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Freshman Interest Groups Freshman Interest Groups (FIGS) are a type of learning community.[1] FIGs are curricular structures among others that were instituted for the First Year Experience in American universities in the late 20th century. The basic approach of a FIG Program is to bring a small group of freshmen together into the same two or three courses during their first quarter. While there are variations in their structure, the following is a basic template: Freshmen courses in the program are pre-selected and organized around some theme, such as "Pre-Engineering" or The Individual and Society." Entering freshmen will register for all of the course all at once. Each group consists of about 20 to 24 freshmen. All of the groups consist of at least one course comprised entirely of Freshmen Interest Group students and, in courses in which parts of a large lecture course are broken into small sections led by a Teaching Assistant, most or all of the students in such designated section are in the Freshman Interest Group Program. The intent of such programs is to provide a structure within which students just starting college can share the majority of their classes with the same fellow students with whom they should get to know well. The organization of the courses gives the new students a set schedule with courses that fill requirements. Each group is lead by an advanced student, often called a peer adviser, who provides information, support and guidance. FIGs are intended to replace the large, impersonal environment of a major university with the small, personal structure of the group and thus make the transition to college easier for first time students. Contents

History[edit source] The first FIGs were developed at the University of Oregon in 1981.[2] One of its founders, Jack Bennett, presented the idea for the program at a regional conference of the National Academic Counselors and Advisers meeting in Corvallis, Oregon in the spring of 1986. Based on that presentation FIGs were adopted at the University of Washington in 1987 and its success there generated publicity and academic articles(3) that stimulated many other universities to adopt the same approach to the point that today there are a large number of campuses where it is flourishing such as the University of Wisconsin, the University of Texas, Florida State University, the University of Missouri, the University of Hawai`i and outside the United States at McGill University. Some schools now refer to the program as First Year Interest Groups or by other names while retaining the same basic structure. Evidence of Success[edit source] These programs have been shown to be of value in retention and academic success. At the University of Washington, research showed that students who participated in FIGs have a 3 % higher rate of re-enrolling the following quarter than those not in FIGs.(3) This is notable because both rates were well over 90%. Moreover, graduation rates for freshmen who had been in the FIG program was 6% higher after 6 years than those who had not. In a 1994 study(4) three theme emerged: FIGs gave students the opportunity to interact early and repeatedly with the same set of fellow freshmen across their classes. This, then, allowed a social support network to form. Ideally, links between classes engaged students with their course content while immersed in their social interactions. References[edit source] Gordon, T. W., Young, J. C. & Kalianov, C. J. Connecting the Freshman year Exerience through Learning Communities: Practical Implications for Academic and Student Affairs. College Student Affairs Journal. 20, 37+. Beckett, A. and Marrero, T. (2005) Freshman Interest Groups: Creating Seamless Learning Communities to Enhance Student Success. Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition. 1-11. Tokuno, K. A. and Campbell, F. L. (1992) Freshman Interest Groups at the University of Washington: Effects on Retention and Scholarship, The Journal of the Freshman Year Experience, 4, 7-22. Tinto, V. and Goodsell, A. (1994) Freshman Interest Groups and the First Year Experience: Constructing Student Communities in a Large University, The Journal of the First Year Experience and Students in Transition, 1, 7-28.

External links[edit source]

Freshman Interest Groups Celebrate 30 Years at University of Washington Florida State Freshman Interest Groups.