Policies with Purpose

Faculty Fieldnotes

UMSI faculty share the first-day traditions, course policies, and lessons learned that help shape inclusive, engaging, and flexible classroom experiences.

While there are certain commonalities across most college courses, teaching is far from one-size-fits-all. What works in one classroom might fall flat in another. At UMSI, course policies are more than logistics. They are tools for creating inclusive, engaging, student-centered learning environments.

We asked several faculty members to share their go-to policies, first-day traditions, and teaching strategies they’ve refined over time. Here’s what they had to say.

When it comes to generative AI, many instructors take a similar approach to Bobby Madamanchi, lecturer IV in information. “I use the generic UMSI policy statement,” he explains. “I tell students it's OK to use GenAI to help with code syntax, but that using it for any metacognitive task, like troubleshooting or planning, is a disservice to themselves. I regularly reference computer science education research from myself and others that speaks to the importance of developing metacognition as part of computational thinking and the risks to their intellectual development that come from outsourcing that to GenAI.”

Attendance policies are another evolving topic. Teaching professor and lecturer IV in information Colleen van Lent says her attendance policies are a work in progress: “I am constantly working on this one. This year I will try something new. Students who dip below a certain threshold of attendance will need to complete an oral exam to demonstrate mastery of concepts other students demonstrated in class.”

Most faculty also have first-day traditions to set the tone, break the ice, and get students engaged. Associate professor Barbara Ericson starts with a game like two truths and a lie and then uses Padlet to ask students two questions: What was your best learning experience, and why was that the best? What was your worst learning experience, and why was that the worst? “I point out that the best is usually active, social learning with immediate feedback. The worst is usually passive and not social without feedback.”

Assistant professor of information Gabriela Marcu designs her first class to reflect what students can expect throughout the semester: “If they're going to be doing interviews over the course of the semester, they do a mini interview with a partner during the first day of class, then we break down what they have learned about that person's needs, and how that could inform what they would design for them. While going over the syllabus is important for setting expectations, I want students to also come away with an understanding of what the work itself will be like.”

There is no shortage of unique policies that faculty have adopted over the years for their classes. Associate professor of information Florian Schaub says, “One of the things that has been quite effective is self-assessments. I have students self-assess how much effort they put into their assignments, particularly for reading reflections. In the capstone, we have individual reflections on a weekly basis. I feel like students are pretty honest and, generally, it works pretty well.” 

Van Lent adds another unique approach: “When a student really pushes about a missed assignment or poor exam grade, I give them a piece of paper. If, at the end of the semester, that one grade truly affects their final result, they can bring back the paper, and we’ll find an alternative. No one has ever brought back the piece of paper.”

Marcu also incorporates flexibility into her grading approach: “I'm a fan of dropping each student's lowest scores, and also providing students with multiple options for meeting certain requirements. These types of policies provide the kind of flexibility that improves the classroom experience for everyone involved — they help reduce stress and negotiation over grades, and also give students more agency and choice, which leads to more interesting work!”

Finally, when it comes to long-term teaching wisdom, Ericson succinctly sums up her decades of learning like this: “Be the guide at the side, not the sage on the stage.”