First-Year Seminars Across Modalities
What and Why?
First-year seminars hold a special place in the unique Georgetown undergraduate experience.
George D. Kuh’s influential report “High-Impact Educational Practices: What They Are, Who Has Access to Them, and Why They Matter” (2008) identifies first-year seminars as one of eleven high impact practices that have been shown to be beneficial for college students from many backgrounds. Similarly, the Boyer Commission on Educating Undergraduates in the Research University argued that seminars may encourage additional positive outcomes, including increased student–faculty interaction, increased involvement in cocurricular activities, and increased academic satisfaction (Goodman). The Boyer report goes on to recommend that first-year seminars strive to foster intellectual engagement, connect students with experienced faculty, provide small group work and intimate interactions and build community, as well as to learn how to be students (Brent). Most of all, it should enable a professor to imbue new students with a sense of the excitement of discovery and the opportunities for intellectual growth inherent in the university experience (20).
Georgetown offers a variety of first-year seminar classes, from the SFS Proseminar and the Ignatius Seminars to MSB First-Year Seminars, WRIT 015, and more. Regardless of the discipline, these small, discussion-based courses are designed to help students make the transition to college-level thinking and learn the habits of mind that will enable them to progress in a field.
Table of Contents
But how can we accomplish these goals remotely?
We recommend that first-year seminars—as attested to by countless faculty—focus primarily on 1) building community, 2) developing confidence in discussion and participation habits, 3) providing writing practice, 4) receiving and implementing feedback, and 5) establishing strong habits and understanding of what is required of a Georgetown student and the resources available.
Build An Intellectual Community
Welcoming students into an intellectual community is a key function of a first-year seminar. Creating connections among students and showing them what it means to think in a particular discipline will set them up to achieve academically and personally. Building community in a virtual environment takes effort and intention, but it’s even more important when we are physically disconnected.
Students learn not only from you, but also from each other. College may be the first time some of them encounter other students with different backgrounds and world views, which is an essential part of their learning. If students are physically distant they may have fewer opportunities for informal conversations with their peers, so giving them opportunities to connect in class becomes more urgent.
Your teaching assistant, if you have one, can be a valuable partner in building a course community. Because there will be cultural differences and access inequities across your course, it’s even more important to reach out and get to know your students early on.
Ideas to break the ice
- If you’re using Zoom, require that each student signs in and has a preferred name displayed on screen. You can decide whether to require students to share their video, but most find a greater sense of community when they can see other faces. If they do not want to share video, follow up with an email and ask them how you can support them feeling comfortable. There are many factors at play in the home environment.
- One way to create community from the beginning of an online class is to have students post an introduction in the first week of class via text or video. You can also encourage them to engage with class content right away by having them share two goals for the class or by describing what they may already know about the subject.
- Another popular introductory assignment is to have students share a 6 word autobiography in a discussion board. You could also have them interview each other in breakout rooms and then share with the whole group.
- Use a Google form or use polleverywhere to create a questionnaire that will allow you to quickly assess access, tech skill and familiarity, time zones, and any other issues that affect learning. Have them complete this before the class begins, so you can plan to accommodate differences.
- Consider these ice-breaker and engagement ideas.
- Build in cooperative, collaborative opportunities that incorporate these aspects of Small Group Work.
Developing Discussion Confidence
Teaching students how to enter into a meaningful disciplinary discussion with peers will serve them well regardless of the majors they choose. Discussions will look different online than they do around a seminar table. Discussions can happen synchronously (in real time) over Zoom or a similar platform or asynchronously over Canvas, Google docs, or similar tools.
Synchronous Discussions
Real-time discussions work well for topics that can be reasonably covered during a single class period, and can be good opportunities for you to coach students in the art of listening and responding to others thoughtfully. Instructors can get things started with questions but should be minimally active in the conversation. In order to facilitate this work online, you will need to structure Zoom for engagement and set expectations for how students will participate (such as the raise hand icon, using the chat button, or otherwise signaling that they have something to say). Because of bandwidth issues or the time it takes a student to unmute themself, it may take longer for a student to respond to you or a peer. Discuss this with your students and model an appropriate pause. Another idea is to ask them ahead of time to unmute themselves while you are asking questions as opposed to waiting for silence for someone to volunteer. They’ll be more likely to speak up.
If a full class discussion seems overwhelming, consider breaking the students into small groups and having them report out. Daniela Brancaforte in MSB has found that smaller “breakout rooms to foster discussion is a good way to build comfort level”.
Asynchronous Discussions
Conversations that don’t take place in real time can also be another good opportunity for students to engage with each other. Posing a question or a scenario on a discussion board and asking students to respond outside of the scheduled class time can give them more time to think and allow those who are less comfortable speaking aloud an opportunity to contribute meaningfully. You or your course assistant can join these asynchronous conversations, coaching and modeling thoughtful responses for your first-year students and pushing them to think critically.
The Director of the Georgetown Writing PRogram, Sherry Linkon, recommends spelling out some questions students can ask themselves before they post to a discussion thread:
- What ideas have not yet been raised?
- What ideas could be developed more, and what could I add that would advance the discussion?
- What do I disagree with, and why? How can I disagree in a way that expands the conversation, instead of just telling someone else that I think they’re wrong?
- What ideas, examples, or details from the readings help me understand the issue we’re discussing?
- How could I apply other ideas from this course to this question?
Faculty Insight
“For example, many students think Georgetown is extremely liberal and the conservative students are usually quiet, but on online platforms, they feel freer to engage. It’s respectful, because the expectations have been clearly laid out. They know I’m watching, too. I’m not going to weigh in but I’m reading. I do a number of discussions and they get to know each other. Through the written format, the online discussion and debates help them develop confidence in speaking to different audiences.” —Ellen Gorman, Georgetown College
“Getting first-year students to speak up and be vocal in class can be a bit of an uphill challenge. They are quiet, they are eighteen, they lack confidence, they have imposter syndrome, they are intimidated, etc. My experience is that the quality of their writing is so much better than their verbal presentation skills. They are reasonably well coached in writing. By the end I thought they were writing high quality or decent quality work, but verbally, they were a bit of a mix. I have them do talks, mini-debates, etc in order to work on more formal and structured speech patterns. Zoom is a good format to enable them to do public speaking in a protected environment. The most intimidating thing about public speaking is seeing your audience in front of you and figuring out how to stand and use your hands. This environment is a bit more relaxing, and so a good way to get better at speaking, which is so important. —Nicholas Lovegrove, McDonough School of Business
Providing Writing and Critical Thinking Practice
Writing is both a manner of engaging in disciplinary thinking and the basis for both skill development and, more often than not, acts as the basis for assessments of skill development. It remains all-important for first-years to reach a kind of level playing field in their ability to write across disciplines and in various genres. Providing practice in all stages of writing—from formulating an argument and structuring it to revising a draft based on feedback—is a centerpiece of the first-year seminar experience.
- Consider incorporating informal and low-stakes writing. These assignments do not always have to be graded. The discussion board, blogs, peer reviews, and journals are all options to help students see and use writing as a bridge between their thinking and a reader. Additionally, these activities help them make sense of course content and gain clarity and confidence about what they are learning.
- Consider changing up the time required for formal assessments. In the online environment, less can be more—fewer assignments with more drafts, for example. Where you might have provided a few days for drafting, consider a week.
- Lean into the benefits of the online medium when it comes to writing. Research shows improved outcomes when students produce responses in a variety of media (Goodman).Consider assigning them to create websites, podcasts, zines, or other kinds of writing as response.
- Adapt your expectations of covering the same content. Kathryn Temple of the English department shared her concerns about the content she didn’t cover. Ultimately, she “pivoted away from subject matter and shifted to ‘write to the prompt or write whatever you want.’” She used routines: Tuesdays were for doing one type of formal genre writing and then Thursdays were for doing silent writing retreats. They would write and she would check in; then they would post their product for the class.
- Consider how to engage authentic audiences for writing assessments. This goal is an example of how to make the most of the virtual environment and lean into its advantages. For example, Professor Temple’s final assessment became a kind of “Op-ed project” in which students had to write and submit an op-ed to The Washington Post. The assignment required genre study, resiliency in receiving rejections, and revision.
- Connect the students with the Georgetown University Writing Program Resources for First-Year Writing. The Writing Center offers online consultations.
- Take advantage of the medium and bring the world into your class. Being apart allows you and your students to refer to your divergent contexts in a new way (see faculty story below)
Faculty Insight
“There is really no way to perfectly replicate an in-person experience, so rather than try, do something unique. I encourage my students to reach out to family members and coworkers and talk to them about this stuff. One young woman worked every year at Wimbledon. She noticed changes in security as a result of recent terrorist attacks. She was talking to everyone about terrorism in Britain and made amazing connections between what we were reading and what she was seeing. That wouldn’t have happened if she’d been on the Hilltop. They can bring the world into the class in a deeper way. It helps you engage and make connections as opposed to the wonderful but insular world of the Hilltop.” —Ellen Gorman, Georgetown College
Giving and Receiving feedback
A key skill of being a successful student on- or offline is receiving and incorporating feedback. There are several ways to maximize the benefits of an online platform to foster student growth in this skill.
- Create opportunities for students to provide feedback to each other. In Canvas, consider setting up your writing assignments to be “peer-reviewed.” Yours does not need to be the only voice from which students receive critique. Research shows that students who are working on group projects, performing peer reviews, and interacting with discussion feel more engaged in their courses (Dixson).
- Research shows the power of a classroom that offers immediate feedback on presentations, journals, and drafts (Brent).
- Discussion boards are an easy way to foster student-to-student as well as teacher-to-student feedback.
- Voicethread is a good tool to use to offer the possibility of class discussion within a presentational context. (see Delmas article)
- Limit your feedback by design. Offer to provide feedback on drafts, but remember that it’s often hard for students to figure out how to respond to faculty comments, especially if we comment extensively. If we limit our comments to the most important aspects of the assignment, we can help students focus and respond productively. If students want comments on final papers, consider asking them to set up an appointment. Some faculty offer to mark up drafts in Google Docs endlessly, but save time by not offering commentary on final submissions.
- If applicable, this is a great way to deploy your course assistant or TA. Engage your student helper in reading and responding to discussion posts, sending follow-up emails, and even providing additional commentary on papers, if appropriate.
- Use online office hours. All students in a FYS should have the opportunity to have at least face-to-face conferences with their instructor.
- Use available resources. Connect your students to the Georgetown Writing Center.
Faculty Insight
I engage students with a variety of activities: they have to present their reading in the synchronous segment, once or twice a semester. I also have guest speakers, probably 5-6 throughout the semester. The students then write critical reflection essays and ethnographic interviews that are work-related. They also wrote a cover letter in response to a guest speaker who talked about the transferable skills of their experience; they then applied that to their own experience. Peer reviews are a good way of building community, asking them to reflect on other people’s experiences, and being able to talk about it. In the google docs, they write out the main points of their discussion, and when they come back together, a spokesperson reports out. Lastly, I use a tool called Storymap for creative presentations; for them, the tool helped them reflect on both the course and their personal experience. It offers different ways of creating a narrative that’s not just written, emphasizes reflection, and highlights different talents. Overall, it has helped them connect their human/social experiences to their learning as well as to brainstorm for final projects.” —Daniela Brancaforte, McDonough School of Business
“My students presented six projects to clients we worked with for the full semester, as part of the Enhancing and Transforming the Core initiative. Also present at the critiques were a number of professionals from across the country, each of whom specialized in an area relevant to the work students pursued. In these crits, entirely based in Zoom, the students and their work received my direct, personal attention, as well as an additional 3 – 4 people. In the virtual classroom, we’re often thinking about ways to maintain or increase the amount of personal attention we’re giving students and their work. And it can be hard, for example, to assign more discussion board posts as the replacement for classroom discussion. The affordances and constraints of virtual classrooms mean that we have to seek some different methods for giving this attention; my experience emphasizes that increasing the number of people who are giving that attention can serve as a kind of amplifier of my attention.” —Matthew Pavesich, English department
How to College
Last but not least, our students come to us from all different academic backgrounds and life experiences. We may do them a disservice if we overestimate their comfort and ability to navigate college, especially as the traditional ground of the college experience is changing beneath our feet. This is even more challenging in a remote setting since students can’t develop familiarity with the physical campus. For this reason, it is important to create a course orientation. This step helps students not only thoroughly understand your expectations, but also teaches them to read instructions, follow steps, follow through, and seek out similar information in other environments.
- Consider creating breakout rooms with time for students to discuss their strategies for success in online environments.
- Plan your time. Here’s a tool to help students estimate how much prep time they’ll need for various types of class assignments.
- Strategies to strengthen participation habits from Kathryn Temple:
- Cold call them and then ask that student to call on the next student.
- Ask for reactions: thumbs up, etc
- Ask students frequently: Are you following me?
Ask students to put questions in chat, and then call on them for follow-up. - For taped lectures, embed questions in the lecture and make the answers an assignment
- Assign students to read the syllabus and ask you one question about it
Students, like the rest of us, hit walls. They have meltdowns. They can suddenly wonder why they are even in college…especially around the end of October. The virtual environment requires more of us as faculty—it requires more initiating contact. When you notice someone is off screen or looking down, do not hesitate to reach out via email and have a private conversation. Do not hesitate to loop in the student’s Dean.
- Connecting students to resources. This also has the effect of bonding students to their particular identity as Hoyas as well.
Faculty Insight
“A project in my first-year seminar required engagement with primary sources. Melissa Jones, my subject librarian, made 6-minute tutorials tailored to each group of students. Melissa Jones provided them access to the wonderful Georgetown resources. They felt like, ‘Oh yeah, I am at Georgetown. I have access to this amazing library.” Same for Nathan Henderson in special collections who provided access to lots of digitized resources for students who don’t access resources regularly when they are on campus. This project opened up their appreciation of what they can access.” —Rebecca Boylan, English department
Conclusion
Overall, teaching a first-year seminar is incredibly rewarding and a great responsibility as it forms one of the first and most formative experiences in the curriculum for many students. By focusing primarily on 1) building community, 2) developing confidence in discussion and participation habits, 3) providing writing practice, 4) receiving feedback, and 5) establishing strong habits, you will ensure your students emerge from the semester more prepared to meet the challenges and rewards of their Georgetown experience.
Bibliography
Research on First-Year Seminars
Bliuc, Ana‐Maria and Ellis, Robert. (Sept 2016). An exploration into first‐year university students’ approaches to inquiry and online learning technologies in blended environments. British Journal of Educational Technology, 47 (5), (970-980) Retrieved from an external website-link to external source
Brent, Doug. (Dec 2005). Reinventing WAC (Again): The First-Year Seminar and Academic Literacy. College Composition and Communication, 57 (2), (253-276). Retrieved from an external source.
Delmas, P. M. (2017). Using VoiceThread to Create Community in Online Learning. TechTrends, 61(6), (595-602). Retrieved from an external website.
Dixson, Marcia. (2010). Creating effective student engagement in online courses: What do students find engaging? Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning 10 (2), (1-13). Retrieved from an external website.
Goodman, Kathleen and Ernest T. Pascarella. (Summer 2006). First-Year Seminars Increase Persistence and Retention: A Summary of the Evidence from How College Affects Students American Association of Colleges and Universities. 8(3).
Murray, Jacqueline et al. (2017) Enquiry-based Learning Online: Course Development and Student Experience of a First-Year Enquiry Based Learning Seminar. Collected Essays on Learning and Teaching 10. Retrieved from an external website.
