Teaching Freshmen and the Freshman Experience

Teaching freshmen is a special experience. Freshmen come from all over the globe with different backgrounds, experiences, expectations, and needs. Freshmen year defines a process of intellectual, social, emotional and cultural adaptation and development. As faculty and teaching assistants we have an important role to play in this process.

In this talk, I will talk about the challenges faced by the students and the approach we can take to make the freshmen experience a rewarding one for both students and teachers. I will share the wisdom others have passed along to me as well as insights from my own experience teaching 15-110, which is the introductory computer science course that serves a broad range of non-majors.