track till the very end no matter what. Even with so much on my plate I managed my classes pretty well and learned even with some struggles. There were so many mistakes I made in school that I’ve learned not to do for next semester. School isn’t like a hobby or any side thing, it should be your prime thing in your life.”

16. Advising and FYE Jessica Tvrdy

17. Embedding Academic Advising into First-Year Experience Courses Students that build a relationship with an academic advisor are the most likely to persist (Hollis, 2009). -34% of College Students rarely or never meet with their academic advisor (CCSSE, 2004). - Community College students are most likely to utilize campus recourses such as advising and supplemental instruction when it is a course requirement (Ashburn, Bartlett & Wolverstron, 2006). First-Year Experience courses that link students with their advisor increase student retention and persistence rates (Cornell & Mosley, 2006).

18. What would you do if you had a time machine? Mike Rideout MIDDLESEX COMMUNITY COLLEGE

19. Time Machines according to Hollywood Primer (2004) The Time Machine (1960) Back to the Future (1985) The Time Machine (2002) MIDDLESEX COMMUNITY COLLEGE

20. The activity… MIDDLESEX COMMUNITY COLLEGE Students have been assigned an activity that is directly related to the following Institutional Student Learning Outcomes… • Critical Thinking • Written and Oral Communication • Social Responsibility (to a certain extent)

21. Analysis • Students give a detailed examination of the concept and elements of time. • Have we used our time wisely? If not, what can we change? • What can we do now to ensure security/ success in the future? • My decisions have outcomes! “If I had a time machine you would find me in the future instead of the past because I look forward to see where all my decisions are going to bring me.” FYE Student Spring ‘13 MIDDLESEX COMMUNITY COLLEGE

22. Evaluation • To determine the significance, worth, or condition of usually by careful appraisal and study. • Would I see something in the future that would make changing my life in the present now worth it? “By going into the future I would be able to see the results of the present now and if not satisfied I will be able to come back and fix or change what went wrong.” FYE Student Spring ‘13 MIDDLESEX COMMUNITY COLLEGE

23. Creative Thinking “The reason why I would go into the future instead of the past is because you can’t change your past but you can always can make choices to better your future.” FYE Student Spring ‘13 Critical thinking is the ability to reason about beliefs and actions.It is a way of deciding whether a claim is always true, sometimes true, partly true, or false. MIDDLESEX COMMUNITY COLLEGE

24. Logical Conclusions Actions now Consequences in the future MIDDLESEX COMMUNITY COLLEGE

25. Written and Oral Communication • Written assignments • Oral presentations • Use of relevant information literacy skills • Effective use of technology MIDDLESEX COMMUNITY COLLEGE

26. Written and Oral Communication • This assignment consists of… • A 300-600 word paper explaining what one would do if they had access to a time machine. Where would you go? What would you see? How would it affect your life? • A public speaking component: Students read their paper in front of the class. • A rubric, which students use during the process of writing and presenting and faculty use during the grading process. MIDDLESEX COMMUNITY COLLEGE

27. Social Responsibility One could use a time machine to go back in time to prevent wars, assassinations, tragic events and social injustices BUT… MIDDLESEX COMMUNITY COLLEGE

28. Scholarship Writing Marci Barnes

29. http://www.youtube.com/watch v=Ba5g28B644g’ More Target Scholarships

30. Tall Clubs International awards student scholarship(s) of up to $1000 each to tall students who are under 21 years of age and attending their first year of college in the following Fall. The recipients must also meet the TCI height requirement minimums of 5'10" for women and 6'2" for men.

31. Scholarship for Community College Graduates You’ve earned your associate’s degree—now go for your bachelor’s from Boston University. Boston University’s Metropolitan College is proud to offer the Scholarship for Community College Graduates. The scholarship is currently available to eligible graduates of the following six Massachusetts community colleges: Bunker Hill Community College Massachusetts Bay Community College Middlesex Community College https://www.middlesex.mass.edu/foundation/scholarships/ Northern Essex Community College Quinsigamond Community College Roxbury Community College Recipients of this annual scholarship will receive a 50 percent tuition scholarship for up to 12 credits per semester while they complete their bachelor’s degree at Boston University’s Metropolitan College. Those selected for the Scholarship for Community College Graduates will be required to maintain a GPA of 3.0 or above in order to continue receiving the tuition benefits of the program.

32. Assignment Locate scholarship Brainstorm Draft Essay Revision process Final essay Option to submit

33. The-First Year Experience: A Perfect Opportunity to Revamp Résumés! Résumé Revision meets Wordle! Michelle Wagner

34. What is Wordle? • Wordle is an online tool that generates visual “word clouds” from provided text. • Visit www.wordle.net • Select the option, “Create your own.” Paste in your text, click “go,” and enjoy!

35. Bring résumé bullets “to life” with Wordle. • Use an “Active Verb” word cloud to revitalize bullets beginning with stale nouns.

36. MORE uses for Wordle… • Consider pasting résumés, cover letters, biographies, and applicable job descriptions into Wordle to pinpoint key words and streamline “matches.”

37. Capstone Project: Poster Presentations Denise Marchionda, Ed.D. AKA “Dr. M”

38. Final Project Specifications Handout: Final Project Specifications (and grading rubric) Title: Purpose of Project: Project will include (notice the point values of each component): Two (or more) Books (Print) and One Paragraph Summaries of each (1 point). These books should be ones that someone may read to find information on this topic. (Please include copies of the covers of the books, as well as the table of contents for each.) Names of Two (or more) People on campus who can help someone with this topic (2 points). The names should be accompanied with official business cards, written summaries of brief interviews with these people and why they are the go-to people, as well as handouts or pamphlets of some sort that would guide others to these people. Two (or more) professionally sponsored electronic sources (websites) (1 point). These need descriptions of what is included there and why they would be good sites to visit. This component should include the Home Pages printed for display. One interactive component to teach a concept (2 points). This can be a game, questionnaire, or any kind of activity THAT CAN BE DONE AT THE POSTER OR PRESENTATION. Be sure to create something that many people can use without disrupting the entire poster. (For example, provide copies of a questionnaire or prepare a take-away information piece like a business card, handout, or pamphlet.)

39. Planning Ahead

40. Time Management

41. Personal and Professional Development

42. More Posters

43. A Few More Posters

44. Final Display of Posters!

45. Student Reflection “I want to end this semester with a bang and explain that this class is vital for a new college student. It opened my eyes. It just helped by showing how to survive in a college atmosphere, what it takes to make it in college and how to be a good student. And this class shows you the way.” “Thanks to this class I’ve learned about different activities that are offered at the school and that it’s important to get involved or reach out and ask for help if you need it. While in this class I was able to do a short oral presentation which I didn’t like doing, but I did it and it helped me prepare for that week which I had to present three oral repots in other classes.”

46. Student Reflection “I learned this was a great class to take my first semester. Being a single mom it was really hard for me to mentally get back into school, I didn’t know what I was doing or where I was going. In this class I’ve learned that it’s important to learn to manage your time because if you can’t then you fall behind. I watched a lot of people drop classes because it didn’t fit their schedule. If I didn’t figure out how to manage my time I feel I would have become one of those people.”

47. First-Year Experience (FYE) Quiz First-Year Experience (FYE) Seminars/Courses provide freshman the opportunity to engage with a faculty member in a low stress, usually small class (15-20 students) environment that eases the transition to college life, but remains both academically enriching and reasonably challenging.

48. Thank you! Questions? Need more information?