I give them an overview of what we will be doing. I give a demonstration of some of the things I will teach them. I go over my goals for them and ask them what their goals for themselves are. I give them study guides and I suggest ways for them to be successful in my class.
I like your method; especially as one can tailor the weekly handouts to the learning curve of the students.
Hi Ashley,
Good way to inform your students of how the course is going to be operated and what your expectations are. The signing of the syllabus contract helps to ensure that they have at least been exposed to the syllabus even if they haven't read it. This makes them accountable.
Gary
Hi Dave,
Good way of sharing the expectations, requirements and policies of the course. The additional handouts then help the students to be informed of the current assignments and upcoming time lines. This way they know at all points along the course what is going on.
Gary
In the classroom, I will first use the sylabus and course outline to give them the overall look at what is to be covered and what they can expect. I also use the weekly handouts to remind what is to come this week and the outlook for the next. We discuss the matierals as well and have Q&A to get all concerns answered. I utilize our white board so that it is also visiable anytime what is upcoming. I find this works well with our students.
Hi Amanda,
Good way to start a class and make everything clear for your students. The discussion activity is a great way to get to know your students better and find out where they are coming from.
Gary
I often provide students with examples of variegated work from previous students (redacted - of course - to protect the privacy rights). By so doing, I illustrate what is substantive and non-substantive work. Examples seem to help my students perform up to the high standards I hold them.
Sometimes it takes repetition, even after the first day of class, to get the students to clearly understand your expectations. As we all know, some people let it go in one ear and out the other. It's important to be consistent, espaescally to keep the students who will test your limitations in check. Otherwise I've learned that if you put all of yor expectations on the table on day one, than at least you have a foundation to fall back on if conflict arises.
I inform and remind students what the requirements for success are for the course. This is done in conversational manner in order to try to illecit a positive response.
I create a syllabus which is very detailed each term. I include a course calendar that outlines all the assignments and exams and when they are due. Finally, I make each of them sign a syllabus contract that they understand what is covered in the syllabus so nothing can come up later.
I do several things to help clarify my daily expecations to students. I write on the white board what we are doing to do today. I usually list items in the order I would like the students to work in and often I put suggested times at the side of the board as a guide for students to use to pace themselves throughout the day and to be able to finsh all of the days production within the alloted time.
I always try to give them examples from personal experience on how it is important that they need to learn all the skills techniques and proficiencies, to be able to become a respected professional in the industry, and be succesfull in their new career.
After going through the syllabus as complete as possible, I then do a role reversal with different topics and students to see what their expectations are on that particular topic. I then can see the responses from the others students that they all generally share the learning outcomes that the class offers and buy into the class goals and objectives.
What I do is have my syllabus prepared the first night of class. I have addendum that outlines my agenda for the quarter including assignments, chapters that I will lecture on each week, test that will be taken each week, and labs that should be done so that they don't fall behind in their labs. I find this structure works well for my students and that many of the follow it and stay on track.
I have used several techniques. One is a mandatory quiz that receives no letter grade or percentage, but is part of their participation grade for the course and is required to be completed with a score of 100 before continuing on to the next portion of the class.
Another technique I have used is a 'scavenger hunt' game where questions are asked and they must find the answers within the course. This way, students are learning the expectations while 'playing' a game in the process.
Dr. Amy Laptad
Like most people I start with the paper syllabus. I also have it online for students to review outside of class, if they need it. I discuss behavioral expectations. This last quarter we really broke the ice by discussing "What is said in Interpersonal Relations, stays in Interpersonal Relations". When I asked them what would happen if someone didn't keep confidentiality, the group really got into it. Someone suggested that the person would have to wear an embarassing sign. We also talked about social rules about addressing it with the person right then, or waiting until class.
I also spend time discussing plagarism. I have a nice powerpoint from one of the school librarians to use.
In the online classroom, we have a document that outlines just what it expected of students in class which I ask them to review. In addition, I outline during the first week these expectations in our discussions but also encourage the students to contact me if they have any questions at all about the course- including expectations.
I outline clearly in my syllabus addendum what I expect of students in several areas of their involvement in the course. I verbally go into detail a bit in each area as we go over the entire document together in class on the first day. Most importantly, I follow through with the policies I've outlined in my addendum (e.g., I do not accept late work, there are no make-up tests, etc.).
I review expectations with all students on the first day of class. I also explain to students was is expected when handing out all assignments and throughout the course. I believe open dialogue is the key with students.
For each new project presented in my course I give a "specifications" sheet that outlines exactly what the key components of the lesson will include. By defining exactly the features that are absolute the students should understand what they must do to successfully complete the assignment.
What I haven't included on those handouts is the actual objective. I discuss that during my lecture and demonstration, but I think it would be better to put it in black and white as clearly as the other aspects of the project. By this I mean that usually only part of the purpose of the project is to create a final work product-- I need to clarify to the students that another major expectation is to learn a particular problem solving strategy, for example.
