University of Wisconsin–Madison

Episode 33: Supporting First-Year Students

See the transcript for this episode.

A conversation with the authors: Maria Widmer & Molly Harris

In this Article Remix, IDC team members Maria Widmer and Molly Harris chat about their recent L&S Design for Learning article “Supporting First-Year Students.” They share tips from research literature and examples from L&S instructors on how to support first-year students’ academic and social transition to college. Find inspiration and consider how you might incorporate these strategies into your own classroom.

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Unpack This Episode

Grab a drink, gather your colleagues, and discuss.

  1. Which example(s) resonated with you most in this episode?
  2. What do you find most exciting about teaching first-year students?
  3. What small step could you take in the beginning, middle, or end of the semester to support first-year students in your course?
  4. What elements of your course might be hidden for students? How could you reveal them?

Further Reading

Throughout this episode, we brought in insights from previous L&S Exchange guests. Find links to the full conversations below!

Recent Episodes

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Acknowledgements

The L&S Exchange Podcast is brought to you by L&S Teaching, Learning, & Academic Planning and produced by the Instructional Design Collaborative. This podcast is recorded on ancestral Ho-Chunk land, a place their nation has called Teejop (day-JOPE) since time immemorial.

Production Credits

  • Producer: David Macasaet
  • Associate Producer: Molly Harris
  • Audio Engineer: David Macasaet
  • Audio Editor: David Macasaet
  • Website Support: Laura Schmidli & Molly Harris
  • Development Producer: Jonathan Klein
  • Planning Group: Jonathan Klein, David Macasaet, Molly Harris, Laura Schmidli, Antonella Caloro, Maria Widmer
  • Communications: Maria Widmer
  • Executive Sponsorship: Shirin Malekpour