I will be giving a workshop on first year programs at ASA...I hope to see you there!
Until then, I hope this helps. First-year programs are now fairly wide spread across the country. The positive results of these programs range from retention to the sophmore year to increased faculty-student interaction. I wouldn't doubt that there would be negative effects if students took all of their classes in age-segreated classe but I have never heard of a university that structures their program like that. Even in classes that are primarily set aside for first year students, many programs, including the one I direct, include peer mentors who are upper-class students. This website, http://www.sc.edu/fye/research/surveyfindings/surveys/survey03.htmlfrom the National Resource Center for the First Year experience summarizes a lot of the available research. Thank you for raising a topic that is so near and dear to me. Maxine -----Original Message----- From: "Michael Klausner" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Date: Fri, 19 May 2006 16:09:14 -0400 Subject: TEACHSOC: Age homogeneous or heterogeneous classes.... Greetings: Another topic for discussion. I just found out that my institution now "reserves" sections of courses for "freshmen." I voiced my disagreement indicating that age heterogeneous classes are beneficial to students rather than year or age segregated ones. New students can learn from older ones. Older ones can serve as "role models" for freshmen. Also, older ones, having more "life experiences" can relate those to course content thus helping freshmen to see the "real world" relevance of sociology. What do you think? Best Wishes, Michael Klausner Maxine P. Atkinson, Ph.D. Director, N.C. State's First Year Inquiry Seminar Program Division of Undergraduate Academic Programs, and Associate Professor of Sociology North Carolina State University email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] phone: 919 515 9001 --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Teaching Sociology" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/teachsoc -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
