The educational principles of First-year Interest Groups (FIGs) are fairly simple. FIGs should involve linked courses in the lower division of General Education (or the introductory courses of related programs), collaborative teaching by the instructors of these linked courses (who organize the emphases of their courses around common themes), integrative coursework to reinforce an interdisciplinary understanding of the common themes, cooperative study by the students of linked courses through social interactions outside of the classroom, and active learning by all students (who can apply their learning and undertake self-directive inquiries outside of the classroom).
The practice of these educational principles is not so straighforward. It is often difficult to even know which courses are appropriate to link in FIGs because the faculty of a department are often unaware of what "happens" in the courses of other departments and how these other departments "explain" the material they teach to students. A review of the courses in "related" departments/programs or related categories of General Education, discussions among faculty who want to teach collaboratively in linked courses, and exchanges of syllabi can help faculty to identify the ranges of courses to link in FIGs. These formative efforts are also helpful to the eventual development of learning communities for sophomores, juniors, and seniors (e.g., between requirements and electives in majors or between the courses of majors and relevant minors).
Please contact Patrick Saxe, Assistant Dean of Academic Advising, at saxep@newpaltz.edu or at ext. 2929, if you want to discuss these issues of forming FIGs or need assistance in the formation of a FIG.
Once these efforts are underway, faculty may encounter other issues to resolve before they decide to link courses in FIGs or other learning communities:
- issues of collaborative teaching - Are similar "worldviews" necessary or are differing perspectives an effective alternative?
- issues of faculty involvement in collaborative teaching - Is it necessary for both faculty to contribute or can one faculty effectively ensure the integration of materials? Should faculty adjust their pedagogies to reinforce common strategies for integrating the material they teach?
- issues of cross-disciplinary overlap between linked courses - How much attention to the competencies of critical thinking and the overlapping content of categories is enough to ensure integrative coursework?
- issues of class size and diversity in linked courses - What are the upper limits of class size and can learning communities include students who only take one of the courses? Can sufficient interaction and cooperative study by students happen in large classes or in learning communities where some students are not fully participating (in both courses)?
- issues of technology for collaborative teaching and cooperative study - is it necessary (or merely helpful) to use "Blackboard" as an electronic source of common materials for integrative coursework and "virtual interactions" outside of the classrooms?
- issues of cooperative study through group projects - to grade the projects or not, to grade the "group" or individuals, and how to ensure everyone contributes?
- issues of encouraging active learning - what to do outside of the classroom, when to include such activities in a semester, and how to relate these activities to the substantive emphases of each course in a learning community?
Various list-serves on FIGs and other sources of insights mention other issues of teaching first-year students in learning communities, such as:
- issues of intellectual development and academic preparedness among first-year students: How do faculty address problems in thinking (reasoning/logic), listening, speaking, writing, analysis, extrapolation, reflection?
- issues of student behavior in the classrooms - what to do with disrespectful, "hyper- bonded," disaffected, or otherwise passive students?
- issues of groups "regressing" to an average performance - the problems of peer-group pressure against distinctive excellence.
These concerns are only some of the critical issues faculty should address as they develop different types of learning communities across the knowledge areas of General Education or within the substantive emphases of various majors. The Teaching and Learning Center has resources for the faculty to consult as they address these issues. Please contact Richard Kelder at ext. 2650, kelderr@newpaltz.edu, or visit 113 College Hall.
