The Challenge of Integrative and Applied Learning
for Today’s First-Generation Students
By: Jonathan Rossing
Faculty and administrators continue to recognize the unique needs of First-generation college students. And we understand the value of integrated and applied learning as we strive to help students practice new knowledge across disciplines and in their everyday lives. But have our institutions accounted for the ways First- generation college students complicate the success of integrative and applied learning?
The profile of a First-generation, “traditional-age” college student whose parents never completed baccalaureate degrees paints an incomplete portrait. We must contend with the dynamic character of “First -generation” students. Many parents now enter college for the first time with their children, yielding two generations of firsts. Single, working parents enroll in classes to advance their careers and opportunities. Students in a “sandwich generation,” caring for children and aging parents, seek out higher education for the first time. Given the country’s current military engagement and economic struggles, campuses see First-generation students returning from several tours of duty, and others seeking advanced education due to unemployment. And in a global community, more First-generation students are also First-generation U.S. citizens. This complex student sketch appears across all institutions—urban and rural, four-year and community colleges, research and liberal arts.
This dynamic profile creates unique challenges for curricula featuring integrated and applied learning. For example, many of these students come to campus with clearly defined career goals and aspirations. Today’s First- generation students demonstrate an expansive range of educational motivations. As a result, they may resist some of the integrated learning strategies or even avoid coursework that, at first glance, appears to divert from their specific goals. Many of today’s First- generation students also arrive with complex and pressing life commitments. These time constraints and life routines may affect attendance and engagement inside the classroom where applied learning begins. And these challenges may impact their ability and readiness to practice knowledge application in the context of their everyday lives.
For these reasons, faculty and administrators must ask: What do your First-generation students look like? What range of life experiences do you serve? What motivates your First- generation students and drives their selection of majors? Educators should ask these questions in individual classes each semester, but leaders should also investigate carefully the First- generation profile from the departmental to the institutional levels. We will likely find it necessary to adapt learning strategies and services in response to the dynamic profiles and life experiences of today’s First-generation students.
Jonathan Rossing is a Rhetoric and Public Culture Graduate Student at Indiana University. Rossing received the 2010 K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Award during AAC&U’s 2010 Annual Meeting.
