Features
Life, the University and Everything
New first-year course offers life skills for students
BY TERESA PITMAN
Technology may be just a tool, but it's a tool that can open new doors and make many aspects of learning a little easier. When you're creating a brand new course, you have the opportunity to integrate those technological tools right from the start.
“Life: Health and Well-Being” is one of the first on-campus courses to be designed from the ground up as a hybrid course, where some lecture time is replaced by online work. Required for first-year students in the Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition, it is open to students in all majors and, in its first offering this fall, attracted more than 300 of them.
“We were hoping for 100,” says lead instructor Sharon Mayne Devine, “so the enthusiasm has been wonderful.”
The online component of the course was designed and is supported by Aldo Caputo, manager of learning technology and courseware innovation in Teaching Support Services.
“We started with the objectives first, then used technology as a tool to help achieve the things we wanted,” says Mayne Devine. “For example, we have custom-designed graphics that illustrate the underlying philosophy of the course and help people find what they need.”
She believes this course is a great example of effective collaboration. “With the help of Aldo and the other instructors, we have created something that is so much more than what I could have done alone.”
The course was designed with several goals in mind, she says.
“First, we wanted to help first-year students manage the transition to university life.”
Each topic covered in the course — psychological health, nutrition, fitness and exercise, alcohol and other substance use, etc. — has both a practical application in the students' lives and a connection to other issues they may be studying, says Mayne Devine.
“We're thinking holistically. So along with the research and information, we provide links to University resources such as counselling services for those students who may be struggling with an issue.”
A second goal was to introduce students to the Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition.
Finally, the course designers hope the combination of in-class and online work will help students experience success in learning and gain some organizational skills that will promote success in their other courses.
“Student engagement and retention are important,” says Caputo, “and this course addresses students' needs and gives them a safe place to discuss issues and ask questions. There's a real sense of community, and I don't think that could have developed in such a large class without the online component. It's a model that can be applied to other large classes.”
Mayne Devine adds that large-group discussions are only part of the strategy. The students are divided into discussion groups of 20, and each group is given questions to be considered within the group. A teaching assistant monitors and supports each discussion, with each TA responsible for four groups.
“That points out another benefit of this kind of course,” she says. “A single TA couldn't handle that many discussion groups if they all met in person. So this approach is more efficient — it makes the best use of limited funding and resources, and it works really well.”
Blogs and personal journals also provide students with opportunities to reflect on what they're learning in the course. Mayne Devine makes regular blog entries related to the course topics and invites students to post comments.
“For example, my first entry was about my own experience attending university, how nervous I was and how I didn't understand what the professor was talking about. I felt like I was taking a bit of a risk in exposing myself that way, but the students really liked it. Knowing that I started out feeling scared and uncertain helps them realize that their feelings are normal and they're going to be OK.”
Student responses have been very positive, she says. One student who was starting university for the second time after dropping out partway through her first attempt told Mayne Devine that if she'd had a course like this, she would have been able to finish the first time.
Mayne Devine, who says the course is “one of the most satisfying I've ever taught,” notes that it fits perfectly with U of G's mandate.
“As a university, we are thinking more broadly about education. It's not just about conveying information; it's about creating thoughtful citizens. That's what we aim to do in this course.”