First Year Seminar

The First-Year Seminar (FYS) at UWL is a required course for all first year (entering) students, and transfer students with 12 credits or less. FYS students explore a specific topic while learning information and resources that help them with their transition to UWL.  

Classes are designed to engage students. They discuss meaningful questions that help prepare them for college level work. First-Year Seminars also fulfill several of the purposes of General Education by developing group work skills, critical thinking and learning, and reflecting on their experiences as a first-year student.  

First-Year Seminars encourage students to consider the value and purpose of General Education, as well as their college education as a whole. FYS sections are usually small, between 25-28 students per section, allowing students to connect with their classmates and instructor.  

Each FYS section will consider an interesting research question to explore academic and career opportunities, as well as larger questions related to the college experience, including:  

• What does it mean to learn?  

• What is college trying to teach?  

• What factors will lead to increased success? 

UWL students take FYS to help adjust academically and socially during their first year: 

• FYS combines academic content with resources/skills to adjust to college which helps students stay at college and graduate in a timely manner (Jamelske, 2009). 

• 90% of universities offer FYS courses and 50% require them because they help students succeed in college (Permzadian & Crede, 2016). 

• Our FYS classes focus on promoting social and academic belonging by building relationships between students and their instructors through discussion, activities, and collaborative projects.  

• FYS courses provide a consistent place for students to ask questions about adjusting to campus life that might not fit into other general education courses.  

• Recent UWL students cite in course evaluations that they like the size and structure of the class as a place to make friends and get more comfortable as college students 

• 25% of new UWL students are first generation college students – FYS helps students who need additional support get adjusted to college.  

• Many UWL students are coming to campus with more general education credit – taking FYS in the first year helps students get adjusted to college with other first year students.  

The 3-credit First-Year Seminar course counts towards the 42 credits required for General Education and fulfills the First-Year Seminar requirement.

Kate Lavelle, FYS 100 Course Coordinator - fys@uwlax.edu

Instructors are selected in collaboration between the college, the department and individual instructors. Once certified, individual instructors can rotate in and out of FYS in semesters that it works best for the teaching load of their department and/or college.  

Instructor certification is primarily a self-paced online course developed to prepare instructors to teach FYS 100 as it has been designed at UWL. New instructors will meet with the FYS Coordinator who will provide support throughout the development of the course. The online training focuses on the primary goals of FYS 100 of building relationships with and between students, providing just-in-time information and answers, facilitating problem-based learning, and offering opportunities for students to discover the relevance of learning. 

In addition to these objectives, the instructor certification course also prepares instructors to: 

• Choose an interesting topic using the “enduring questions” model 

• Use backward design to plan their course 

• Teach for success in college, including study strategies and practices that promote belonging 

• Utilize interactive learning techniques 

• Discuss the value of general education with students 

• Assess and grade a common journal assignment 

Section numbers are determined by the Provost Office, with generally a few more sections in the fall than the spring. Based on numbers provided to colleges, college administrators will work with individual departments and instructors to offer enough sections to ensure that all first-year students can take the course during their first year on campus. We tend to offer 48-51 sections in the fall and 34-37 in the spring.  

Each first-year seminar is organized around a topic chosen by the instructor. The topic should be something the instructor is passionate about and relates to the instructor’s academic interests. Topics should also include an “enduring question,” which means that it offers potential for engaging students, relates to a "big idea" that has value beyond the classroom, involves "doing" the subject, and invites exploration of misunderstandings or common misconceptions. 

The First-Year Seminar meets for two hours each week (either in two 55-minute sessions or one 1 hour 50-minute session). This time is used for instruction centered on the topic of the course, debriefing the common experience content, working on the collaborative project, and on the learning outcomes of the course: 

• Examine enduring questions and how they may be studied 

• Participate effectively in class discussions and collaborative projects 

• Employ strategies that contribute to success in college 

• Explain the purposes and value of a liberal arts education 

There is also an online component of the course that is shared across all sections of the First-Year Seminar. Accounting for 1-hour of contact time each week, and assignments totaling one-third of the course grade, this online portion of the course is referred to as the “Common Experience.” The Common Experience is a fully developed curriculum designed to complement the content of the seminar by building skills and knowledge that contribute to success in college. This component of the course is required in all sections to ensure that all students are experiencing the same lessons, and to build consistency across all sections of the course.  

Currently, the Common Experience includes the following modules (delivered throughout the semester on a schedule that is shared between all sections of the First Year Seminar): 

1. Connections, involvement, and resources 
2. Belonging in college 
3. Student skills 
4. Understanding General Education 
5. Academic planning 
6. Career Development 
7. Understanding different perspectives 
8. Financial literacy 
9. Final reflection 

The Common Experience (online component) of the First-Year Seminar contains learning content, activities, and a graded journal entry for each module. First-Year Seminar instructors are responsible for grading the journal assignments (submitted online in Canvas). A complete set of instructions for the journal assignments are provided for students, and training and instructions are provided to instructors for grading. Journal assignments are the primary way the First-Year Seminar will be assessed. 

Instructors are encouraged to use course materials that are accessible to all students, as well as publicly available and open-source material as much as possible. Introductory textbooks should be avoided. If you use a textbook, it is subject to the same textbook rules as any other textbook adopted on campus.  

For fall sections, students provide preferences for FYS 100 course topics, and registration is based on availability and scheduling fit. Not all students will be registered for their preferred course but can switch sections with instructor permission and based on availability of seats in other sections. For spring sections, students register during their normal registration period and can select any section based on availability.  

No. Designed to be a truly “general” education course, the First-Year Seminar is delivered separately from any declared major, program, or College. The First-Year Seminar functions as a way for students to explore a topic joined by students from across the University. The enrichment this provides for students offers an opportunity to broaden their educational experiences beyond the cohorts that form through declared majors and clustered program requirements. If a department, program, or College wants to develop a FYS specific to their students, they are free to do so.