Six Core Components of the First Year Experience

 

Developing distinctive, effective styles of learning and teaching.

Process:

·       discern our teaching roles

·       assess our instructional styles

·       assess the learning styles of the individual students

 

Establishing an effective plan for learning outside the classroom, so that the UNCA experience will be the beginning of a lifelong work in progress.

Process:

·       Students brought varied interests to the class and used the site visits to inform those interests.

·       Students video taped presentations serve as a benchmark of confidence, presentation style, etc.

·       Students made connections between very disparate experiences

·      Students explored ideas, lives and history in context.

Developing the best possible library-use skills to find information, develop ideas and discover new interests and perspectives.

Process:

·       hands-on lab

·       hands-on Special Collections, Ramsey Library (primary sources)

·       hands-on Special Collections, Public Library

·       government documents

·       Web exploration and critical thinking exercises

·      reflection of differing perspectives, styles of information

 

Cultivating a broad sense of career possibilities and real-life applications for ideas that originate in classroom and academic work.

Process:

·       real-life applications of academic training; professionals who are actively engaged in career and who reflected on their preparation and job changes

·       how professionals contribute to the community

·      service/volunteer aspects of career sampling by students at their initiative

Refining a personal approach to time management and stress management in order to set goals, clarify values, establish priorities and deal with pressures, deadlines, surprises, demands and multiple roles.

Process:

·       required regular attendance in three-hour class

·       required being on time for departure of van on trips

·       organize and present in-class projects, research

·       reflective paper on how student uses his/her time

·      email reflections on class sent weekly to instructors

 

Acquiring basic computer skills to produce polished written work, to access databases and libraries, and to conduct correspondence.

Process:

·       e-mail/correspondence on a weekly basis

·       letters to friend or family about one day in their life at UNCA

·       end of class oral presentation

 

 


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