Gen Ed Course Tips
Most general education courses at OSU are housed within the College of Arts and Sciences. General education courses often give freshmen their first impressions of OSU and can greatly impact their college experience. CAS takes great pride in being such an integral part of the freshmen experience, but also recognizes the responsibility to help those students succeed.
We sometimes take for granted that students enter college knowing things like note-taking skills, how to find tutoring on campus or even why it is important to connect with their instructors during office hours. Many of our students come from situations where that may not be the case, such as those who are first-generation college students. Others may be in a situation where they are returning to college after a prolonged absence, such as after a deployment or after starting a family. Instructors should strive to meet students where they are and provide tools to help everyone be successful. This is especially important in gen ed courses with a large population of freshmen.
The strategies below can help you connect with students in gen ed classes so that you can help set them up for success throughout the entirety of their college journey. It doesn’t matter whether you’re teaching online or in person; these are solid tips for any modality.
Strategies
Set a positive tone for the course
You may be the very first exposure that a student has to college. Do you want them to leave your class excited about their college journey or do you want them to be discouraged about pursuing their education? It is possible to hold high expectations for your students, but to deliver your message in an encouraging way. How we communicate often impacts our students more than what we communicate. If we are excited about what we are teaching, our students are more likely to become excited about it as well. Show your enthusiasm for your subject matter and be an ambassador for your field!
Set clear expectations for communication
Include your contact information on your syllabus along with information about any graduate or teaching assistants. Email this along with an intro to your students before the first day of class. If you’re teaching online, post your syllabus in a place that is easy to find, such as in a welcome or introductory module. Create an inviting home page and link your contact information so it is always accessible and easy to find. Let students know your preferred method of contact such as email, phone call, etc. Talk to them about the importance of office hours and explain what to expect when they attend.
Use the Canvas features such as the calendar, announcements and messaging
Using the communication and organization features built into Canvas will help your students stay on track and will help you manage the large volume of communication that happens with gen ed courses. In their orientation course students are encouraged to pay attention to their Canvas calendar, so add all due dates to it. The announcements feature functions similar to the way notifications are delivered on social media, so our students are used to receiving information this way.
Have students take action the first week
Students who are engaged in their course experience from the start are much more likely to remain in the course, so require them to take some kind of action right away. You might assign a short quiz about the syllabus before they can move on to other content, have them complete an interest inventory survey or ask them to create a short video introducing themselves to classmates in a discussion board post. These tasks provide you with information about your students, but they also provide your students with a “small victory” in the class before it becomes more challenging.
Explain the wealth of resources that OSU has to offer
OSU has so many excellent resources to help our students succeed, but don’t assume that your students automatically know where to find them. Even if they have been introduced to the resources during an orientation, you can also talk about them. Consider adding a page in your online classes that links to resources (i.e., Student Support Services). You never know when students will need to take advantage of these services, and by providing the links you are making the services accessible at any time. Whether a student needs tutoring help because they are struggling in class or if they are experiencing food insecurity, OSU has something to offer.
Talk to your students about academic integrity
Every course should have an academic integrity statement in the syllabus, but it is important that you go beyond that for gen ed students. Talk to them about the importance of producing their own work, tell them your expectations and provide real-world examples of what academic integrity looks like in your class. This could be anything from the use of generative AI tools to “old-fashioned” methods of cheating. Share resources such as Top 10 Ways to Promote Academic Integrity or Frequently Asked Questions: A Student’s Guide to Academic Integrity at Oklahoma State University.