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Thriving in Academe
Best Practices

Reasonable Rigor and Appropriate Support

Prepare a thoughtful syllabus. In addition to the routine information about meeting times, required texts, and the course schedule, include some discussion of the sort of learning your course requires, illustrating each cognitive task with an examination question or sample assignment. The syllabus is not going to magically transform first-year students into active, engaged learners, but it can help pave the way.

Engage students early and often. Many of us think that once we get some basic information across in the first few weeks of a course, we can then turn students loose in discussions, case studies, and other forms of active learning. We should resist this temptation. Students learn early on how class will be conducted and they adjust accordingly. Early sessions (especially the first class meeting) devoted to those activities that promote deep learning go a long way toward getting a course off on the right foot.

More and shorter is better than fewer and longer. If first-year students are to learn to recognize examples and apply concepts, they need sufficient opportunity to practice. Long but infrequent assignments, especially when coupled with only one or two examinations, do not give students enough feedback on their progress in learning to use, rather than merely memorize, ideas. Create multiple opportunities for students to practice and perform.

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