Did you know that UNL students consistently rate the quality of faculty-student interaction higher than students at our Big Ten and Regents’ peer institutions (NSSE 2016)? Studies show that faculty-student interaction is one of the most important keys to student retention and academic engagement. Here are five ways you can promote student success in your course:
1) Greet your students when they enter your classroom.
Bonus: Learn their names and/or require students to use your office hours for a 10 minute meeting early in the term. You can host small group meetings for large classes and still have an opportunity to talk with everyone.
2) Identify concrete strategies for being successful in your course (ways to prepare for exams, take notes, or manage large projects over time).
Bonus: Ask students to share examples of strategies they have used that have made a difference.
3) Give detailed feedback on at least one assignment by the fifth week of class. Providing feedback early in the term helps students understand your academic expectations.
Bonus: Share and discuss models of successful assignments beforehand.
4) Tell the story of how you came to be an instructor at Nebraska.
Bonus: Create an opportunity to connect with students outside of class by meeting for coffee and conversation or holding a study session in the Love North Learning Commons.
5) Integrate information about academic services into your syllabus (study stops, tutoring, academic coaching) and reinforce the message that your most successful students use them.
Here’s a list of free academic success workshops being offered this spring http://success.unl.edu/documents/Workshops-Navigating-Campus-Resources-SP17.pdf
and a list of commonly used campus resources. http://success.unl.edu/documents/Navigating-Campus-Resources-SP17.pdf