A lot has been written about the importance of developing positive relationships and building rapport between instructors and students for effective learning. However, since last March, many faculty have missed the small talk and stories that often occur naturally when they see their students in person. While we may have to wait until this pandemic is finally over to fully experience the joy of teaching in-person again, online technologies provide a number of ways we can get to know a little bit about our students and connect with them.
Even in large lecture classes, one of the easiest ways to do this is creating a student questionnaire. These brief surveys can get you quickly up to speed on your students’ current remote learning environment and their strengths or needs as learners. Questionnaires can also provide a sense of students as individuals: their hobbies, musical interests, or even what tv shows they binge-watched over the break.
You might want to include questions such as:
- What name would you like me to call you?
- What are your pronouns?
- What is your previous experience with [topic of the class]?
- What are you hoping to learn in this class?
- What is a fun fact about you?
- Is there anything else you would like me to know?
These questionnaires should be confidential and can be created through Qualtrics or Blackboard Learn Tests and posted to your Blackboard course. Once students have completed the questionnaire, it’s a best practice to review them and email or meet with students to discuss any concerns they have expressed. You might also want to review students responses’ before meeting with them during office hours.
By Johanna Inman