Showing and Telling about First Year Success at the Atlantic Universities‘ Teaching Showcase

Abstract

From September 2012 students entering Memorial with grades that predicted their chances of graduating were slim have had access to an enriched first-year program. While First Year Success involves other academic supports, three dedicated credit-bearing courses are its core. The panel members—past and present instructors—discuss the design, delivery, and assessment of these courses. Our objective is to profile what foundational studies can contribute to the qualities of the graduate. Critical, however, is our opportunity to initiate institutional change by rewriting the script of academic failure. Three short presentations were given: “No student was harmed in the making of this course: Introducing ‘at risk‘ students to the university” (Ryan); “Would I take my class: Against a pedagogical stasis” (Lidstone); and, “When engagement isn‘t just a poster effect: Getting the measure of the second semester” (Burton). These titles show us sensitized to the possibility that what we offer may have no resonance for students who are unable or unwilling to respond to institutional norms. We cannot rely on them espousing our values or responding in the same way to the need for proofs incorporated into our disciplines. Embracing these dilemmas, we i) indicate how a developing theory and practice in FYS allows for student autonomy and support; ii) discuss how the dynamism of authority and access in our classroom is linked with authoritative and democratic practices in educational systems, and iii) ask whether elements of Memorial‘s model might be adopted elsewhere in Atlantic Canada.