What Works? A Critical Review of the Literature on First Year Seminars
Conference Tracks
Academic/ Professional Development - Research
Abstract
The first year seminar (FYS) has become a well-established high impact practice in U.S. higher education. That said, support for the FYS i can be ambivalent, even contested, as stakeholders can be divided regarding its purpose and implementation. In this interactive session, we present the results of a scoping review of the existing research on the FYS (1300+ articles). You will learn more about scoping reviews as a SoTL methodology, the state of research on FYS (including emerging signature pedagogies), and discuss the future of both the FYS and related research.
In this case, we systematically reviewed 1300+ articles published on the FYS over the past five years (2016-present). We identified purpose, scope, method, and outcomes for each, then mapped key findings. Our analysis indicates that a relatively small percentage of research articles on the FYS are SoTL studies, but those that do exist point to an emerging set of signature pedagogies that can be applied to the FYS as well as other curricular and co-curricular experiences for first-year students.
In this interactive session, we will share the results of our scoping review, with attention to explaining the methodology for others less familiar with it. In addition, we will engage participants in the signature FYS pedagogies and discuss how the results inform questions about the future of the FYS.
Session Format
Presentation
1
Publication Type and Release Option
Image (Open Access)
Recommended Citation
Cruz, Laura and Grodziak, Eileen, "What Works? A Critical Review of the Literature on First Year Seminars" (2022). SoTL Commons Conference. 99.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/sotlcommons/SoTL/2022/99
What Works? A Critical Review of the Literature on First Year Seminars
The first year seminar (FYS) has become a well-established high impact practice in U.S. higher education. That said, support for the FYS i can be ambivalent, even contested, as stakeholders can be divided regarding its purpose and implementation. In this interactive session, we present the results of a scoping review of the existing research on the FYS (1300+ articles). You will learn more about scoping reviews as a SoTL methodology, the state of research on FYS (including emerging signature pedagogies), and discuss the future of both the FYS and related research.
In this case, we systematically reviewed 1300+ articles published on the FYS over the past five years (2016-present). We identified purpose, scope, method, and outcomes for each, then mapped key findings. Our analysis indicates that a relatively small percentage of research articles on the FYS are SoTL studies, but those that do exist point to an emerging set of signature pedagogies that can be applied to the FYS as well as other curricular and co-curricular experiences for first-year students.
In this interactive session, we will share the results of our scoping review, with attention to explaining the methodology for others less familiar with it. In addition, we will engage participants in the signature FYS pedagogies and discuss how the results inform questions about the future of the FYS.
