IUB’s First-Year Seminars are providing opportunities for instructors to connect closely with their students, teaching small groups in the skills essential for a successful transition to college–from engaging the hidden curriculum to learning about campus resources to building a sense of belonging with the IUB community. We are hearing back from some of our instructors, and we want to share some of their experiences this semester.
Emily Dutton (Kelley School of Business)
I had a lovely first week with my students and wanted to share an activity that went really well.
I saved a portion of class time to explain and play the board game Hues and Cues. The game is described as a “vibrant game of colorful communication where players are challenged to make connections to colors with words. Since everyone imagines colors differently, connecting colors and clues has never been this much fun!”
I wanted to create a space for connection among classmates to start building a sense of community while at the same time honoring that we all have had different experiences, have various ways of seeing things, and may comprehend things differently.
It turned out to be a great activity! We shared some laughs, talked about some of our experiences that made us choose words for various colors, and began to appreciate some of our similarities and differences. It was fun, low-stakes, and afforded everyone an opportunity to start to build connections.
Mahasweta Baxipatra (English)
I have to say that I had one of my best teaching days today in my career of teaching for many years. This is exactly the kind of curriculum I have always wanted to teach our first-year students. I have a small group, and it is better that way: the idea of building communities and optimizing learning outcomes through these communities can be best experienced in a close-knit group of cohorts.
We did valuable class-room activities, and I am sure the next seven weeks will give me more opportunities to innovate strategies for immersive classroom experiences.
Yuri Kim (Geography)
Our Week 2 topic was “The College Experience.” We read Pfund et al. (2020) and did a Post-It activity for “3 keywords (or concepts) about your life purpose, career purpose, stressor, and stress relief.”
This activity helps us think critically about our goals in college years, recognize potential stressors, and develop strategies for stress relief.
Interestingly, all of us mentioned “human network,” such as friends, family, and community members, as the most crucial stress relief. This is a precious time to reconfirm the importance of building a healthy community during the years at IUB.
If you have experiences to share about your First-Year Seminar, let us know.
Reference
Pfund, G. N., Bono, T. J., & Hill, P. L. (2020). A higher goal during higher education: The power of purpose in life during university. Translational Issues in Psychological Science, 6(2), 97 (available through IU Libraries, although you likely need to be on campus or use a proxy/vpn)
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