Timely Teaching Tips: Weeks 5 and 6 – Communication Strategies to Support Students

By Emma Larkins, Center for Teaching and Learning

Believe it or not, we are approaching the midpoint of winter term. Many students are preparing for midterms, building presentations, and working through project plans. Academic pressures in addition to the winter conditions can challenge student wellbeing. This is a great time to check in with your students regarding the course and to offer support. The following tips provide suggestions to help you connect with students on an individualized level and offer interventions as needed.

• Use Individualized Outreach. Want to do more to connect with your students? The term goes by fast, and missing class or falling behind can hamper success. Individual outreach is a great way to demonstrate care and encourage engagement. Visit the Academic Success Center’s Outreach & Referrals page for information on outreach types, design and language to support your students.
• Leverage Your Role to Make Referrals. Students care about resources their instructors recommend. You can normalize resource use and encourage students to have positive experiences accessing resources on campus. Consider using Canvas announcements, discussion board posts or 1:1 conversations to share about resources like Academic Coaching or the Writing Center that can provide timely support to ensure students are on track to stay on top of their coursework this term.
• Plan for a Course Check-In. Looking for effective ways to check the pulse of student experiences in your course so that you can make adjustments as needed? See 10 Ways to Check-In with Students during the Term by Marjorie Coffey from the Academic Success Center. These techniques are easy to implement and can provide valuable information to support quality teaching.

About the author: Emma Larkins (she/her) is a doctoral candidate in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Oregon State University. Her professional background is in qualitative research, higher education assessment and evaluation, and advancing equity.

Editor’s Note: This is part of a series of Timely Teaching Tips posts to provide just-in-time predagogical techniques, strategies and guidance to support OSU instructional faculty. For daily Timely Teaching Tips throughout the academic year subscribe to OSU Today.

Image generated with Microsoft Bing.