Three easy-to-implement teaching practices to improve the student experience
1. Welcoming Environment: “10-minute Check-in”
To help students feel more connected and engaged, take the first 10 minutes of class for a quick check-in. This can be done in pairs or small groups, giving everyone a chance to share what they’re working on, ask questions, and highlight any recent progress. After small group discussions, invite a few groups to share insights with the larger class. This simple routine builds community, encourages collaboration, and helps surface useful questions or ideas early on.
Here’s a sample script to get you started:
Let’s take a few minutes to get oriented before we begin. Please respond to the following:
- What’s one thing you’re currently working on or reviewing from this course?
(This could be a concept, assignment, or reading.)
- Is there anything from last class or the materials that you’d like clarified today?
(Feel free to mention specific topics or questions.)
- What’s one goal you have for today’s session?
(Example: understand a concept, make progress on a project, ask a question.)
- Optional: Is there anything coming up (academic or otherwise) that might affect your participation today?
(This helps us support each other and plan accordingly.)
2. Growth Mindset: Embrace Struggles as Learning
Students often read difficulty as a verdict (“I’m bad at this”) instead of a signal (“Here’s where to focus next”). When we name struggle as expected and pair it with concrete next steps, students persist longer, try better strategies, and learn more.
Low-Lift Strategies you can implement this week:
- 60-second opener: “What tripped you up last time?” Consider using an anonymous posting platform such as Mentimeter or PollEverywhere to invite students to share their struggles without feeling spotlighted.
- Error/Strategy Swap: After an activity, have students write down 1 error + 1 new strategy they’ll try next time (e.g., “misread axes; annotate figure before answering”).
- Model a flub: Briefly describe a time you got stuck and the exact step that got you unstuck.
Here’s some student-friendly language to use in class or on Canvas:
- “Struggle is a signal, not a sentence. It tells us where to work next.”
- “You’re not there yet. Here’s the next step to get there.”
- “In this course, mistakes are practice data. We’ll use them to choose better strategies.”
- “What’s one thing you’ll do differently on the next attempt?”
3. Wise Feedback: Assessment Wrappers
After returning a major assignment or exam, take 10–15 minutes to guide students through an assessment wrapper, a short reflective activity that helps them analyze their performance. This is a great tool to use in large enrollment courses.
Steps to Implement:
- After returning a major exam or assignment, provide a short reflection worksheet or prompt.
- Ask students to identify what preparation strategies they used, what worked, and what they would change.
- Facilitate a brief discussion or collect responses to identify common themes and offer targeted support.
Benefits:
- Encourages metacognitive awareness and self-regulated learning.
- Helps students make informed adjustments before final assessments.
- Provides instructors with insight into student study habits and challenges.