Michigan Tech Essential Education will be soft-launching the Michigan Tech Seminar shared modules beginning this Fall, 2024. These modules are embedded in Intro to the Major seminars or included in existing large-format courses (ENG 1101). Several units are in the process of developing new courses that will use the shared modules and fulfill the seminar requirement. Those majors not offering their own seminar course will have their students take a university-wide seminar beginning in Fall 2025.
Required assignments are expected to require no more than ⅓ of a 1 credit course, with expectations of about 15 hours total of combined in and out of class work. Eight of the nine modules in the list below are now available in Canvas Commons for seminar instructors to access and use. We anticipate that the remaining module will be available in Commons by September 6. Anyone from Michigan Tech can view the modules, but we ask that only Michigan Tech Seminar courses use them with students (to avoid unnecessary repetition of materials).
Modules include:
- Welcome to College — Reviews key policies and resources and helps students understand the differences between high school and college.
- Husky Points — Students select activities to help them connect to the community, University, and resources.
- Career Preparation — Students create an About Me page in the PebblePad ePortfolio platform and draft a resume (optional).
- Time Management — Students track their time use and discuss strategies for time management.
- Academic Planning — Students explore personal and academic goals and make a four-year plan.
- Stress Management — Students learn how stress impacts them physically and mentally and explore strategies and resources for managing stress.
- Loneliness — Students learn to recognize signs of loneliness (in themselves and others) and develop strategies for managing feelings of disconnection and accessing resources.
- Reflection — Students learn more about how reflection supports learning and personal growth and receive instruction and feedback in effective reflective writing.
- Introduction to the Essential Abilities — Students use a structured PebblePad workbook to reflect on the Essential Abilities and identify their own strengths and opportunities for growth.
A special thanks to those instructors who participated in the Seminar Training, which took place on Thursday, August 15. We appreciate the efforts of the summer team that constructed the content and Canvas Modules:
- AJ Hamlin – Engineering Fundamentals
- Maria Bergstrom – Humanities/CSA
- Linda Wanless – Center for Teaching and Learning
- Anna McClatchy – Wahtera Center for Student Success
- Dawn Corwin – Wahtera Center for Student Success
- Nancy Barr – Assessment and Writing Support Specialist/APUE
- Heather Simpson – Exploring Majors/CSA
- Susan Liebau – Chemistry
- Jenn Sams – Library
- Kailee Laplander – Electrical and Computer Engineering
Below is the list of courses that will be launching the Essential Education Seminar components, including new Canvas Modules and associated activities in the Fall of 2024
Participating in Soft Launch Fall 2024
(57 sections, 1125 students)
BL 1580 First Year Exp in Bio Sci
BL 1590 First year exp in pre-health
BL 1600 First Year Exp in Med Lab Sci
CH 1130 PDC1 (prof dev chem)
CS 1000 Explorations in Computing
ENG1101 Engineering Problem Solving and Analysis
HF 1999 Intro to the HF major
HU 1000 Intro to Humanities
KIP 1000 Intro to Exercise Sci
KIP 1010 Intro to Sports and Fit Mgmt
MA 1910 Exploring Symmetry Groups
PSY 1999 Intro to the Psych major
SA1000 – Exploring Majors
SS 1001 Orientation to Soc Sci
Courses in development for Fall of 2025
Nursing
Physics
VPA – Sound Design, Theatre
University-Wide Course
College of Computing
Forestry
Questions? Contact the Essential Education Implementation Leadership Team: essential-ed-l@mtu.edu or reach out to Steve Patchin: shpatchi@mtu.edu