2008 Woodie Awards
Faculty finds ways to enhance study habits
Darin Leedy
Issue date: 2/16/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
Freshmen in the same seminar class are living together on residence floors as an experiment to improve study habits.
The idea behind residential seminars is to help freshmen become more connected both academically and socially to the university and their fellow students.
"Faculty have been overwhelmingly positive about the experience," Dean of Students Mike Segawa said. "Students come better prepared to engage in conversation because they know each other."
Professor David Droge described residential seminar students' willingness to challenge each other and cooperate on projects.
"Students develop a sense of energy in them that is different from other seminars," Droge said.
He also thinks that the seminars build on UPS' unique strengths - a small community, contact with an advisor the first semester and classes designed by a professor, which many students at other colleges don't get until senior year.
UPS has put in place similar programs before; students in the Honors and Humanities programs are given the option to live together, but the new residential seminars don't have a specific theme.
According to Droge, the reason this particular form of residential seminars is being tested is because previous attempts have shown very high levels of student retention.
The seminars are funded by a $100,000 Mellon Foundation grant, which allows professors to pay for enhancement programs and activities related to the classes, like trips and lectures.
The last two years students did not know that they were enrolled in a residential seminar.
The classes - five last fall and two the fall before that - were meant to test the effectiveness of residential seminars in helping freshmen assimilate and become academically involved.
The seminars will be increased in number to ten next fall and twenty in 2008, and students will know which seminars are residential.
"I feel as though living with my seminar class enabled me to get to know each person before the class even started," freshman Nick Dietrich said.
He also thinks that the program has helped him academically. "I could easily ask for help from anybody in my class because we all lived together. I really enjoyed having a residential seminar because I did not feel as nervous to speak in class because I knew the people extremely well. Overall, I think this program should continue in the future."
The university is currently gathering formal assessment information from students about their experience, though, according to Droge, it is difficult to separate the effects of the residential seminar from those of the many other programs designed to make students comfortable and engaged in the university.
• Darin Leedy lived with her classmates but they were all jealous of her intelligence.
The idea behind residential seminars is to help freshmen become more connected both academically and socially to the university and their fellow students.
"Faculty have been overwhelmingly positive about the experience," Dean of Students Mike Segawa said. "Students come better prepared to engage in conversation because they know each other."
Professor David Droge described residential seminar students' willingness to challenge each other and cooperate on projects.
"Students develop a sense of energy in them that is different from other seminars," Droge said.
He also thinks that the seminars build on UPS' unique strengths - a small community, contact with an advisor the first semester and classes designed by a professor, which many students at other colleges don't get until senior year.
UPS has put in place similar programs before; students in the Honors and Humanities programs are given the option to live together, but the new residential seminars don't have a specific theme.
According to Droge, the reason this particular form of residential seminars is being tested is because previous attempts have shown very high levels of student retention.
The seminars are funded by a $100,000 Mellon Foundation grant, which allows professors to pay for enhancement programs and activities related to the classes, like trips and lectures.
The last two years students did not know that they were enrolled in a residential seminar.
The classes - five last fall and two the fall before that - were meant to test the effectiveness of residential seminars in helping freshmen assimilate and become academically involved.
The seminars will be increased in number to ten next fall and twenty in 2008, and students will know which seminars are residential.
"I feel as though living with my seminar class enabled me to get to know each person before the class even started," freshman Nick Dietrich said.
He also thinks that the program has helped him academically. "I could easily ask for help from anybody in my class because we all lived together. I really enjoyed having a residential seminar because I did not feel as nervous to speak in class because I knew the people extremely well. Overall, I think this program should continue in the future."
The university is currently gathering formal assessment information from students about their experience, though, according to Droge, it is difficult to separate the effects of the residential seminar from those of the many other programs designed to make students comfortable and engaged in the university.
• Darin Leedy lived with her classmates but they were all jealous of her intelligence.
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