With the Fall 2021 semester quickly approaching, the staff of the Center for Teaching and eLearning Initiatives is ready to help you prepare and get the semester started on a positive note. In thinking about the start of the new semester, the staff would like to share ideas for promoting student success in the classroom as well as tips for faculty professional success.
Promoting Student Success
Student Success should be at the forefront of planning and teaching for the Fall 2021 semester. The following ideas will help you promote student success in your courses.
- Keep it simple and flexible.
Review your course assignments and due dates in order to provide as much simplicity and flexibility to students as possible. Revisit the course and unit learning outcomes to ensure that these are being met by any revised assignments. Before the semester begins, build online quizzes and assignment submission areas in Canvas to make the collection of student work easy and seamless. Adding assignment due dates will help students track their progress in the course.
- Encourage students to use collaborative note-taking.
Students may find themselves in a situation where they must miss class sessions due to illness or quarantine. At the beginning of the semester, assign pairs of students for each class meeting who will be responsible for contributing to a shared note-taking document in the Google Drive or Microsoft Teams (both of which students have access to for free with their student accounts). Encouraging collaborative note-taking will build community in the class and help students who may have to miss class feel less stressed about their absence.
- Continue to use instructional strategies that promote engagement.
Remote synchronous learning allowed many faculty to use new technologies that increased student engagement in learning. Consider continuing to use technology to gauge student learning and understanding. If you are teaching in person, encourage a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) environment and continue to use technology-related courseware like TopHat, Jamboard, or Microsoft Teams to gather real-time feedback of student learning. If you are teaching online or in person, send announcements in Canvas and encourage students to visit during your office hours.
- Be mindful of pandemic-related trauma.
We have had a collective yet varying experience during the pandemic. Remember that some students may have negative reactions to discussions of COVID-19 (due to the loss of a loved one, financial struggles due to family members losing jobs, etc). Be mindful of how the varying experiences of students may impact their comfort in engaging in discussions about the topic. Consider checking out the webinar provided by Dr. Martha Stirckland, Dr. Andrew Tatusko, and Dr. Stephanie Winkeljohn Black in August 2020 entitled, “Trauma Informed Pedagogy: Facilitating Learning When Students are Under Stress.”
- Promote student resources.
Remind students of the variety of resources available to them – the Learning Resource Center, Health and Wellness Center, Recreation, the Library, and more. Students may have been studying in isolation during the past several semesters. Despite remote access to many of these services, they may not have been using them. Remind students that these resources are available and that you highly encourage them to use them as part of their weekly routines. This can be done in your syllabus as well as in Canvas and classroom announcements. The University Resources website provides contact information for various resources by campus. The Student Services site has a list of Behrend-specific Student Services.
Faculty-centered Success
Faculty success is important to consider as well as student success. Working in higher education during the Fall 2021 semester is likely to be a challenge due to ever changing circumstances. The following tips are meant to enhance you as a person, scholar, and teacher.
- Prepare for the first day of class.
James Lang shares some insights on how to approach the first day of class, whether this occurs in person or online, in his article entitled “How to Teach a Good First Day of Class.” He suggests using the first day to spark curiosity in the content of your course and build community between you and your students. To do this, he offers ideas to foster discussion and humanize yourself to your students. Starting the course with activities geared toward curiosity and community, rather than with a discussion of the syllabus, can help our students to feel a sense of belonging and excitement. He also offers ideas for preparing for the first day, like reviewing your roster ahead of time and visiting your classroom a few days early to get comfortable in the space.
- Organize your mind.
Our mindsets help to shape how we experience our reality. If we can focus on thoughts that are energizing, affirming, and empowering, our personal and professional lives will be enhanced. Establish an efficient morning routine to help you establish your daily must-dos and goals to ensure you are maximizing your time and energy for the day. Taking time each day to organize your tasks and mind will get your semester off to a great start and allow you to maintain your routines through the end of the semester.
- Build your team.
Being separated from campus may have caused professional relationships to decline. Consider re-building your team of colleagues that will help motivate you in your research, teaching, and service. Establish how you will connect with your team, such as bi-weekly lunch or coffee chats or setting up a Microsoft Team. The Center for Teaching and eLearning is always available for personalized consultations to discuss ideas.
- Keep informed.
Circumstances around the pandemic change often. Penn State has several ways for you to keep informed. Refer to the Penn State Keep Teaching Website. This site has a plethora of topics, including FAQs, to keep you updated. Additionally, all faculty receive a weekly email digest of “News for Faculty and Instructors.” Check your inbox or read past issues at the Penn State Pandemic News Digest Archive.
- Explore additional resources on how to navigate your Fall 2021 re-entry.
A resource to consider viewing is a recorded session from the Fall 2021 Instructor Days entitled “The Re-entry Experience: Transitioning Effectively into Fall 2021.” In this session, Dr. Martha Strickland, Associate Professor of Education at Harrisburg, and Dr. Stephanie Winklejon-Black, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Harrisburg, share their insights on navigating re-entry into work this fall. They also share an excellent handout for your use for your own self-reflection or with your students.
Works Consulted
Aguilar, E. (2020, July 25). Teachers: 5 ways to ease back into school. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/blog/teachers-five-ways-ease-back-school-elena-aguilar.
Chicago Education Advocacy Cooperative. (2021, June 7). 3 tips for faculty returning to the Classroom this fall. Medium. https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/3-tips-for-faculty-returning-to-the-classroom-this-fall-1b8a5753dd20.
Five tips for FLEXIBLE teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. American Psychological Association. (2020, May 27). https://www.apa.org/ed/precollege/psychology-teacher-network/introductory-psychology/flexible-teaching-covid-19.
Lang, J. M. (2021, July 23). How to teach a good first day of class. The Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/how-to-teach-a-good-first-day-of-class/.
Mitchell, L. (2020, June 19). 6 strategies for successful distance learning. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/6-strategies-successful-distance-learning.
