About the Colloquium
Instructors of first-year university science subjects face unique challenges.
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They usually work with very large classes;
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They often teach ‘service’ courses in which students show little interest but need to take as a requirement for another major;
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Their students show a wide diversity in career-aspirations, aptitude and previous experience in science;
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Their students often struggle to adapt to the transition to University systems for instruction and assessment;
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Their courses are often under-represented by female students;
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Their completion rates and academic grade distributions are often lower for Māori and Pasifika than for Pākehā students.
FYSEC is a forum in which tutors and lecturers from tertiary institutions throughout New Zealand can meet to explore solutions to these challenges.
It is also an opportunity to discuss with secondary school teachers how to smooth the transition from school to university, as well as a chance to sample the latest educational technologies and new types of learning spaces. Our overarching goal is to deliver a first-year science experience that is second to none.
Jointly hosted by the University of Auckland and Auckland University of Technology University, FYSEC builds on the popular First Year Biology Educators Colloquium (FYBEC), which has met annually since 2010, bringing tertiary biology instructors together for two days to share the problems they face, and to discuss their strategies for improving the student experience. Of course, the challenges of teaching science to first years are not unique to Biology, and in 2016 the organisers agreed to widen the scope of the colloquium to make it directly relevant to instructors in all other science disciplines.