We met as graduate students in the first group to take part in an experimental master’s program in first-year studies. This program established the study of first-year students as an academic discipline, offering classes in the cognitive development of first-year students, approaches to multiculturalism in the first-year experience, first-year seminar and program design, the history of...

I would foremost like to thank Jenny Dale for always serving as the brightest inspiration for my teaching practice and Adrienne Button, with whom I conceived this book, for being one of the smartest and strongest people I know. I would also like to thank Samantha Harlow and Rachel Olsen for their help and for sharing their personal expertise with me. I am likewise grateful to Amy Harris Houk,...

Thus, while the first year of college can be exhilarating, it can also be incredibly difficult and stressful. Far from being solely about academics, first-year students must learn to navigate social, cultural, physical, mental, familial, and financial concerns, among others. In the United States, as many as one in three first-year students do not return for their sophomore...

One crucial aspect of preparing to teach first-year students is considering whether you would benefit from a structured training plan in a new first-year instruction role. Many new graduates, along with those transitioning from other types of library positions, may have little-to-no formal experience with teaching students at any level before accepting an instruction...

Online learning is growing at a rapid rate in America. According to the US Department of Education, the number of undergraduate students taking online or distance education classes rose from 15 percent in 2003-20041 to 31 percent in 2015-2016.2 The demographics of online learners vary from institution to institution, but the flexibility of online degrees...

As previously discussed, teaching librarians who work with first-year students often feel an immense amount of pressure to cover all the information literacy skills and habits of mind students will need as lifelong learners, often in a single instruction session. Because of this, assessment can feel like just one more thing first-year instruction librarians are expected to fit into a too-brief...

While their answers touched on many different aspects of teaching first-year students, some common themes emerged. These themes included predictions based on reflecting on their on-the-ground experiences in academic libraries as well as analysis of trends in higher education, and aspirations for future directions in the profession of information literacy instruction. Additionally,...

Adrienne Button, MS, MLIS, is the instruction coordinator for the Kaufman Library at Georgia Gwinnett College, where she developed the GGC Information Literacy Omnibus, a foundational document that aligns the ACRL Framework to the research process, with particular emphasis on designing learning experiences for first-year students. She has presented on this work...

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