Building Communities of Active Learners

Southwest Regional Learning Communities Conference
February

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COMBINED SESSION:
Freshman Seminars with a High Tech Touch
FACILITATOR: Jeanne Hanrahan, Arizona State University East

Peer Facilitators and Technology: Engaging Freshmen in the Learning Process
Washington State University
Lori Baker-Eveleth, Al Jamison

A student arrives on a college campus and instead of being excited about college, the student feels confused, bewildered, and possibly even scared about finding a place and voice in the academic community. Upper-class undergraduates can attest to these feelings and experiences and are, therefore, uniquely situated to help students transition into the college environment. Creating a student-centered setting that fosters greater interaction among students and faculty and produces a sense of community helps develop a student's voice within the academy. In this session, we will present the Washington State University's Freshman Seminar, which was designed for exactly this student and other first-year students, who enter their first college classroom with 500 peers. The Freshman Seminar program uses the power of peer influence with two groups of trained undergraduates, peer facilitators and hypernauts, who co-facilitate the seminars. Peer facilitators and hypernauts are trained in the theories and practices of facilitation utilizing writing, critical thinking, the research process, and technology to enhance other students' success in college. These facilitators gain as much, if not more, from the learning experience as the seminar students do. Technology is another key ingredient to the success of the Freshman Seminar program (based on the "7 Principles of Good Practice in Undergraduate Education" by Chickering and Gamson). Students learn how to integrate technology into their research project throughout the semester as well as dialoguing with other students in an online learning environment. Group interaction, peer assessment, and visual communication are important to the success of presenting the project in a web-based environment to the academy.
    contact information:leveleth@wsu.edu

NOTE: this session is combined with the following session

Learning and Research: The Disjunction Between What We Know About Learning and How We Teach
University of Texas at San Antonio
Rex H. Ball

The presentation will be a Socratic/multimedia exploration of the changing world in which we live, how mass customization in the business world applies to the field of education, and will demonstrate some uses of technology to enhance learning. It will conclude with reflections on current learning theory and how research in that area has affected one individual's Freshman Seminar.
    contact information:rball@utsa.edu