High-Impact Practice

First-Year Seminars: Examples

MIT Practices

MIT offers freshman seminars, which is one format of freshman advising. Freshman advising seminars (FAS) are typically led by faculty or instructors who also serve as the freshman advisor for the students in the seminar. The purpose of Freshman advising seminars is to provide students with an opportunity to engage with faculty around a common topic. FAS are optional and are only open to first-term freshman. About 50% of MIT freshman participate in FAS. FAS tend to have smaller numbers of students, typically around 8, which lend them to be discussion or project-based and an opportunity for students to get to know each other as well as their advisor. FAS topics and intended learning outcomes vary widely but tend to be academic focused. Last fall, FAS topics included black holes, blacksmithing, quantitative biology, leadership, design, and making. Freshman seminars are only offered in the fall term. FAS are not offered in the spring because students keep the same advisor for the year. If students joined a new seminar in the spring, this is seen as an administrative complication. Freshman seminars meet weekly, are worth 6 units of credit, and are graded P/D/F.

Programs of Note

  • LSE 100 – London School of Economics’ flagship course for all undergraduates. Students participate in their 2nd semester of their first year and the 1st semester of their second year. Each term, the course is structured around two five-week modules. Each module explores current, complex social issues from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. For example, a question currently being explored by LSE 100 is “What is the future of democracy?”

Organized into small cohorts in seminar style classes, students engage with a multitude of faculty experts around the central question, exposing them to different disciplines and different ways of thinking and analysis. Through LSE 100, students strengthen their critical thinking skills and communication skills. A full list of learning outcomes can be found here.

  • Dartmouth – First-year seminars at Dartmouth provide students with the opportunity to delve deeply into a topic or issue through reading, discussion, research, and writing. Topics are academic – primarily from the humanities and social sciences, but also include contemporary analyses of the impact of science and technology on society (e.g., Biology: Politicized Topics). Enrollment in first-year seminars is limited to 16. Many students use the first-year seminar to fulfill part of the university’s writing requirement.
  • Babson – All Babson students enroll in a first-year seminar during their first semester on campus. First-year seminars provide “extended orientation” information regarding campus resources, opportunities for students to reflect on their identities, and opportunities to intentionally engage in discussions around diversity, inclusion, ethics, and social responsibility.