Structure and Logistics:

Courses proposed as Freshman Seminars will initially be reviewed and selected by GEAC and/or another EPC sub-committee. GEAC recommends that, subsequently, the faculty should designate a Program Coordinator and/or Committee (with faculty representatives from all divisions) to review and coordinate the development and selection of freshmen seminar courses as a key element of Albright’s general education requirement and its stated learning objectives. A prospectus will be developed and updated by the Coordinator/Committee that should include: 1) basic information on freshmen seminars (objectives, structures, etc.) and related academic support programs; 2) guidelines and criteria for development and selection of courses; as well as 3) teaching resources and references (articles, chapters, or definitions).
 
Any full-time and experienced Albright instructor may propose a class designed to meet the Freshman Seminar profile. As in all classes, for every contact hour in class, students will be expected to spend a minimum of three hours in class preparation. 

The following provide basic guidelines and/or criteria for structuring and developing freshmen seminars courses: 

1. Regardless of topic, the course should be based upon close reading of texts, a range of writing about that reading experience, and a significant focus on the contexts of both the texts and the readers (e.g., social, historical, political, economic, etc.);
2. In each seminar, a variety of pedagogical approaches should provide a balanced use of the following: lectures; discussions in which students critically and respectfully convey and engage with different positions and perspectives; and presentations in which students learn to effectively express themselves orally, organize and support arguments, and articulate them clearly;
3. Writing assignments should require students to demonstrate competence in vocabulary, grammar, and syntax; to construct a cogent thesis and develop it through textual support; to evidence coherent organization and clear written expression; and to evidence basic research and information literacy skills through the use of primary and secondary sources and appropriate documentation. Writing assignments will allow students to submit multiple drafts in order to receive repeated feedback.
4. Reading assignments should train students in comprehension, analysis, reflection and critique. Reading is integral to the freshman seminar course structure, but what is considered “reading intensive” varies by discipline and will thus be assessed by departmental or faculty representatives.
5. Courses should be structured to facilitate and assess writing and reading through a combination of assignments such as: summary reports, reaction or position papers, directed analysis, individual presentations, discussions, quizzes, exams, research papers, etc.  
6. Academic reading and writing skills will be reinforced through the concurrent ENG 101 requirement. During training and/or preparation sessions, seminar instructors will learn about what ENG 101 covers and will receive an overview of ENG 101’s content and course objectives.
7. Freshmen seminar courses aim at creating a learning environment where there is synergy between various modes of skills acquisition, different academic experiences, and the freshmen seminar courses. To that purpose, there is a need to coordinate the development of integrative learning opportunities provided by external academic units (Library, Information Technology Services, Academic Learning Center, Writing Center, Experience Committee, Student Affairs, etc.). Two preliminary examples are the learning opportunities developed to support “Freshmen Academic Skills” (related to acquiring and polishing academic skills) and the learning opportunities offered through “Freshmen Academic Experience” (that could be integrated into class assignments, by requiring a one-page summary and a one-page reaction paper for each academic experience).  

The following provide the basic learning outcomes of students who will be taking freshmen seminars courses: 

            Students will be able to

1. interpret texts and determine central ideas and supporting evidence; demonstrated via summaries and paraphrases
2. connect ideas that appear in separate texts and develop conclusions based on those texts; demonstrated via analytical theses generated in response to research
3. define the relation between texts and their social and/or aesthetic contexts; demonstrated via the development of thesis statements in research projects
4. explain and defend their conclusions; demonstrated via formal and informal oral presentations
5. write in grammatically correct and syntactically sophisticated ways; demonstrated  via formal compositions
6. use research apparatus appropriate to the discipline of the course; demonstrated via research project.

2- FIRST YEAR SEMINAR TIMETABLE

Stipends.  At the previous meeting, the consensus seemed to be that

• faculty who cannot or choose not to participate in the faculty development sessions associated with FYS should still be able to offer a course for consideration
• a stipend should go to anyone developing a course, whether or not s/he participates in the faculty meetings
• a different level of stipend should be offered to those who do participate in the faculty development sessions – the proposal form should ask whether or not one intends to participate in the discussion group and get the additional stipend

Questions:  if someone does not attend all faculty development meetings, is that stipend pro-rated?  Does someone who develops a course that does not get accepted as a FYS get either stipend?

Faculty development meetings.  As defined last week, four  2-hour meetings having a dual purpose:  the first half (or so) spent sharing working drafts or course development ideas;  the second half (or so) spent discussing brief readings on a topic of relevance to our course.  Preliminary topic suggestions were:
#1:  FYS goals and models; web page of resources to be up by this time
#2:  Incorporating writing?  (with Melissa Nicolas)  Incorporating information literacy? (with Rosemary Deegan)
#3:  Advisement
#4:  Learning outcomes and course assessment.

3- Guidelines for Freshman Seminar Proposals

Identification of the course:
Title and brief catalog description

Extended Course Description:
Description of the content and topics to be covered.  If you have a syllabus, please include it.  If not, please indicate the approximate amount of the course to be devoted to the various topics.  At a minimum, the proposal should include a tentative schedule of topics and readings.

Questions particular to the Freshman Seminar:
            These seminars are reading intensive; combining lecture and discussion; cultivating written and oral communication; teaching research skills, information literacy, study skills; introducing the liberal arts and the Albright Academic Experience.  Please address how your seminar will meet the goals and the objectives of the Freshman seminar.

1. Reading: How will your students be trained in reading comprehension, analysis, reflection and critique?  Suggestions: include a variety of texts, both primary and secondary sources; include exercises in close reading; assign book and article reviews.

1. Writing: How will your students demonstrate competence in vocabulary, grammar, and syntax; in constructing a cogent thesis and developing it through textual support?  Suggestions: require a variety of writing assignments, including short reflection papers and longer research papers; require a reading journal where the student keeps his or her notes on the reading; require multiple drafts; work closely with the writing center.

1. Oral Communication: How will your students cultivate good skills in oral communication?  Suggestions: assign an oral presentation, individual and/or group; encourage discussion in class; have students lead class discussion.

1. Research and Information Literacy: How will your students learn the appropriate use of primary and secondary sources, how to do academic research, and how to document appropriately such research?  How will such instruction be integrated into the class as a whole?  Suggestions: spend a class period in the library or invite one of the librarians to present to the class; have the student turn in a bibliography as a first step in the paper-writing process; have a “scavenger hunt” where they have to answer questions based on research in the library.

1. Liberal Arts: How will the student learn about the liberal arts, the disciplines within the liberal arts as well as the permeable boundaries between disciplines?  Suggestion: have professors from different disciplines visit class to discuss your topic from other perspectives; organize an Experience Event that discusses the liberal arts; include an assignment where the student researches and writes an essay on the liberal arts.

1. Albright Academic Experience: How will the student be introduced to the “Albright Academic Experience” and how will Experience events be integrated into the course?  Suggestions: require attendance at Experience Events; join with other instructors to organize Experience Events that connect to your topics; require a two-page written reflection paper on the Experience Event.

Library and Resource Needs:
Before submitting your proposal, please consult with the library liaison to your department.  S/he will comment on the library's ability to provide additional resources and will sign the form.  (The comments of the librarian will enable you to plan realistically and will be considered by the committee as informational rather than as prescriptive.)

Does the course entail new library and/or technological resources?

Comments of library liaison:

Signature of library liaison:                                                                            
Other Needs:
Does the course require a particular kind of classroom or special equipment?  Please describe any special needs.

Relationship of the Course to the Departmental Program and/or to the Overall Curriculum
Before sending your proposal to the Curriculum Committee, please take it to your department, which will discuss budgetary and staffing implications as well as the place of the course in the departmental curriculum.

The Department of                                                       has discussed this proposal with regard to appropriateness in the departmental program and to staffing and budget implications and we recommend its approval.

                                                            , Chairperson

The seminars are intended to fulfill the first developmental goals associated with “Knowing the World”: “Students will learn about different disciplines, their objects of study, and their approaches to knowledge, thereby establishing a broad foundation of knowledge upon which to build understanding and engagement.” 

Preliminary ideas for the goals (and not content) of first-year Academic Experience events include introducing one or more of the following:  1) the liberal arts; 2) disciplinarity and interdisciplinarity; 3) difference, diversity, otherness, and critical self-reflection; 4) ways of knowing—research, fact checking, data collection, experimentation, and contextualization, etc., and distinguishing between truth, belief, opinion, and ideology; 5) various modes of artistic and cultural expression and creativity; and 6) cultural and artistic figures, achievements, and characteristics across historical period and geography.