FIRE 1000 (Freshmen Introduction to Reasoning Essentials) is a first-year course intended to stimulate students’ academic self-efficacy, depth of intellectual inquiry, and problem-solving skills. This is done through research and reflection to achieve a deeper understanding of themselves, their purpose, and the campus community. FIRE 1000 was launched in 2017 and is required at GSC for all new students and transfer students under 13 credit hours.
Evaluation Plan and measures: KPIs: Students completing the USG Mindset Survey
Baseline measure (for each KPI): 50% of students enrolled in FIRE 1000 every semester
Current/most recent data (for each KPI):not available yet
Goal or targets (for each KPI): 65%
Time period/duration: 1 year
The course underwent a partial redesign in the Fall of 2021. The course was broken into three units: 1. Mindset and student success, 2. Self-knowledge and academic planning, and 3. Critical thinking in a focus area. Over the last year, we have been making observations and gathering data related to the efficacy of the redesign.
We have integrated NACE soft skills into the course.
We have integrated Stepping Blocks into the course.
We administer the USG Mindset Survey to all students in the class.
One instructor has begun to experiment with student accountability teams. In this, the instructor creates teams of students at the start of the semester. Team members are tasked with encouraging others to attend class and succeed. There is also some group work involved.
Two of our FIRE instructors (Steve Raynie and Valerie Calhoun) are working on an open-source textbook for the course. Six chapters have been drafted so far.
We are considering renaming the course. We believe “freshman” has a limiting connotation for the course, and “introduction” makes it seem like it is a simple or non-involved course.
We will focus on rebranding the course to students, so they perceive it as valuable and fundamental to their studies and future professional life.
We are starting to discuss switching back to our old course model, where instructors act as advisors for the students. From our experience and based on student feedback, students’ sense of belonging increases when their FIRE instructor is also their advisor.
Challenges: To adopt our old model, where FIRE instructors also serve as student advisors, we will need to hire more lecturers/advisors. However, our professional advisors are not qualified to teach FIRE 1000. This change may not be possible in the immediate future, as it requires funding that GSC does not have.
Support Needed: Funding or a grant to hire lecturers/advisors to teach FIRE 1000 and serve as advisors for first-year students.
