First day of class
A page within CATL Teaching Improvement Guide
Brief description
Having a great first day of class can:
- Get students excited about course material.
- Give students confidence that they can succeed in class.
- Alleviate fear and anxiety on the part of students.
- Allow the instructor to demonstrate they care about student learning.
- Help build student-to-student and student-to-instructor connections.
What students say they want on the first day of class:
- To learn about the course difficulty (e.g., amount of work required, tips on how to do well).
- Professional information about instructor (e.g., how to address instructor, grading standards).
- The class content & structure (e.g., info on syllabus, required readings).
- Procedural details (e.g., is attendance required, academic integrity information).
Examples
Below are a variety of activities UWL instructors use to enhance their first day of class and their thoughts on the impacts those activities have:
https://docs.google.com/a/uwlax.edu/document/d/1hAKC0pd1LItLJv6J_9LUk01huvFiSY_KyugabtqO-0w/edit
Tips to have a great first day of class
- Perform activities where students get to know each other.
- Try and use some humor and lightheartedness on the first day.
- Encourage students to ask questions of you, the instructor.
- Perform activities that reinforce that course content is relevant to the lives of students and/or future careers.
- Share study tips and strategies that can help students be successful in the class.
Resources
- Bassett, J. (2011). Students' first day of class preferences: factor structure and individual differences. North American Journal of Psychology. Vol 13 (3), p 373-381.
- McGinley, J. & Jones, B. (2014). A brief instructional intervention to increase students' motivation on the first day of class. Teaching of Psychology. Vol 41 (2), p 158-162.
- Shadiow, L. (2009). The first day of class: how it matters. Clearing House. Vol 82 (4), p 197-200.
- Wilson, J. & Wilson, S. (2007). The first day of class affects student motivation: an experimental study. Teaching of Psychology. Vol 34 (4), p 226-230.
Udermann, B (2015). First day of class. In Teaching Improvement Guide. University of Wisconsin at La Crosse Center for Advancing Teaching and Learning. Retrieved from https://www.uwlax.edu/catl/teaching-guides/teaching-improvement-guide/how-can-i-improve/first-day-of-class/.