Charting the impact of freshmen orientation in degree courses for educators: a seminar case-study

First-year seminar courses have been identified in international literature as a high impact practice supporting students’ integration at university. The case-study discussed here is based on a degree course in Education Science aimed at training future early childhood educators and social educators at the University of Macerata (Italy). The current complex social and cultural landscape may not help students have a clear vision of what professional opportunities they can expect from a degree, especially in the case of social educators. The seminar organised for freshmen within the innovation program PRO3 resulted in a twofold success. The initiative revealed a valuable opportunity for students to investigate their expectations through direct contact with experts in the field where they could approach key disciplinary concepts following reflection through a guided immersive learning path. The hands-on approach and group-work, chosen as didactical modalities applied to the seminar, were revealed as productive strategies to get students fully involved in the training experience.