Developing a Topic-Centered First-Year Seminar with an Emphasis on Information Literacy at a Large Regional University

In this article, the authors describe the process through which faculty and staff members at Georgia Southern University (GSU) have collaborated to revamp our First-Year Seminar. In 2006, a university task force reviewed results of GSU self-study data as well as best practices at other institutions to make recommendations for improvements to the first-year experience for our students. The task force made several recommendations that included significantly modifying our First-Year Seminar to include a focus on information literacy and to set a more academic tone. A set of online tutorials was developed to support the learning outcomes related to information literacy within the new seminar. The benefits and challenges of implementing this new seminar are discussed.