UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Just as first-year students want to become engaged in many activities on the Penn State campus, the College of Education strives to quickly become an integral part of their lives as well.
College administrators leveraged resources this fall to try to increase engagement for students, and started by reaching out to education students who commenced classwork remotely over the summer months or were transitioning from Commonwealth Campuses in order to touch base.
Methods included a mentoring program where the older students on the Education Student Council connected with incoming students; first-year seminars; a special living option; and a book club that the council will conduct for undergraduate and graduate students this spring.
“We have this intentional focus on engaging our first-year students who are in-residence or first-year students who are remote and connecting them as well, so it's a multi-pronged approach,” said Rayne Sperling, associate dean for undergraduate and graduate studies.
“For in-residence students, we intentionally made sure that all of our first-year seminar courses in the college are offered as career pathways offerings, so a student who comes to University Park will be able to enroll in an in-person, first-year seminar.”
Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, several of the courses first-year students take for entrance to major requirements have companion sections, according to Sperling.
“They're tying a remote set of students in with the same section as those that are in person so we can do breakout rooms that include both in-person and remote students," she explained.
Sperling noted that she thought students are “very appreciative” for their in-person classes. “I think they're also appreciative that if they're not here in person, that they're able to make academic progress,” she said. “Nobody is being held up, whether they're remote or whether they're in person, and that has been really important to us and a priority.
“We're in helping professions. And I think that students really missed the amount of face-to-face contact that they're used to, and they miss being able to join each other in community. But I really think that our instructors are doing a great job on finding opportunities to connect students,” Sperling said.
First-year seminar topics are wide-ranging but each includes emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion and having difficult conversations. Sperling said that the newly renamed Office of Education and Social Equity helps with programming, and the college leveraged some Student Affairs health and wellness promotions to provide opportunities for students through their programming.
“Faculty teaching students who are enrolled remotely in our college entrance to major classes work closely with advising, and our advisers are making sure that they're accessible and reaching out to students and holding all the meetings that they would normally have,” Sperling added.
“I also think for the first-year students, a part of the first-year experience is finding ways to help them connect to Penn State in the college and our other communities. I think that in general our students are pretty well-connected even from the beginning. I do attribute a lot of that to our really strong advising staff; they really do reach out to students. I think they do a great job, and our students really appreciate our advisers and just their work,” she said.
The Education Student Council also held virtual board game nights, a virtual escape room and other opportunities to help keep students engaged despite the remote setting.
Another option to assist students on the academic and social aspects of early college life is the special living option (SLO), also called Education House, in which a residence hall floor is designated solely for education students.