Len Hostetter, Assistant Professor Of Practice
Tinto’s Student Integration Model was discussed both at Teaching Day this year (2019) and during a subsequent meeting of the Teaching Academy. One dimension of the model that is particularly important to me is the informal dimension of “Faculty and Staff Interactions with Students.” There are many things that we, as teachers, already do or can easily do to improve our interactions with students, in order to establish and maintain authentic relationships with each student. The result is more productive student interaction and engagement. Of course, this is a two-way street and the student must want to engage.
Of note, the classes I teach generally have fifty or fewer students, and the examples below have worked well for me in that classroom size.
- On the first day of class:
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- Students take 5-10 minutes to get up, walk around the classroom, and introduce themselves to others they don’t know, including the professor.
- I make sure that students understand that I view my number one responsibility to be teaching the course material in conjunction with doing what I can to ensure they are on the right track after graduating from NAU. I reiterate this throughout the course.
- Subsequently, I offer to meet with students to discuss career-related questions, review their resume, interview preparation, etc., in addition to answering their questions about the course material.
- Four weeks into the semester, I ask each student to take out a sheet of paper and write down what is going well and what can be improved with regard to the class, content, and instruction. This is anonymous and I discuss their comments in the next scheduled class.
- I use a seating chart and memorize the name of each of my students. Students appreciate my effort to know them by name.
- I arrive to class about 5-10 minutes early and I speak one on one with students about their weekend, interests, job, and so on. I try to learn something about each student that I can ask him/her/them about in the future.
- At the conclusion of class, I say goodbye and I thank students for being there today. After every student leaves, I erase the board and gather my belongings. Many students will want to speak with their teachers when they do not seem occupied after class.
- When asking students a question, I never ask in a yes/no (dichotomous) format. I ask open-ended questions so that students will need to talk more.
- I make myself vulnerable and approachable, sharing my successes and failures, talking about my life outside of work, letting them get to know me as a person.
If I want to measure my success in engaging my students, then my student evaluation forms at the end of the semester have provided me with encouraging feedback. They are typically exceptional and I usually have an 80%+ plus response rate from my students.
I will continue to challenge myself to think of new ways to interact with students, to build and maintain a relationship with my students, and to promote a high level of interaction and engagement. I am certainly interested in what experiences my colleagues have had here, and in learning some other tools or exercises that they have deemed successful.