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Introduction
In the fall of 1998, a new freshman advising seminar was offered called The Freshman Connection. This seminar was designed during the spring and summer of 1998 by a group of staff members at MIT who wanted to offer a concrete, practical response to concerns put forth recently in the report from the Task Force on Student Life and Learning, about the need to better integrate those two aspects of student experience at MIT. We were also concerned about providing an opportunity for students to explore the different changes that freshmen undergo in coming to university, integrating academic theory with personal experience within an interactive and informal environment.
What follows is the story of how the seminar was developed and taught, as well as how freshmen and associate advisors experienced the seminar from their respective viewpoints. The seminar was by all accounts very successful, accomplishing what we had hoped for, and leaving all of us with a wish that other faculty, staff, and students could have the opportunity to participate in a similar kind of seminar which meant so much to us in a variety of ways.
Developing the Freshman
Connection
Lynn Roberson
In my many years working with students at MIT, I have been fortunate to be able to hear the minds and hearts of our students, their whispered struggles and quiet victories. In our work together, students speak of their experience of being opened and challenged into taking steps in growth they never imagined before. But so too, they speak of what has impeded, hurt, or shattered them. It is here that the impact of society's painful schism between outer performance and achievements versus an inner knowledge of personal self can show up in students' lives as a disconnection and prioritization of intellect over emotional health and well being. To whatever degree an absence or devaluation of the personal realms of mind and heart exist, this often serves to separate the person from their whole sense of self, thereby limiting access to their full potential, their strengths and their multiple intelligences. In this omission, I have witnessed students hobbled in their academic performance, their self-esteem, and hence their vision of what they can do and be.
When the human factor in an academic context is perceived to be a liability instead of a quality to be developed, misunderstandings can easily occur. Fearful of being ostracized as being "too soft," students may inadvertently sidestep important life questions, opportunities for self-understanding, and emotional development, and access to programs and supports. Students have sometimes assumed that wrestling with human concerns is evidence of their own inferiority rather than an understanding that these concerns might be indicative of their own depth, growth into adulthood, and integration as a person. Some students have mistakenly labeled the confusions and challenges of early adult transition as evidence of major psychiatric disorders. These perceptions are hurtful to students and are more often relics of outdated beliefs. What stands out over and over again is that personal life health issues do affect academic success.
Last year's student deaths were tragic examples that brought home to many how important it is to pay attention to the personal realm. For me, it felt imperative to do my part in offering a practical and effective action plan in response to the needs of our students. It also seemed appropriate to further address the focus on community that was outlined in MIT's mission statement and in the report from the Task Force on Student Life and Learning. What I wanted to see established at MIT was a class for freshmen that would introduce and develop an understanding and a balanced perspective of the "human factor" in the academic domain. I also wanted students to walk away with a set of tools and maps to better navigate their transition into college and early adulthood as well as their personal and academic directions.
I gathered together a group of interested staff who shared a strong dedication to fostering students' well being and excellence, whose roles and skills in developing and conducting programs were of high caliber, and who understood well the underlying needs that now called out for a new vision and approach. Starting in March 1998, this team got to work: Tracy Desovich (health educator in the MIT Medical Department), Carol Orme-Johnson (assistant dean in Residential Life and director of mediation@mit), Holly Sweet (associate director and lecturer in ESG and director of GenderWorks), and myself (coordinator of programs and supports for women students in Counseling and Support Services). Later we were joined by Marilee Jones (dean of Admissions) and Tobie Weiner (administrative assistant in Political Science).
Six months later we had developed an in-depth course curriculum for a semester-long class which we called The Freshman Connection. This seminar would look at the issues first-year students face from a psychological perspective, combining theory and practical experience wherever possible. In addition, we considered a year-long option that could include a second semester area of concentrated focus on one area of the curriculum such as health issues or gender relations. Our seminar was ready to be piloted as a freshman advising seminar, with the intention that it could be mainstreamed further if it was successful.
Teaching the Freshman
Connection
Dr. Holly Sweet
In creating this seminar, we were clear that we wanted to cover the key issues which we felt freshmen would be likely to encounter in their first term at MIT, and we wanted to do this chronologically. Therefore, we started with theories about developmental stages of life, self image, and transitions in the first three weeks, covered relationships and emotions in the next three weeks, looked at physical health and stress management during the seventh and eighth weeks (timed to coincide with mid-term exams) and then addressed topics such as communication, diversity, and gender issues in the following weeks. The readings were drawn from a wide variety of sources, including both traditional psychological texts (such as Erikson's Childhood and Society) and more contemporary writings (such as Goleman's Emotional Intelligence and William Bridges' Transitions). We planned to end the term with presentations by students about interviews they had conducted with faculty or staff about their views on first-year education.
From my long-term exposure to student-based education in the Experimental Study Group (ESG), I knew the value of interactive education with ample room for student input. From my own experience teaching classes with an experiential focus (SEM051: Sex Roles and Relationships, 12A20: Gender Roles in Science, and SP290: Psychology in Action), I knew the importance of providing students with the opportunity to begin to integrate academic and personal material. Too often, first-year students have only the experience of large lectures and recitation sections, with minimal opportunity for interaction and integration. This seminar (like many of the freshman advising seminars) would provide a welcome contrast to traditional education at MIT.
We planned to begin each session with food (a "must" for late afternoon classes) and a thirty minute check-in period where students discussed how their academics were going, as well as their extra-curricular activities and personal lives. During the check-in period, we would ask students to relate (wherever possible) their experiences to the readings and topics we had previously discussed in the seminar. The following hour and a half would be spent introducing the topic for the week and conducting a discussion and exercises related to the topic. We would be joined by speakers from the MIT community on four different occasions who would organize the talk, discussion, and exercises for the session. We would also require students to keep weekly journal entries on the topics in the syllabus, and to integrate theory and practice within those journal entries as much as possible.
After spending half a year helping develop the Freshman Connection, I looked forward to teaching it, especially since I was going to be teaching with Marilee Jones (with whom I had led support groups for graduate student women and academic administrators over the past 10 years). I had also picked two associate advisors for the seminar, Van Chu '99 and Michael Trupiano '00. I knew them both well (I had supervised Van as a tutor and associate advisor in ESG, and Mike as a student trainer in GenderWorks, MIT's peer training program in gender relations) and had a great deal of respect for them professionally and personally.
In August, Donna Friedman (from the Office of Academic Services) gave us a list of our six freshmen (two men and four women) who were a mixture of different ethnic backgrounds (one international student, two Hispanic, one African American, one Asian American, and one Caucasian student). We were ready to go and looked forward to our first class with anticipation. However, only four people showed up on time, with one person coming in half an hour late (she couldn't find the office), and one person not showing up at all (he overslept). The freshmen who did arrive on time were quiet and looked a bit uncomfortable. Uh-oh. Where was this going to head, we asked ourselves? But by the end of the first session, the students had relaxed and were chatting openly about their experiences in high school and what the transition was like to MIT. It was clear to us at that point that we had embarked together on a trip which would be collaborative, lively, and exciting. As the weeks wore on, Marilee and I were continually pleasantly surprised at the enthusiasm and commitment which our students brought to the seminar.
All six students were unanimous in their enthusiasm for this seminar, not only voting with their feet (we had a 100% attendance rate after the first session), but giving the seminar high marks in their end of term evaluations. Several students wrote statements about their experiences in the seminar, which we have shared below to give you a flavor of what students thought.
Daniel Gonzalez '02
"Last semester, I took the Freshman Connection advising seminar. It was the most beneficial experience I have had at MIT. It was a wonderful stress reliever to come into class and discuss my problems with other freshmen over food. My advisors and associate advisors were wonderful and came up with an excellent curriculum. Some of the activities that we did that stand out for me were role playing (my favorite) and drawing our autobiographies. These interesting methods taught us a lot about ourselves, MIT, and our environment."
Maria Otero '02
"The Freshman Connection was one of my best experiences at MIT, not only academically, but also socially and emotionally. This semester offered me (and I think the rest of the group) two hours of time during the hectic week at MIT to reflect on what had happened and to better prepare ourselves for what was coming. The seminar taught us how to deal with the many different aspects of life that we would encounter, and the many changes that would take place. It helped us adapt to the new lives we were all undertaking. However, I think the most important part of this seminar is that it taught us about ourselves. Through topics such as emotional health and relationships, we learned individually how we dealt with our emotions and our expression of emotions. We also learned how to make the best of our feelings and our relationships. The seminar also offered a group separate from the rest of MIT where we knew we were comfortable and at home, and where we could open up without fear...it was like having a small family within MIT that we could count on for support. I am very happy to have put the Freshman Connection as one of my choices and I'm even happier that I got chosen to be part of the group. I would not trade the experience for any other."
Stephanie Wang '02
"For me, the Freshman Connection was like a home away from home. The first few weeks [at MIT] were a bit rough for me, and the group atmosphere of the seminar helped to alleviate the stress related to being so far from home and away from my family and friends. The topics we discussed (such as relationships and communication) were pertinent to the time, helping with life outside the seminar. For example, the discussion about personal health reminded me that there is life beyond academics at MIT. This Freshman Advising Seminar was about more than surviving MIT, but about living life as well."
The associate advisors were also very enthusiastic about the seminar, contributing actively to discussions and meeting regularly with the instructors to modify format as needed. Students and associate advisors were emphatic that this seminar should continue and reach as many other freshmen as possible. When we asked students why they found this seminar so important, they said that it was their only opportunity to discuss their academic and personal lives with other students, associate advisors, and staff in a format which helped them feel safe in opening up, and which taught them theories and techniques that were directly applicable to their own lives.
Where do we go from here?
In response to student recommendations, the seminar will be continued in the fall under a new name (Transitions and Connections: Psychology Looks at the First Year) and a slighlty revised syllabus. The seminar will be taught by Professor Travis Merritt and Dr. Holly Sweet. If more students sign up for the seminar than can be accommodated in that section, faculty and staff will be recruited to run additional sections. If you are interested in participating in this seminar, please contact Professor Merritt <merritt@mit.edu> or Dr. Sweet <hbsweet@mit.edu> for more information.
First-year students at MIT face significant hurdles, including erosion of self esteem, difficulty handling the pressure of academics, a disruption of lifelong relationships with family and friends, and the development of a new network of friends in a short period of time. As MIT continues to analyze the way it deals with first-year students and the issues they face, it is our hope that seminars like the Freshman Connection will become an integral part of the freshman curriculum. MIT is clearly a leader among peer institutions in technical and scientific fields. We would like the Institute to also become a leader in finding ways to better integrate student life and learning, and to root students in a community context from which they can both give and get support for their academic and personal endeavors.
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