In
the first year of study at Moravian, all students take a course called
Introduction to College Life and participate in programs of physical
fitness and health. To allow students to achieve a consistent level
of computer literacy as soon as possible, a combination of workshops
and computer-assisted instruction is available to all incoming students.
First-year students also take a writing course in order to participate
more successfully in all their college classes.
This required course introduces first-year students to
the intellectual life of Moravian College and helps them to develop
a coherent plan for their education and to maximize their academic
performance.
Each section of the course, containing no more than 18 students, is
led by a faculty member who then continues as a mentor throughout each
student’s four years at Moravian. During this course, students
start the portfolios they will develop during their college careers.
These can be notebooks or computer files, or both, in which students
document their achievements and experiences over four years and assess
their learning based upon the goals they have set for themselves.
As part of this course, first-year students assess their
leisure patterns and then develop personal strategies for their fitness
behavior. They also learn about the components of health and wellness,
do health-style self-tests, and develop their own personal wellness
strategies.
Offered in multiple seminar sections, the writing course
teaches students how to assess their college writing projects in order
to choose appropriate rhetorical and research strategies and to employ
them effectively. Students become adept as well in technologies used
for research and writing. Instruction in oral communication skills is
also part of the first-year writing classes.
