New Norms for a New Semester
Many of us may remember taking classes as undergraduates where we were supposed to sit quietly and look ahead. Speaking to classmates during lecture was not permitted, and on the occasions when we did any work in class, we were admonished to avert our eyes from fellow students’ work. The norms of a classroom like this were much like those of a movie theater, where the action is all happening on the screen and we must be careful not to disrupt anyone else’s passive absorption. The main difference may have been that few of us were as absorbed as we would have been at a movie.
Thanks to decades of research in a range of fields, we now know that humans are not well-suited to learning in these conditions. Culture is slow to change, however, and many students still arrive in our classrooms expecting to be passive consumers of the information we dispense. In Discussion in the College Classroom, sociologist Jay Howard explains that faculty and students have very different ideas about students’ role in a course: Many students believe that their role is to pay what Howard refers to as “civil attention,” which is creating the appearance of paying attention. That often means practicing some of these familiar behaviors:
In order to display civil attention a student needs to be facing the faculty member with his eyes open and making occasional, fleeting eye contact with the instructor. It’s important for our civil attention-paying student to make only fleeting eye contact because prolonged eye contact invites interaction, which could result in the student being called up to answer a question or provide a comment. Students also display civil attention by writing. As faculty, we assume they are taking notes on our erudite presentations. But they could be making a grocery list or merely doodling. Chuckling in response to the faculty member’s attempt to inject some levity into the lecture is also a way of demonstrating civil attention. Nodding of the head as the professor speaks is yet another. As long as students are demonstrating civil attention through these and similar behaviors, faculty members are generally willing to believe that they are actually paying attention and actively listening. (pp. 17–18)
If students’ role in most of their classes is passive, where only the instructor speaks, it’s easy to think that paying civil attention will be all that’s required in all classrooms. Then, when an instructor tries adding in interaction with peers, students may be surprised and uncomfortable because they’re being asked to step out of their expected role. Howard also explains that some of this behavior stems from some students’ belief that only the instructor has knowledge worth sharing; they may not see value in their peers’ (and their own!) contributions to class discussion.
In order to get them to engage in ways that will facilitate more learning, we often have to re-acculturate our students. We need to establish new norms and expectations, helping them see that their role is not to pay civil attention but to discuss ideas, make connections, solve problems, talk through their reasoning, etc. The first couple of weeks of the semester are a critical time for establishing these norms, so if you haven’t already gotten your students actively involved, next week is a great time to start.
Here are a few things you can start doing right away to get students taking an active role in class and help them feel comfortable participating:
Start class with a recap. Starting with a quick recap of the previous class or week helps students to activate prior knowledge, and gives them retrieval practice. A discussion, a short writing assignment, or a recall quiz will all work admirably, but the students need to be doing the remembering—you don’t need to rehash for them. Having students doing the thinking from the very first moments of class sets the tone for the rest of the session.
Design and facilitate structured activities. As Terry Doyle reminds us, “the one who does the work does the learning,” so we need to build in time for students to be doing some work in class. Students need to write, think, solve problems, analyze cases, make predictions, etc. Activities can be individual or in groups, and they can have multiple stages—perhaps students write or attempt a problem first individually, then discuss in a small group, then share out with the whole class. Even in a large class, it’s possible to facilitate activities that get students engaged and learning.
Cultivate community. In Relationship-Rich Education, Felten and Lambert (2020) explain that in order to learn to their full potential, students need to feel that they belong. To foster belonging in our teaching, we can keep our classroom climate warm and welcoming in a number of ways. We can check in with students regularly to see how they’re doing (with the material but also in general). If your class size allows, you can learn students’ names, too. We can cultivate community by structuring lots of peer and group interaction. We can remind them that we have confidence in their ability to succeed (high expectations) and have built in adequate support to ensure their success.
Use technology. There are many ways to use technology to facilitate in-class activities. In very large classes, technology can make some activities possible that wouldn’t be possible otherwise. For more information on in-class polling and other strategies, you can explore this resource from ODL.
We’re happy to help you think about the kinds of norms you’d like to set in your classroom, and we can also help you design activities or plan great class discussions. You can contact us to set up a meeting by emailing pro-teaching@fsu.edu. We look forward to working with you!