Review the pedagogical and technical information below to inform your progress in Week Two. Have questions about what you learned here or ideas for future tips? Join Coffee & Answers (open support Zoom sessions with the Academic Technology Team) or email the Office of Teaching and Learning.
Pedagogical
How can you cultivate trust with your students?
Student Trust: Students’ willingness to be vulnerable and engage in challenging work is based on their belief that the teacher is competent, honest, and will act in ways that foster learning and development (Chew, 2023).
Some basics to consider:
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How can you clearly communicate your expectations and consistently follow through on your commitments?
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How can you design early, low-risk learning experiences that provide students with timely feedback they can use to improve?
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How does your course support students from varied backgrounds and identities?
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How can you balance compassion, kindness, and accountability?
Here are some ways to get started:
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Show students what successful work looks like: Provide clear student learning outcomes, assessment criteria, and examples.
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Follow through on commitments: Allow adequate time for providing feedback when designing assignments.
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Invite the Office of Learning Resources for a class visit. The OLR can do a full class presentation on study skills, how to read a textbook, or how to take notes, or simply do a 10-minute presentation to students about the services they offer (supplemental instruction, one-on-one peer tutoring, or individual learning strategies consultations). You can find faculty resources or learn more about workshops and request one (scroll down to the Workshop section). You can request a workshop or you can contact Kris Goldberg, the director, directly.
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Learn students’ names and pronouns. Some research has shown that relationships between students and faculty and students and students are key to their success in college. This begins with names. You can do this with name cards on desks, icebreakers and name games, or whatever strategy works best for your course content. For more on ideas for how to start your first day creatively, including “syllabus speed dating,” see this resource from DePaul. For a more indepth look at this, consider assigning a chapter from this recent e-book: Connections Are Everything: A College Students Guide to a Relationship Rich Education.
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Consider how to create conditions that facilitate students’ belonging. You can find slides on this in a recent presentation from the Office of Teaching and Learning.
Technical
How can I use Announcements, Inbox, or Zoom to communicate?
There are tools to help you create community and communicate with your students both directly and indirectly.
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Canvas Announcements: Once published, you can use your Canvas course to send announcements with important information to your students. These can include formatted text, links to resources, or even attached documents. These announcements will show on your course homepage and send a copy to the student's email if notifications are enabled.
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Canvas Inbox: Canvas also offers Inbox, a built-in messaging system that allows you to keep track of communications with individuals or groups of students. These messages will also come to their email if notifications are enabled.
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Zoom: If you need to meet live, and online, Zoom is the teleconferencing tool of choice. Zoom allows students to ask questions, participate verbally or via chat, and engage directly with instructors and peers. Zoom can also be set up directly in your Canvas course to allow easy access to meeting links or recordings.
Vocabulary
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Learning Management System (LMS) - a website that allows students and instructors to interact. Instructors can share course content, administer assessments, grade assignments, and more. Students can take exams, submit assignments, complete course readings, and more.
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Canvas - the LMS that Saint Joseph’s University uses
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Canvas Course - a digital space to house content for each section of a course, also referred to as a shell
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Knowledge Base - SJU’s internal database of articles and service requests
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The Nest - SJU’s internal website, which houses many helpful links, including a direct link to Canvas
Additional Resources