Support materials for First Year Seminar courses to cultivate critical communication skills

Presentation slides

Notes from the small group discussions

Dr. Carolyn Shaw carolyn.shaw@wichita.edu 

  • I draw on content from our common read books (often biographies) and invite students to share their own stories with each other. This builds community and trust for hard conversations.  Sample discussion questions from 2023-24. 
  • I also encourage students to reflect on different aspects of their identity and see how those align with others' experiences in the classroom. This helps build common ground and establish trust in the group for further conversations. ex. Identity exercise.

Dr. Kelly McFall 

  • A key component in my first year seminars are games taken from the . 

Dr. Kimberly Engber

Dr. Kevin Harrison