Author(s)

Yongli Bi ¹, Shigang Wang ¹, Zhongxian Wang ¹, Zunbing Sheng ¹, Haibing Zhang ¹, Chunyan Li ¹, Wenjuan Qi ¹, Tong Zhang ¹

Affiliation(s)

¹ School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Heilongjiang University, Harbin, China

Corresponding Author

Yongli Bi

ABSTRACT

Freshman seminar courses, as an important component of university education, aim to help first-year students adapt to the university learning environment and improve their overall quality through interdisciplinary discussions and critical thinking training. These courses originated in Western countries, particularly in Europe and the United States, and have gradually spread and developed worldwide. Firstly, the paper explores the origins and dissemination of freshman seminar courses, analysing their implementation in foreign universities, especially in Europe and the United States. Secondly, it provides a detailed description of the implementation of freshman seminar courses in Chinese universities, taking into account the characteristics of Chinese higher education. Finally, the paper forecasts the future development trends of these courses, suggesting that they will increasingly play a critical role in fostering student innovation, critical thinking, and social adaptability, becoming an essential platform for talent cultivation in universities.

KEYWORDS

Freshman seminar course, education reform, interdisciplinary teaching, critical thinking

CITE THIS PAPER

Yongli Bi, Shigang Wang, Zhongxian Wang, Zunbing Sheng, Haibing Zhang, Chunyan Li, Wenjuan Qi, Tong Zhang, Status and Development Trends of Freshman Seminar Courses in Domestic and Foreign Universities. Curriculum and Teaching Methodology (2024) Vol. 7: 120-125. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/curtm.2024.070918.

REFERENCES

[1] Shun Yang, Congman Rao. (2024) First-year Experience in American Universities: Functional Positioning, Implementation Paths and Operation Guarantee, Journal of Higher Education, 45(3), 99-109.
[2] Jing Xiong, Jie Yang. (2018) Transition and Adaptation: Exploration of Harvard University Freshman Guidance and Support Service System, Higher Education Exploration, (7), 56-63.
[3] Rajeeb Das, Erika Schmitt, Michael Stephenson. (2024) A Quasiexperimental Analysis of First-Year Seminar Outcomes at a Large University, Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 25(4), 940-954.
[4] Herpen S. G., Meeuwisse M., Adriaan Hofman W. H. (2020) A head Start in Higher Education: The Effect of a Transition Intervention on Interaction, Sense of Belonging, and Academic Performance, Studies in Higher Education, 45(4), 862-877.
[5] Ruoxi Ding, Manli Li. (2022) The Gap Between Middle School and University after the Popularization of Higher Education: a Concept and Analytical Framework, Education Science, 38(1), 73-80.
[6] Dongqing Xu. (2021) Interdisciplinary Education: The Growth Point of Higher Education Reform, Shanghai Education, (14), 28-31.
[7] Zhiyi Zhang, Weiming Guan, Xin Li. (2024) Exploring the Teaching Mode of Freshman Seminar Course from the Perspective of Engineering Certification, Journal of Higher Education, (11), 100-103.
[8] Ward C. J., Ohde K., Rose J. S., Critchlow C., Park J., Vaughan A. L. (2020) First-year Seminars: Supporting Stem College Student Academic Success and Persistence, Journal of First-year Experience & Students in Transition, 32(2), 45-58. 
[9] Huiying Cui. (2023) Exploration of Research-based Practical Teaching Reform in Freshman Seminar Courses under the Background of Disciplinary and Professional Integration, Heilongjiang Education (Research an Evaluation of Higher Education), (8), 42-44.
[10] Qianlei Yang, Yuhua Zhou, Wenxin Bao, Yan An. (2023) Comparative Study on the Teaching Status of Freshman Seminar Courses at Home and Abroad, Journal of Higher Education, (2), 61-64.

Sponsors, Associates, and Links

---

• Advances in Educational Technology and Psychology
  
  
• Transactions on Comparative Education
  
  
• Applied & Educational Psychology
  
  
• Advances in Vocational and Technical Education
  
  
• Adult and Higher Education