Advising Points for History Education Freshmen

Printable Advising Points (pdf)

General reminders

• Advisors should always post advisor notes.
• Ideally, advisors should meet with students once each semester to help them choose their courses for the following semester.
• Make sure all students have a copy of the History Education Degree Checklist, available on the web site. Remind them that they should bring a copy filled out to every advising session throughout their undergraduate career.
• It is imperative that students save all graded assignments and syllabi throughout their college career in order to complete their learning portfolio

Introduction to the History Education Program

• Welcome all advisees to the program in the early fall and encourage them to attend the mandatory Social Studies orientation session in late September.
• Stress the rigor of our program and the need for careful planning in order to graduate in four years.
• Make sure students understand the GPA requirements for admission to student teaching (2.75 cumulative, 3.0 major GPAs). Many students play catch-up for three years because they earned poor grades their first year.

Freshman Coursework

• Students are strongly urged to take courses that satisfy general University and College requirements, i.e. Math, English 110, and foreign language courses. It is also important to take introductory history courses and those in the fields of economics, political science, and geography that satisfy requirements for the major.
• Introduce students to the concept of “double-dipping” (courses that count for a breadth requirement as well as a related coursework requirement) and the coursework matrix on the web site.
• As soon as students have completed their math requirements, they should take the CORE (formerly Praxis I), a test of general skills/knowledge that is a prerequisite for a teaching credential. They should have their scores sent to UD (directions on the web site).
• Students interested in pursuing a minor that will help them secure a future teaching position should be directed here.

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