For Instructors

What is a FIG?

A First-Year Interest Group is a cohort of first year students who take a cluster of (usually) three UW classes, linked together to explore a common them. Each FIG is anchored by a small enrollment “main FIG seminar” which is only open to the students in the FIG. The “linked courses” connected to these seminars are regular UW-Madison classes and may be open to other students as well. FIG instructors develop and teach the main FIG seminar courses as part of their normal teaching load.

Cohort learning

Students flourish in FIGs because of the connections they make by participating in a small-scale academic learning community. The FIGs model supports student development in two ways: the small cohort helps them create meaningful relationships with peers and instructors and the curated group of linked courses provides a unique setting for interdisciplinary teaching and learning.

Benefits for you

Rediscover the joy of small-scale undergraduate teaching! FIG students are, on average, diverse, highly engaged, committed, and enthusiastic. Because they attend classes together, they are frequently more comfortable participating in discussions, forming study groups for assignments and projects, and they feel more accountable to attend every class.

FIG instructors describe the opportunity to engage in interdisciplinary teaching as “the most memorable part of the experience.” In addition, some report that teaching a FIG positively affects the way they teach their non-FIG classes, and even that the experience has helped to transform their research agenda.

Leading a FIG is an excellent way to:

• introduce new students to your field/department
• contribute directly toward campus diversity and retention efforts
• develop a new class or re-think an established class
• try out new pedagogical strategies in a unique teaching and learning environment

Creating a FIG

FIGs are only offered in the fall when new students most need the kind of peer and instructor support provided by this kind of program. Proposals are welcome using the forms linked on the upper right of this page.

Timing

Proposals for FIGs should be submitted by October 31 of the preceding year. If you have questions about teaching in the program, please contact the director at nathan.phelps@wisc.edu.

Building your FIG

Start by establishing the theme or topic of your main FIG seminar. This theme will inform the selection of the “linked classes” that will be attached to your seminar.

Keep in mind that FIGs are available only to first-year students.

• What topics might appeal to students just starting their post secondary education?
• What topics are broad enough to benefit from an interdisciplinary approach?
• What are some big questions or big ideas you might want to address?
• What might be the “hook” to encourage students to join your FIG?

Your main FIG seminar will enroll no more than 20 students. It can be a course that already exists in the University Guide, or it can be a new class created just for this purpose. Preferably, this seminar will be a three-credit course that fulfills a general education requirement.

Students in your main FIG seminar also will enroll in two “linked courses.” If you have ideas about courses (or disciplines) that might be good linked course options, please include them in your proposal. However, you do not need to identify linked courses in your proposal– we can/will help identify some good possibilities, based on your proposed “main FIG seminar” theme.

We welcome the opportunity to discuss your ideas, help identify linked classes, or answer any of your questions. Please contact us!