 The successful transition from secondary school to the collegiate surroundings for students has been the topic of much research, many articles and books, international conferences, and a plethora of newspaper articles at the beginning of every new academic year. First-year seminars have become a widespread approach approved by higher education institutions in their attempts to ease the transition to college for new students, and to methodically address intolerable rates of student abrasion.
The popularity of first-year seminars as a programmatic and curricular approach lies in the fact that a credit-bearing course proposes a customary and suitable structure throughout which orientation attempts enlarge beyond the first week of classes. They also propose a way for student development and retention theories to be put into practice, and they offer a logical structure for hopeful active student participation in learning and in the life and activities of the institution; for examining and discussing student fit; and for facilitating social and academic integration. First-year seminars are therefore designed to meet both institutional and student needs.
Successful first-year seminars have been defined as those with long life and strong, broad-based campus support. They are probable to take academic credit, be centered in the first-year curriculum, engage both faculty and student affairs professionals in program design and instruction. Instructor training and enlargement is an essential part of the program, and instructors are paid, or else rewarded, for teaching the seminar. Additionally, upper-level students are concerned in course delivery and conduct program evaluation and distribute the results to the campus community.
An ordinary goal among many seminar programs is the development of a community of learners. Activities establish and expand friendships and important relationships inside the class making a contribution to the development of influential communities. Considerable two-way communication between instructor and student is common in first-year seminars and is frequently attained through using formal and informal feedback techniques, the integration of formative evaluation measures, and including opportunities for important reflection through journals and student writing.
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