Influenced by research from other institutions, the University of Guelph has implemented first-year seminar (FYS) courses to help new students undergo a successful transition into a university learning environment (Andrade, 2009; Ross and Boyle, 2007). These courses allow students to interact with faculty, graduate students, and their peers in small, engaging, research-intensive, and learner-centred groups that focus on creative and unique topics. During the winter semester of 2015, we designed a FYS course that explored the physical, social, emotional, psychological, and economical phenomena that may be experienced by an individual living with a spinal cord injury (SCI). The course was designed to provide an interdisciplinary and interactive learning experience through group-based activities, experiential learning, laboratory sessions, and guest lectures. The primary goal of the course was to develop transferable skills such as research, communication, and problem solving, while cultivating a love of learning. The students studied the anatomy of the spinal cord and peripheral nervous system with respect to cervical SCIs, and also learned from the perspectives of guest-lecturers with SCIs in order to foster their awareness of issues and common experiences within the SCI community. Assignments were aligned with course outcomes to facilitate the construction of knowledge within these areas (Biggs, 1996). Together, the assignments and teaching practices helped to shape the students into advocates for SCI and accessibility through community engagement.
This poster aims to provide a forum for discussion with the instructors and past students of the FYS course to share teaching experiences, and ideas for innovation in other early post-secondary courses. Thus, by visiting this poster presentation, attendees will be able to:
- Discuss the challenges and opportunities of teaching first-year students with different backgrounds and interests
- Identify potential successes and failures of course design from the perspectives of both the instructors and the students
