Innovative courses at UWRF benefit students, educators alike

As students return to classes at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls next month, first-year students within the College of Arts and Sciences will find themselves tackling non-traditional topics as an introduction to their college career. With topics ranging from health claims to airplanes to doodling, First Year Adventure (FYA) is an innovative approach to university-level learning created to enrich students' minds and lives from their first days on campus.

A pair of task forces led by Tricia Davis, now the interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), in the summers of 2013 and 2015 led to the creation of the program that will mark its second year in 2017-18. Designed to promote and enhance skills critical to student success, as well as to aid in student retention, first-year students who have a major within CAS are required to take a FYA course.

FYA bills itself as an "innovative one-of-a-kind class designed to promote student engagement, improve information literacy, enhance critical thinking skills, promote constructive teamwork abilities and improve retention rates." The program is intended to introduce students to "rigorous academic study at the university level" and is taught through small seminar-style classes.

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