The Freshman Connection
"Linking for learning...connecting for college success"

The Freshman Connection is a student learning community for incoming undecided/undeclared students and business students. This Learning Community program will help students succeed during a very critical time: their first semester in college. The first semester in college can be overwhelming for first year students, and the Freshman Connection provides a learning community that enables new students to take an active role in their own education. Students work with outstanding faculty and advisors and participate in exciting academic classes with other freshmen. Students will take three linked classes where they will have an opportunity to study together and help each other be successful in their first semester and thereafter.

How are students chosen for the Freshman Connection?

Students are chosen to become part of the Freshman Connection from a large group of entering freshman that applied to the university, criteria:

  • Eligible for AAS 098/CHS 098/ ENGL 098/PAS 098
  • Declared major is either undecided or business
  • Identified by the academic advisement staff at CSUN as an excellent candidate for this program

What courses will I take?

All students in the program take UNIV 100 (college success course that satisfies a General Education requirement), a section of developmental writing 098, and either: SOC 150 or PSY 150 (each satisfies Section D of the General Education requirements). Not all students will enroll in the same math course, but those who do might have as many as four classes together. The Freshman Connection helps students learn more deeply and develop long-lasting relationships at the university.

Freshman Link is an innovative model that promotes academic & social connections for first-year students through an integrated, interdisciplinary, & collaborative teaching and learning community.

What are Learning Community Courses?

  • Courses that combine at least two different classes in different disciplines or areas in order to show the connections between them.
  • Courses that are taught by at least two instructors, each from the different disciplines or areas included in the course.
  • Courses in which students and teachers form a community of learners, working together to ask questions and discover answers.

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What can Learning Community Courses do for you?

  • You can interact with other students and teachers and be part of a closely-knit, supportive community of learners.
  • You can work with other students on activities and projects.
  • You may experience a variety of learning, including discussions, activities, projects, field trips, and lectures.
  • Students and teachers work closely together, contributing what they already know and seeking new knowledge.

How do you register for Learning Community Courses?

  • Check your Schedule of Classes for learning community offerings.
  • Register for the classes in the learning community during regular on-campus registration. You must register for ALL classes listed together.
  • Problems with registration? Contact your advisor in the Advising Resource Center/EOP [SB210] at 818.677.2108

Learning Communities
External Links and Other Resources

  • Learning Community Commons: The web site of the National Learning Communities Project: http://learningcommons.evergreen.edu
  • Temple University's Learning Communities site: http://www.temple.edu/LC
  • Jodi Levine's, Learning Communities:  New Structures, New Partnerships for Learning (1999) addresses issues of structuring, implementing, and assessing learning communities.  It is available from the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition via the web site http://www.sc.edu/fye.
  • Gabelnick, F., MacGregor, J., Matthews, R. S., Smith, B. L. (1990). Learning communities: Creating connections among students, faculty, and disciplines. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass.
  • Shapiro, N. S. & Levine, J. H.  (1999). Creating learning communities: A practical guide to winning support, organizing for change, and implementing programs. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass.
     
  • Tinto, V. (1997). Classrooms as communities. Journal of Higher Education, 68 (6): 599-623.
  • Tinto, V. & Goodsell, A. (1998). Freshman interest groups and the first-year experience: Constructing student communities in a large university. Journal of the Freshman Year Experience, 6 (1): 7-28.
  • UNIV 100
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