1) At the beginning of the semester, discuss study habits and strategies students will need to succeed in the course. Introduce students to academic citizenship to help with retention and success. 2) Make your attendance policy and its rationale clear in the syllabus. Gather basic information about students through index cards to help them feel cared for. 3) Be sensitive to students' special needs and disabilities, which may include learning, and provide accommodations and study tips per the document's suggestions.

1. PhD EM 313 – Supervision of College Teaching
CLASSROOM AND COURSE MANAGEMENT:
The Nuts and Bolts of Successful Beginnings
MARJUN G. BALATERO
Reporter

2. Teach Student to be Well in your Course
 At the very beginning of the semester, it’s a good idea to discuss the types
of study habits and strategies students will need to succeed in your course.
 Turner (1999) believes that student retention and success in college are
linked to introducing students to academic citizenship. Instead of staying
rooted in the old tradition of seeing ourselves as delivery systems of
information in our disciplines, we need to instead view ourselves as
“teachers of students”.

3. Make your Attendance Policy Clear
 Include attendance policy in the syllabus
 Provide the rationale. One of the key factors in student
success in college is class attendance.
Gather Information about your Students
 Have your students fill out index cards with information
about themselves. Most students don’t feel intruded
upon this request. Instead, they feel cared about.

4. Accommodate Students Who Have Specia
Needs
 Deficits may occur in one or more of the following areas:
 Oral expression
 Written expression
 Listening comprehension
 Basic reading skills
 Reading comprehension
 Mathematical calculation
 Problem solving
 Students are sometimes embarrassed by their disabilities and feel
awkward about bringing them in your attention. Be sensitive to your
students’ feelings and special needs.

5. Accommodate Students Who Have Specia
Needs
 Brinckerhoff (1991) offers the following tips that we as faculty can help
students with learning disabilities.
 Encourage students to make appointments during office hours to self-
disclose any learning disabilities they might have.
 Provide students with a detailed course syllabus. If possible, make it
available before registration week.
 Clearly spell out your course expectations before the course begins.
 Start each lecture with an outline of the material to be covered. Briefly
summarized your key points at the conclusion of the class.
 Speak directly to your students, and use gestures and natural
expressions to convey further meaning.
 Present new or technical vocabulary on the blackboard.

6. Accommodate Students Who Have Specia
Needs
 Brinckerhoff (1991) offers the following tips that we as faculty can help students with
learning disabilities.
 Give assignments both orally and in writing to avoid confusion.
 Announce reading assignments well in advance for students who are using
taped materials.
 Provide adequate opportunities for questions and answers, including review
sessions.
 Allow students to record lectures to facilitate their notetaking.
 Provide, in advance, study questions for exams that illustrate the format and
content of the test.
 If necessary, allow students with learning disabilities to demonstrate mastery of
course material using alternative method.
 Permit use of simple calculators, scratch papers, pocket spellers, and
dictionaries during exams.

7. Some Ideas on Promoting
Student Success
 At the beginning of each class session, ask a student
volunteer to summarize the main points of the last class.
 Announce the topic you’ll be covering and your
objectives of the day’s session.
 Write an outline of the day on the blackboard.
 Use a minute paper.

8. Clarify your Testing Policy
 Create exams that focus on the most important topics covered in the text
and in your class sessions.
 Create the first test of the course to cover a smaller amount of material.
 Explain in advance what your exam will cover and how they will be graded.
 Return graded tests and papers as soon as possible.
 Offer constructive written feedback on exams and papers so that students
will know how they can improve their work in the future.

9. The Issue of Academic Integrity
 Academic integrity refers to the “integral” quality of the
search for knowledge that a student undertakes. The
work a student produces, therefore, ought to be wholly
his or hers; it should result completely from the student’s
own efforts. A student will be guilty of violating
academic integrity if he/she…
 Knowingly represents works of other as his/her own
 Uses or obtain unauthorized assistance in the execution of
any academic work
 Gives fraudulent assistance to another student

10.  Crawley refers to ten principles of academic integrity
proposed by McCabe and Pavela (1997).
 Affirm the importance of academic integrity.
 Foster a love of learning.
 Treat students as ends in themselves.
 Foster an environment of trust in the classroom.
 Encourage student responsibility for academic integrity.
 Clarify expectations for students.
 Develop fair and relevant form of assessment.
 Reduce opportunities to engage in academic dishonesty.
 Challenge academic dishonesty when it occurs.
 Help define and support campus-wide integrity standards.
The Issue of Academic Integrity

11.  Johnson (1999) suggests the following additional
strategies to improve our teaching and prevent cheating
among our students:
 De-emphasize grades as much as possible.
 Emphasize your role in relation to the student as colleague,
coach, mentor and co-learner.
 Try to move beyond recall.
 Give take-home, open book exams.
 Help students focus on their own learning.
The Issue of Academic Integrity

12. Some Quick Tips on Managing the
Learning Environment
 Socializing your students in appropriate classroom behaviors in addition to
academic honesty is critical to creating a positive learning environment
from Day 1.
 Elaborate on a “Guidelines for Courtesy and Respect” handout that you
may want to consider adopting for your course syllabus or as a separate
resource.
 Learn to feel comfortable admitting you don’t know everything; doing so
gives you a greater credibility in students’ eyes.
 Be sure as well to attend to factors that are relevant to the classroom
learning experience, such as room temperature, air ventilation, and
competing noise from outside the room.

13. Remember:
You’re in charge of the total
learning environment, right from
the very start. It’s up to you to
create a “successful beginning”
that will give you and your
students the momentum you need
to have a mutually positive
teaching and learning experience.
Reference: Successful Beginnings for College

14. Words to live by:

15. Gracias…
