Best Practices: Encourage Faculty-Student Interaction

Encouraging this is your classes is is one of Chickering & Gamson's "Seven Principles of Good Practice in Undergraduate Education" 

What is It?

Understanding what Interaction with Students means is not particularly technical or arcane... Contact with students can take many forms from the "hallway intervention" to the after-class chat to office hours to e-mails or phone conversations to an Elluminate 1 on 1 session etc. etc.

"...all the different ways teachers interact with their students: lecturing, leading class discussions, meeting with individual students during office hours, communicating by e-mail and so on. ... "

Fink, Creating Significant Learning Experiences..., (2003) pg 23.

How Do you Address This/Use It?

Structured and regular opportunities for dialog with your students can help with student motivation and retention. As Chickering & Gamson originally summed it up:

"Frequent student-faculty contact in and out of classes is the most important factor in student motivation and involvement. Faculty concern helps students get through rough times and keep on working...."

"Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education" - Chickering & Gamson (1987)

Any variety of techniques or technologies can be utilized to achieve interaction opportunities with your students. Here are some specific ideas:

• "...At the end of each class period, ask one student to stay for a minute to chat (compliment on something: tell student you missed him/her if absent, etc.).

• Instead of returning tests, quizzed, themes in class, ask students to stop by your office to pick them up. This presents an opportunity to talk informally with students.

• Call students on the telephone if they are absent. Make an appointment with them to discuss attendance, make-up work, etc.

• Get feedback periodically from students (perhaps a select few) on their perceptions of your attitudes toward them, your personal involvement, etc....

• Conduct a personal interview with all students sometime during the semester....

• Take the initiative to contact and meet with students who are doing poor work. Be especially cognizant of the "passive" student, one who comes to class, sits quietly, does not participate, but does poorly on tests, quizzes, etc.

• Throughout the semester, have students submit topics that they would like to cover or discuss."

• "Ideas to Encourage Student Retention" -

• Honolulu Community College Faculty Guidebook