Quest I/FYE Resources
The first year on campus is critical for our students. But what will make it inspiring, welcoming, and intellectually fulfilling is YOU. What you do matters.
Goals of Quest I/First-Year Experience
- Create a new way of teaching first-year students
- Introduce the general idea of a Liberal Education and specifically of a UW Oshkosh liberal education
- Support the academic transition from high school to college
- Foster a sense of community (for them and for us); it’s about relationships
- Assess our students and our program to help develop both
Quest I/First-Year Experience Student Learning Outcomes
- Students will be able to describe the value of a Liberal Education.
- Students will become familiar with the expectations of a college-level education, the UW Oshkosh Essential Learning Outcomes, and the University Studies Program.
- Students will begin their acculturation to life at this university, developing familiarity with the academic resources and community engagement opportunities at UW Oshkosh.
- Students will engage in learning communities to enhance their connections to the class, the university, and one another.
- Students will participate in campus and community life through co-curricular activities.
- Students will begin to take personal responsibility for their intellectual development by archiving learning artifacts in the ePortfolio.
Characteristics of Quest I Disciplinary Courses
Liberal Education and Essential Learning Outcomes
Signature Questions
As the first class in a student's college career, Quest I with embedded FYE exposes students to the campus' three Signature Questions and itself addresses one of those questions in greater depth. The Signature Questions include:
- How do people understand and create a more sustainable world?
- How do people understand and engage in community life?
- How do people understand and bridge cultural differences?
Transition to UW Oshkosh
The embedded FYE course places special emphasis upon acculturating students to the university, to the expectations of a college-level education, and the resources and opportunities that exist at UW Oshkosh.
Class Size and Co-Enrollment
The Quest I disciplinary course is capped at 25 to enhance the connection between the student and the instructor. This course is paired with a writing or speaking course, also capped at 25 students. As a result of their concurrent enrollment in both courses (embedded FYE and writing or speaking course) in their first semester at UW Oshkosh, students form a learning community that will further aid in their transition to the university.
Peer Mentors
All embedded FYE courses are assigned a peer mentor. The peer mentor enhances the students' connections to the class, to the university, and to each other. Peer mentors serve as intellectual role models and academic resources for first-year students, attending some class sessions and accompanying students to co-curricular activities. Student mentors undergo a training program and receive a small stipend for their service which includes assisting first-year students with the ePortfolio process.
Co-Curricular Activities
The Quest I disciplinary course delineates expectations for student attenance at a variety of co-curricular activities (events on and/or off campus) to reinforce students' engagement in the community. These options may include a campus play, an international film, an art exhibit, a music performance, an athletic event or other public opportunities outside the classroom. Lists of options for each semester will be posted on this website, to assist course planning. This component of Quest I generates student awareness of and engagement in campus and community life (crucial contributors to retention and academic success, particularly for first-generation students who comprise more than 50 percent of our population).
Assessment/ePortfolio Launch
The embedded FYE course introduces the ePortfolio as a mechanism for student assessment. During their first semester, students are introduced to the ePortfolio as a tool that is available for use throughout their college careers. A specialist in Learning Technologies will assist the USP teaching community with this element of instruction. In addition to providing the initial introduction to the ePortfolio, Quest I instructors select at least one learning artifact (paper, speech, reflection journal from the co-curricular activities, etc.) for students to upload to their ePortfolios. Instructors are free to determine the assessment tools for individual elements of their courses, though rubrics developed for the assessment of learning outcomes in Quest I are available on this CETL Teaching Resource Center.
