First Year Seminar & General Education - Information Session

Good morning.

For you.

Morning.

I'm wonderful and you.

Living the dream.

These early mornings are killing me.

9:30

Yeah.

I don't. I find that I don't get up any later than when I used to put the boys on the bus at Seven, but boy, they do.

It's 8:00 o'clock every morning.

Yeah, I'm not even waking up.

They've never been so well rested.

Close to the same amount of time I used to get up 4:45 everyday even without an alarm.

Now it's like 637.

It's horrible.

Horrible to be getting enough sleep.

Yeah, it's weird.

Yeah.

I didn't think there'd be too many people show up for this, but it looked like there was a lot of people registered for it.

Really.

Yeah, back on the screen, uh?

I guess it was the screen where you click control. There was a big long list of people who had registered for it.

At least I assume that's what that was that big. Long list of names.

So are they only able to access it at 9:30 or they already listening to us?

I don't believe they're listening to us.

I think that participants list.

We'll show everyone who is listening to us.

Which I assume that means Kristen is listening to us.

She texted me a few times when I first connected.

I did already have to refresh once.

Oh, So what do you do? Just hit like the Little Circle Arrow Thing?

Yep, just hit the refresh on the browser and I mean it, it doesn't take that long, but still there's like 10 seconds.

She's OK, well see. So we have half an hour, right?

Correct, although?

I'm imagining that mean if we ran past half an hour.

People could just leave.

Right?

And go join a different session so.

So I went through my stuff and I think that I'm about like.

Just under 15 minutes, like somewhere between 12 and 15, like I can't imagine like something catastrophic I think would have to happen to.

Yeah.

Sup.

But

I didn't even time mine. I've got a. I've got a page.

Of stuff I could say.

I just decided to do it as a script this time like usually I just kind of bring some talking points to keep me on track and then I just.

No.

Start talking, but uh.

Figured I do a script so that I just stay on track and on time.

I literally have mine written out word for word, but.

If we're short on time.

I can chop it, or if we're long on time I can chit chat.

Can you hear me?

I just Christian.

Turn that off.

I can hear you can see you, I see.

Some kind of side camera.

We're getting a diagonal angle.

Sure.

Well, any has a webcam for his computer.

But I'm not gonna be visible anyway, so ha.

Well, you have to introduce yourself right? So everybody sees the.

Chat bot.

No.

Yes.

Oh, listen, anybody trying to light.

Please.

That didn't help.

I guess that's OK. How's that Eddie?

Man.

Yes.

Cereal.

You should wait for me outside to my black, you gotta.

If you are like kids, you gotta put something over the windows.

You get like pollution from the outside and you're also very white.

Great.

Not.

Light pollution.

I'm gonna try the other computer.

Add to my personal list of things I've learned what means thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.

That's a lot of Cats wandering around Kristen.

Looks like the Tiger King's house.

I switched my was using.

So are you guys OK if I just have you introduce yourselves and what you're going to be doing today?

Absolutely.

Sure.

Oh

I'm probably going to mute myself when I'm not talking, just in case.

The children that live in this house decide to erupt.

Which happened, I don't know if you heard Christian before. Ted got on there was.

I think I had muted myself when they did, but there was an explosion right outside the door.

Yes, I actually took Jonah and the dog out for a walk.

Smart.

Is it?

So it looks like Mandy and Alexis are here.

Checking in to make sure we've showed up, I'm sure.

This is half an hour, right?

OK, cool.

Yep.

Unless we are so awesome that people just want to keep going.

I did not remember.

Yeah, we have to plan what to do for an encore.

Because they start chanting our names. Holy macro.

Wow.

OK well.

It looks like we have a whole bunch of participants here.

So maybe we can.

Get going.

Sounds good.

What do you all think?

Right?

OK, so we're getting some chats here. People are saying Good morning and, uh.

But we might want to wait a second.

I'm not seeing any chats.

Are you?

Oh this under the questions.

OK.

OK yeah, so so people are still coming in.

OK.

Yeah, but the questions won't show up in the chat and less you approve them, Kristen.

So just give it another minute or so. I see that people are still.

Joining us here.

Wow.

10,000.

OK, it looks like we're at a pretty static participant list right now, so why don't we?

Get going here.

So morning everybody.

Um, we're hoping that you can hear us.

Welcome to Apple action and our presentation on the general education program, first year seminar and the carbon reading program.

I'm Ted Saruca, the director of the general education program and also a professor of biology at Apple action and joining me today are.

Hi, I'm Christian. High on the distant director of General Education an I will be answering your questions that you submit through the chat function.

And I'm Rick Lima. I'm a first year seminar director and also a professor in the Mathematics Department.

Great.

OK.

So as you have been researching schools for your next step, I'm sure that you've become familiar with at least some of these logos.

Up watching state is regularly named by these publications as one of the best higher education institutions in the nation.

Most recently, US news and World Report ranks us as having one of the very top first, your experiences in the country, beating out places that you may have heard of, such as Yale and Princeton.

We're here to talk to you a little bit about the academic components of your first year experience and liberal arts education that is infused into every degree program on campus.

We have constructed our general education program to provide a scaffolding of classes to be taken here at Apple action as well as to include ones transfer from elsewhere to provide a first class liberal arts education.

The goal of which is to produce well rounded students as part of what we call a transformative education.

Specifically, or general education curriculum has four very practical, an overarching goals.

We want students to be able to think critically and creatively communicate effectively, make local to global connections, and understand the responsibilities of community membership.

In requiring a broad range, of course is general education is designed to help you make creative connections across an array of fields and to challenge you with the unfamiliar and the unknown.

Regardless of what your major in, we expect you to get this breadth of knowledge so that you were better equipped to succeed in your studies here and your endeavors after you graduate.

Are Janet program requires you to take horses that will equip you with a broad base of knowledge. Here is the current program of study that I recognized. None of you can read, but the main goal in showing you this is that what this comes off is as a checklist, and that's the first thing that I'd really like us to get over. Please don't treat this as a checklist that you just need to get through often as quickly as possible.

I ask you to think about this as opportunities and challenges that represent an important idea. Part of the identity of Apple action and the liberal arts educational experience of our students.

This is part of the educational experience you are signing up for. If and when you decide to come here.

So let's talk about the program a little bit more in general.

Our general education program consists of 44 hours, most of which will come from outside of your major.

Most degree programs at Apple action or 120 hours which and what this means is at the Gen Ed experience, makes up more than 1/3 of your degree, once again underscoring the importance of Jen. Add to the educational and liberal arts identity of Apple action.

In most cases the general education experience begins with first year seminar.

The seminar engages you in a shared process of inquiry with the faculty member around a broad interdisciplinary topic or question and Doctor Klima will expand on this shortly.

Jeanette also includes six hours of writing across the curriculum, plus two additional writing classes in your major that are designed to build upon one another.

The first year rhetoric and composition introduces you to the basic expectations of academic writing at the University level and the 2nd year. RC class focuses on writing across the curriculum and helps you develop the ability to tailor your writing to specific, diverse audiences.

You will then take two courses in your major that also addressed the Gen Ed writing across the curriculum goals. A junior writing in the discipline course designed to give students instruction on the forms and conventions of written discourse in their major field and the senior capstone experience representing the culmination of the University educational experience by linking the content and methods of the major with the goals of General Education.

Wellness literacy courses are designed to give you a strong foundation in science based health and fitness.

A quantitative literacy course helps you develop reasoning and numerical skills related to quantitative literacy. This content focuses on mathematics, exploratory data analysis, statistics, probability, or modeling.

Science inquiry is made up of two courses with laboratories that together build a theme. Themes in science inquiry examine how the physical world is interpreted using the scientific method.

Courses in the things utilizing inquiry based pedagogy and focus on interpreting science information and findings through an examination of the nature of contemporary debates.

The little studies experience for is basically made up of four classes or 12 hours and give students an opportunity to explore several disciplines from across the campus. Each student chooses 12 semester hours of courses from at least three disciplines. The goal of the liberal studies experience is to provide students with a broad and varied curriculum where they can explore many different perspectives on the human experience.

Finally, the integrative learning experience is made up of three classes and give students the opportunity to study a focused thematic topic from multiple disciplinary perspectives. Each student chooses one theme and complete 9 semester hours. Of course, work from at least two different disciplines within that theme.

The goal of this multidisciplinary structure is to help students develop the intellectual habits of seeking out diverse perspectives on issues or problems and integrating a variety of information into their decision making and creative processes.

Now, within the integrative learning experience and or the literal studies experience, you're also required in the classes that you're picking to contribute to them to complete within those classes. 3 hours each of Fine Arts, Historical Studies, literary studies, and social science courses to ensure a well rounded experience of ideas.

So just to give you a quick idea of what some of the integrative learning experience themes look like. Here is the list of where they are right now. So for example, the Apple Action Mountains, community culture theme includes classes from music, Apple Action Studies, geology, history and sociology.

Now how we tell stories? Theme includes classes from English, interdisciplinary studies, philosophy, religion, and theater. So you have a lot of choices to explore and put together ideas from a lot of different types of classes.

Now with that I'm going to pass it over to doctor Klima to tell you a little bit about the first year seminar.

Thank you Ted. Uh, Yeah, a little more about first year seminar, which is a course an academic course that is required in most students that are new to Apple action.

And many universities have a first year seminar course. A common purpose of which often is to introduce students to campus in collegiate life and how to get connected, which, as we all know, increases a students likelihood of being successful.

As with many other things, though, Apple action does first year seminar a little differently than we think. Better choosing to make our first year seminar in academic course. It still does include an introduction to campus in collegiate life and how to get connected.

But it also focuses on an academic topic so that it can introduce students to collegiate academic expectations, like writing, speaking, presenting with audio, visual support, participating in classroom discussions, doing librarian Internet research, and so forth.

These were the on the slide right here. The various academic topics of our first year seminar courses last year, which I'm showing not so that you'll read all of them, but just to give you an idea of exactly how many options there were and to point out that when we say first year seminar is an academic course.

I don't mean that it's on like trigonometry or organic chemistry. The topics are unique, but they are treated from an academic perspective. In some students, choose a topic that.

Naturally connects to their intended major. Others choose one in which they have a recreational interest and yet others.

Choose something that is completely unrelated to anything they've previously had an interest in, and I think all our reasonable approaches.

Notably, students that choose something unrelated to anything they've ever had an interest in before.

Are often because you know they want to have the chance to study something different, something new, something unusual, something they don't know if they like or not, something that they may discover that they do.

But it's the chance to engage in a topic they never engaged with before with an expert. Someone with some expertise.

In the area and all first year seminar sections are taught by instructors with that expertise, who themselves are excited.

About the academic topic on which their courses focused.

All sections are also required to provide students with a common set of transferable skills that are measured through the fulfillment of 10 common goals and outcomes.

For example, all sections of 1st year seminar are required to provide students through assessed activities with the chance to communicate verbally and or in writing. To think creatively an critically to make local to global connections that help students understand their place in their community and state and region and country in world and also understand the responsibilities of community membership.

And learn about how to find and use legitimate resources of various types when researching something.

And those are the goals and outcomes that are required to be assessed by instructors. But there are others that are required to be included, such as engaging with the common reading book.

Many universities require a common academic exercise of incoming students before they matriculate, including Apple action. Are common, academic exercise is the reading of a common book that is provided to students in either a printed or electronic form, with the expectations that they'll read it before they.

Matriculate, and be ready upon entering Apple, action to engage with this community in a thoughtful discourse about the topic of the book and 1st year seminar is one place where this discourse occurs and is required to occur.

No books on this slide are a sampling of some of our recent common reading books. The choice for this year.

Is the one on the top row, second from the left, just mercy by Brian Stevenson, who visited our campus last semester to participate in that collective engagement.

With the topic of the book, which is social justice viewed through the lens of the US judicial system, specifically with regard to capital punishment?

An life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The choice for next year is the one to its.

Left

Rising dispatches from the new American shore. By Elizabeth Rush.

A to quote directly from its publisher, rigorously reported story about American vulnerability to rising seas.

Particularly disenfranchised people with limited access to the tools of rebuilding, and we are looking forward to melt too welcoming.

Miss rush to our community in September to participate in our collective engagement.

With the topic of this book.

And, uh, that I'll hand it back over to Ted.

And he needs unmute himself.

Thanks for that, Rick.

So I just like to finish up with thinking a little bit about how general education enhances your education here and how it will benefit you after you graduate.

Here are two favorite quotes of mine from a famous scientist as well as from a well known author. So, as I mentioned before, I'm in the Biology Department where I'm a professor as well. Someone biologist I'm I'm a scientist who spent close to 12 years at various universities, culminating in my earning a PhD and becoming a highly trained specialists in my area of study.

OK, now people often associate this type of specialist training to be what University is about. As you decide upon a major and begin to focus your attention in that regard, to develop some level of content expertise.

Well, this is obviously important. It is also important to not become so focused and so specialized that you lose your imagination and curiosity. The ability to see the forest for the trees.

Regardless of what your major in, we expect you to develop this breath of knowledge so that you are better equipped to succeed in your personal and professional lives.

The only way we can solve difficult problems is by seeing them in new ways.

Innovators and problem solvers make creative connections between things that don't at first seem to go together, and we can never know ahead of time what those connections might be. So we want you to be open and curious developing. Use your imagination. Notice something that's funny.

A great example of this was spoken about by Steve Jobs. It is 2005 commencement address at Stanford. You spoke about the importance of creativity to or two creativity of taking a class in and out of the box topic.

He often spoke about how of how much of what he did at Apple was inspired by a calligraphy class he took as a student.

He made creative connections between things that didn't at first seem to go together that quite literally changed how we communicate.

I believe that college is about teaching students to think.

To develop the habit of being skeptical and having the ability to put that into practice.

To not take things for granted or at face value, but to look at the available information and make one's own conclusions.

General education and a liberal arts education teaches students how knowledge is created.

How to analyze the arguments of others and make your own?

To gather evidence, evaluate authorities, anticipate objections and potential problems, synthesize and organize your findings, and communicate what you have found logically and based on sound arguments.

We recognize that we were preparing students now for careers that may not even exist yet, so the ability to be well rounded. An informed to think critically and creatively, and communicate effectively as well as the other goals of Gen Ed or a fundamental importance.

Employers routinely tell us that they want to hire college graduates were creative thinkers who can convey information effectively to others, and who can adjust to unexpected changes and take advantage of unexpected opportunities.

Recently, the Wall Street Journal ran a survey of 318 companies. 93 percent said that critical thinking, communication and problem solving skills are more important than a candidates undergraduate major. Because they're filling positions with broader responsibilities and more complex challenges than in the past.

Gen Ed and a liberal arts education is important.

Once again, I hope if you decide on Apple action that you won't treat Gen. Ed's just some classes to check off a program of study, but instead you'll take advantage of the opportunities these present.

Come alive with Curiosity and contribute positively to your classes to the Apple action community and eventually to the water world.

So I'm just gonna finish up now.

With some web addresses that can provide additional information. Thank you for letting us share some of the goals we have for you to the common reading program for sure. Seminar in the general education programs and now we can use the chat window to answer any questions that you may have.

So I'm just.

I guess we can wait for some of these questions that are coming through as we see them. Even that before Kristen approves them for the chat. The common reading book for the.

2019-2020 academic year was just mercy for the twenty 2021 school year.

The common reading book is rising and students.

Will be provided a copy of it? Um, not sure exactly whether it will be a printed version or an electronic version, but we definitely have the ability to do either one. It just depends on what the.

Landscape looks like.

Early this summer.

So I see a question here about if you're attending the Honors College, would you choose from a different list of seminars so the honors college does have a separate section of seminars just for them and their first year honor seminar honors 1515 accounts the same as our first year seminar, so it would count as that.

And just to clarify who is required to take first year seminar and who is exempt from it. Students that are exempt from first year seminar?

Include students that come to Apple action with their general education requirements met, of course, but also students who classifies transfer students and who transfer at least 30 credit hours are exempt from the first year seminar requirement. Everybody else know is required to take it.

Yes, and just one more time about the common reading book for the 2020-2021 academic year. It is rising by Elizabeth Rush and incoming students will be provided a copy of it. It might be electronic access or a printed version, but you will be provided a copy of it and expected to have read it before arriving on campus or before matriculate ING.

In answer to the question about when students take first year seminar, many students take it in their first semester as a student, but it is not required that it be done in the first semester an many students do wait.

And take it in their second semester. Almost all students take it in the first year, but it either semester during the first year is perfectly fine.

So I see a question here about would we recommend taking horses in a theme from the integrative learning experience?

That coincide with your major of interest or something with a different perspective.

I think there's a number of different strategies and how to approach this. Some majors are very restrictive in the amount of.

Classes that you can take outside of the major, so sometimes it might be. It might make more sense.

To try to coordinate and integrative learning experience with classes that might be able to overlap with your major in general and philosophically, I think that the integrated learning experiences a nice opportunity to really expand horizons and to explore topics that might be outside of your major just to become.

You know more well rounded and to kind of get the experience of.

Um?

Areas outside of your discipline.

Let me see a question about the common reading book about when you will get it and if you should read it before class. So typically the common reading book is provided during orientation, so of course I orientation is not going to be taking place in person this summer because of.

The COVID-19

I'm so we're developing um plans right now to make available electronic versions of the books to students.

But that still in the planning stages, but we do have. We are putting together plans to ensure that students are going to get the book well in advance, with the idea being that the book will be read over the summer so that it can be discussed at the start of the semester. So I guess welcome to University. We're giving you homework.

And ideally those discussions about the topic of the book in the book itself. In first year seminar do take place early in the fall semester because Elizabeth Russia's planned visit to campus or engagement with our community is scheduled for September.

So ideally the book is red and that our campus engagement with it takes place prior to the visit by the common reading author, which is a tradition on our campus.

So I see a question here about is your first year seminar class your advisor for freshman year? No, you will have a separate advisor that you will typically be.

Meet up with during orientation.

Um, that will help you, at least until you declare your major uhm.

And then the first year seminar instructor is typically somebody else.

Although the first year seminar director certainly can offer advice as can I and ask him doctors aruku, although there will also be a separate official advisor that students are expected to meet with and.

Discuss their programs with and that official advisor has more responsibility to make sure that student is on track.

So it's 10:00 o'clock and I'm sure a lot of you have other sessions to attend to or already leaving. I'm seeing a lot of questions come through just saying thank you, um, so thank you for joining us today. I hope it was.

Helpful if you do have more questions. If you go to the General Education Web address that I've included here, there is a contact us link. You can certainly always reach out via email and will try to get back to you.

As quickly as we can, I'm happy to stay in this room for a little bit longer. Trying to address any more questions that come through for a few more minutes. If people like as well.

Uh, but definitely thank you very much again for being here.

In answer to the question about scholarships.

Probably the best place to start would be at the website scholarships.appstate.edu.

That would at least perhaps point you in the right direction for which specifics scholarship you might be interested in.

Applying for.

So I haven't seen any new questions come in for about 5 minutes.

Um?

See.

So if we still do have a few participants.

I'm wondering if you have any questions that haven't been answered. Maybe you could.

Resubmit them so that we could respond to something that we may have messed. We had a.

Whole slew of questions come in very, very quickly, and I know that we're trying to work our way through them.

Uhm, but if we haven't gotten back to you yet, maybe if you'd like to resubmit, that'll help us. Make sure that we do address everything.

So does Kristen have anymore?

Questions responding to.

Looks like we've been kind of.

Static for a few minutes. Why don't we, uh?

Go ahead and call it.

Um, if any of the participants are still trying to ask questions again, I haven't seen any come in.

For about 10 minutes, um, I suggest going to the general education.appstate.edu.

Web page uhm and contacting us through that and we can respond via email.

I'm definitely thank you for your patience this morning. This is kind of a new approach for all of us. I hope it was.

Useful.

And.

Hopefully will see you at some point in the future.

Thank you.

Hey Rick.

We all set.

Where?

I think we're all set, thank you.

Van van

Good to see you.

Can I see you too see you later?

No.

Bye.

Bye.