Teaching First鈥慪ear Students

Teaching first-year students can be both challenging and rewarding.听 This website provides evidence-based advice, ideas and resources to assist you in easing your students鈥� transition to university teaching and learning.听听 It also provides an opportunity for you to hear from first-year instructors at AV俱乐部 who are sharing their own experiences of teaching in first-year classes, highlighting how they support students鈥� academic success.

Approaches and Strategies: Teaching First-Year Students

Engage Students in their Learning

Use active learning techniques [See "Active Learning" tab]
Tell stories and anecdotes; share real-world experiences
Ask questions, and ask students for their questions
Share and encourage diverse perspectives
Ask students to share their experiences
Provide in-class opportunities for interaction with faculty/TAs
Provide in-class opportunities for student interaction
Provide online opportunities for students to ask questions and engage in discussion through the Learning Management System
Address different learning approaches by varying your teaching approaches - make use of video, images, text and spoken words, guest lectures, and movement, where possible and appropriate
Share reading strategies with students, and vary the kinds of texts students are asked to read
Explain the real-world relevance of your material, and incorporate opportunities for real-world learning and problem-solving
Make appropriate use of classroom and online technology - social media, student response systems, LMS, websites, and links

Facilitating Student Success

Take attendance
Learn students' names (where numbers make this feasible)
Provide explicit strategies for successful learning in your discipline
Use a "getting to know you" form 鈥� in class or in the LMS 鈥� find out who your students are, what they know about your discipline, and what they are expecting to learn in the course
Be aware of, and direct students to, on-campus supports
Provide your course syllabus and resources on the Learning Management System
Hold office hours (f2f and/or online), and encourage students to visit with you
Communicate with students about how to manage their time in your course
Be aware that students are taking other courses and, where possible, co-ordinate due dates across courses in a program

Managing Large Classes

Establish ground-rules on the first day 鈥� discuss classroom etiquette, respect for others, and professional conduct
Share something about yourself with the students on the first day, and ask them to introduce themselves to the person beside sitting them
Arrive early to class and stay late to increase opportunities for students to interact with you
Convey your own interest in your material [See "Engaging Students in their Learning"]
Be seen and be heard - wear a microphone and move out from behind the podium and move around the room, being conscious of students who may have hearing impairment
Be clear, be confident, be prepared and organized 鈥� give students an overview of the class; don鈥檛 cover too much material in one lecture; highlight and repeat main points slowly and clearly; vary the pitch of your voice and your pace
Post slides on the LMS and make sure your slides are visible from the back of the room
Encourage students to take their own notes
Post FAQs on the LMS to reduce student email and encourage students to check this site first
Consider using lecture capture technology to make your lecture accessible after the class 鈥� this may be particularly important for students whose first language is not English and for students who learn differently or who have mental health concerns
Active learning is possible 鈥� pair students up, use small groups, ask for a show of hands, use a student response system, provide quiet time to write and think [See "Active Learning Tab")
Provide an overview of how the class performed on graded work or tests to give students an idea of where the class collectively succeeded and were challenged
Ask for feedback during the term; ask for student volunteers to be Class Ombudspeople who connect with you a few times during the course; use Opinio or a suggestion box to discover what is working and what might need to change to ensure student success in your large class

Assessment and Feedback

Provide early feedback on a low-stakes assessment
Provide practice opportunities before evaluation
Provide frequent feedback
Provide opportunities for peer review and self-assessment
Provide opportunities for students to reflect on graded work and incorporate feedback received into their next assignments
Link assessments, so that they build on one another, scaffolding the learning process
Provide a fair number and kind of assessment opportunities, so that students may demonstrate their skills and knowledge
Be sure that your assessments evaluate what you plan for students to learn
Provide students with guidelines and rubrics for assignments
Use gradebook in the LMS and update entries in a timely manner, so students can check their grades in the course regularly
Raise awareness and understanding of academic integrity in your discipline

Supervising TAs

Hold regular meetings to discuss the syllabus, course content, assignments, and grading, and to discuss helpful approaches to the material in tutorials, labs, and office hours
Clarify TA expectations at the first meeting (i.e. hours, nature, and amount of work)
If work hours are available, ask TAs to attend lectures, so they are familiar with the material students are learning there
Provide grading guides or rubrics for TAs grading student work
Share key indicators of students who may need support (academic or personal) and highlight that serious student issues and concerns should be bought to the attention of the course director. [See Your Guide to Identifying and Responding to Students in Distress]
Discuss issues of Academic Integrity with your TAs in relation to the kinds of assessments for your course [See AV俱乐部's Academic Integrity website]
Indicate teaching supports available to graduate students through the Centre for Learning and Teaching, including regular workshop and discussion series, the Certificate in University Teaching and Learning, and the Teaching Assistant Enrichment Program

听

Dr. Srinivas (Srini) Sampalli Professor, Faculty of Computer Science, AV俱乐部

Dr. Sampalli shares his approaches and techniques that he uses in his first-year lectures to engage students鈥� interest and support their learning.听

听

International scholar, Professor John Gardner, spoke to faculty and staff on high impact strategies for student success at AV俱乐部. 听Town Hall, May 17, 2016. 听John is an educator, university professor and administrator. 听He also serves as president of the (JNGI).