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For years, 91制片厂鈥檚 University Seminar (USEM) courses helped new students begin their college journeys in traditional classrooms. But in the third year of USEM鈥檚 revamped team-taught format, COVID-19 forced instructors to transform USEM into a hybrid classroom experience.

This year, only about a third of USEM students gather in classrooms, while the rest join on Zoom. Though some students are learning remotely, and others are in the classroom, course instructors promote active learning and engagement through live and online discussions, small and large group projects and lots of questions.

Participation in this hybrid format is made more exciting by themed courses. Each of the USEM courses have a different theme and students choose their course based on personal interest.

鈥淲e carefully considered First-Year students鈥� needs and decided to create a more diverse student experience centered on themes of personal identity,鈥� said Jesse Kavadlo, Professor of English and Humanities. Kavadlo鈥檚 course is titled, 鈥淗arry Potter and the Quest for the Glow Up.鈥�

鈥淭he Harry Potter books and films become a template for students to understand themselves,鈥� Kavadlo said. Harry鈥檚 experience at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry shows how education can become a path to a better life.

A team-teaching model also helps ensure connection with first-year students. In Kavadlo鈥檚 class, Life Coach Seth Matteson helps students appreciate their differences and skills, and how both enrich Maryville鈥檚 community.

鈥淚 bring students to life in the classroom,鈥� Matteson said. 鈥淔or example, they got very excited talking about how the different magical creatures in Harry鈥檚 world relate to diversity and inclusion in our world.鈥�

Senior Instructional Technology Specialist Taylor Bell serves as the class鈥檚 鈥渢ech guru,鈥� and a fourth member of the team is a second-year student, called a peer mentor. The peer mentor provides support to both the first-year students and the teaching trio.

鈥淚 enjoy helping students find answers to their own questions in their own ways,鈥� said Samantha Marty, peer mentor in Kavadlo鈥檚 class.

According to Kavadlo, having a teaching trio is a major contributor to a successful hybrid experience. 鈥淪tudents get more connection and contact with Maryville鈥檚 faculty and staff, and we鈥檙e able to manage the logistics of mixed attendance more easily.鈥�

Another USEM teaching team built their course around The Wizard of Oz. One of its professors, Laura Ross, Associate Director of the Finch Center for Teaching and Learning, said that 鈥渙ur USEM course is about how challenges are necessary to grow, like Dorothy learns in The Wizard of Oz.鈥�

鈥淥ur hybrid approach gives students opportunities to reflect in small groups about their college journeys, and how challenges can help them become who they want to be,鈥� Ross said.