October 2005

Briefly speaking: Small classes for new students

Professor Mohamed Hafez demonstrates what makes airplanes fly in his popular freshman seminar. (Karin Higgins)

Coming from smaller high school classes, college freshmen may find a lecture hall of several hundred students a bit intimidating — especially when they have little or no contact with the professor in charge of the course. But there are opportunities at UC Davis for interactive and meaningful learning experiences in small groups led by faculty through Freshmen Seminars.

These seminars take no more than 20 students, and priority for enrollment is given to freshmen. They are one or two units, and some can be taken on a pass/no pass basis. Topics offered this quarter include obesity and the politics of food, Al Qaeda, insects in the city, Chicago blues and The Kite Runner, this year's campus community book project.

"This is a fantastic program that students and professors love," says Janet Chambers, Freshman Seminars program coordinator at the Teaching Resources Center. "The classes are almost always full."

Last year, the campus offered 156 freshmen seminars. An estimated 70 seminars are being offered this fall alone.

Teresa Chiang (left) examines her glider as Sakurako Yazawa points out a problematic tail piece during the "What Makes Airplanes Fly?" freshman seminar. (Karin Higgins)

John Theobald, a continuing lecturer in communications who leads a seminar each quarter and will focus on science and journalism this fall, says the intimate courses provide students close contact with a faculty member and also the freedom to explore different topics in much the same way they might later on in their academic career.

"I especially look forward to the first term," Theobald says. "I'm presented with students who were in high school classes just three months ago. This is an opportunity to show them that they're on their own — it snaps them into a new world pretty quickly."

Mechanical engineering professor Mohamed Hafez, who teaches the popular course "What Makes Airplanes Fly?," says the benefits to students are numerous, including the chance to participate in small roundtable discussions. The seminars also provide a solid introduction to topics students will later encounter in larger classes.

"These small classes bring out the best in students," he says. "There is no exam, fear or pressure — they simply enjoy participating."

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