Challenging and Supporting First-Year Students

When our courses demand that first-year students move beyond memory—as they should—we need to provide structured activities to support them in uncharted territory.

• Provide feedback early and often

• Pose complex, real-life problems, questions, and facilitate discussions they can relate to

• Be explicit and clarify the expectations and strategies of learning, engagement, and assessment
  • Address expectations at the beginning
  • Model the thinking you expect them to demonstrate
  • Give students a "Things you should know from high school" quiz to assess their background knowledge
• Prepare for emotional reactions
• Teach to a variety of learning styles 
• Minimize the need to memorize by setting instructional goals that target the development of core concepts and competencies such as:
  • critical thinking
  • problem-solving
  • knowledge application
  • creativity
  • communication and collaboration
  • leadership
  • global and cross-cultural awareness
  • intrapersonal skills (e.g., self-direction, motivation, and learning how to learn)