First Class

First Class is Armstrong's proposed quality enhancement program specifically designed to prepare first year students for academic success. Beginning students will learn the ins and outs of managing college life, learn how to find, evaluate and use information, and increase their engagement with the university through participation in a First Class learning community.

Each First Class community will comprise a first-year seminar and a core course. Instruction in those courses will be closely coordinated so that the courses reinforce one another. By participating in this learning community, first year students will learn campus engagement skills and information literacy skills to enable them to answer their own questions and solve their own problems.

A pilot implementation for First Class was performed in Fall 2012. The official kickoff of First Class will take place fall semester 2013. Students will be able to choose from many sections of the learning community with core classes to best fit their academic program. They can request their choice as they sign up for Navigate Armstrong.