Written and designed by the staff of the Center for Teaching and Learning. Reproduce with permission only.

The way you choose to spend the first day of class will set the tone for the entire semester. Many teachers devote the first class meeting to giving a general description of the course and its requirements and, after answering questions about the course, either begin to lecture or dismiss the class early. But there are many things you can do on the first day that will help establish rapport with the students, prepare them for the semester's work, and generate excitement about the course subject matter.

According to surveys of undergraduates, students want to know two kinds of information on the first day of class. They want to learn as much about the nature and scope of the course as possible so they can decide whether they want to remain in the course or so they can better anticipate the work requirements for the semester. They are also curious about the teacher as a person. They want to know if you will be reasonable and fair with them, if you care about them as individuals, and if you care about the course itself.

A well written syllabus, distributed in the first class, can do much to promote a positive attitude in students, since it shows the teacher cares about the course and has made an effort to plan it carefully. At minimum a syllabus should contain the course goals, topics, grading and examination procedures, reading assignments, attendance policy, and your office location and appointment hours. By preparing a comprehensive syllabus, you simplify the matter of reviewing the course requirements on the first day. Also, students who join the course late will have all the vital information they need to succeed in the course.

Get to Know Your Students

The Importance of Learning Names

Undergraduates, particularly in large classes, want to feel that they are human beings and not simply a name and ID number on a registration roll. Course evaluation research has shown a strong correlation between positive evaluation of the instructor and student perceptions that the instructor cares about them as individuals. Furthermore, the same body of research indicates that a positive attitude toward the course and instructor motivates students to work harder and achieve more. (Cohen, P. Student ratings of instruction and student achievement: A meta-analysis of multi-section validity research. Review of Educational Research. 54. 281-309.)

Thus, there are good reasons to show students from the very beginning that you view them as individuals and care about them as people. The first and one of the easiest ways to accomplish this is to learn their names as quickly as possible.

Aside from the benefits already mentioned, there are other reasons to learn students' names. Your ability to call upon them by name helps create a relaxed and friendly classroom atmosphere. It enables you to stimulate class discussion by asking students personally to express their points of view. Also, it may transform a group of isolated and anonymous individuals into a community of people who cooperatively engage in the exploration of ideas and knowledge.

Methods for small classes

• In small classes learning student names may not be difficult. If you teach a class of less than twenty students, you might ask students to identify themselves one row at a time and repeat what each student has told you. As you move on to subsequent rows, try to repeat all the names previously mentioned. This exercise can be repeated at the beginning of each class period until you feel confident that you can connect a name with every face.

• Using the preregistration list, call the roll at the start of each class. You can also ask students to say their names before they make comments or ask questions.

• Distribute index cards on the first day and ask students to write down who they are and where they come from. After collecting these cards, spend time on the first day and subsequent days reading the names on the cards, looking at each person and trying to form an association between names and hometowns, facial expressions, hair color, or any other striking characteristics. To reinforce these associations, call the roll every day during the first week of classes to fix the names in your mind.

All these methods are effective in classes with relatively small enrollments, but they share one common disadvantage: they use class time which could be devoted to other purposes. Some faculty members have found ways to circumvent these disadvantages in courses with large student enrollments.

Methods for large classes

• On the first day of class ask your students to provide you with photos (labeled with their names) by the beginning of the second week of class . Review these photos as soon as you receive them and as often as you can until you have learned their names. It will not take long before you will be able to identify every student in your class. You might inform students that photos can be made inexpensively at the Photo Lab in Swain Hall. You should return the photos to students at the end of the semester so they can be given to other teachers who use this technique.
  
  
• Tell students to select the seats they wish to sit in for the semester. Once course enrollment has stabilized and students have chosen their seats, make a seating chart. If you explain that the reason for the seating chart is to help you learn their names, they will be less likely to object.
  
  
• Combine procedures one and two. By having a seating chart and photos you can learn who your students are in less time regardless of class size. This method may yield an additional benefit: you are likely to notice if someone misses several classes and can contact the student to discuss whatever problem he or she may be having. By reaching out in this way, you show that you care about the student as an individual.
  
  
• In the first few minutes of a class, record your students on videotape giving their name and any other information you wish to know about them. View the tape often until you feel confident that you know the name of every student in your class. (If you choose to use this method, the Center for Teaching and Learning will provide a video camera and operator for this purpose on a first-come-first-served basis.
  
  
• Pair students and ask them to interview each other. After five minutes have each student introduce the person he or she interviewed to the rest of the class.
  
  
• Have each student write a personal obituary, including what they would want remembered about them.

Get to Know Your Students' Attitudes and Abilities

The more information you have about your students the more you can direct your teaching to their capabilities, preconceptions, and interests. Here are some ideas for collecting this information.

Student Biographies

On the first day of class, give each student an index card and ask them to write their names, local addresses, phone numbers, hometowns, and majors. Then ask them to write about their interest in your course and other courses or life experiences they have had which relate to the subject matter of the course. You might also ask them who their heroes or heroines are, what hobbies they enjoy, and skills or talents of which they are especially proud. In asking for personal information you should emphasize that students are not required to reveal anything that they do not feel comfortable sharing.

Once you have collected these index cards they can be used in many different ways. First, they can give you some idea of the interests and prior knowledge which students bring to the course. Using this information, you can improve your presention of material so that you neither bore the more knowledgeable students nor completely confuse or lose the less knowledgeable students in the class. Second, you can enhance the quality of student-teacher interactions if you review a student's card just prior to a scheduled appointment. Third, the names, local addresses, and local phone numbers can be copied and distributed to all members of the class to help students locate each other if they miss class, need help with the course, or want a study partner. Remember to ask students if they want to be included on such a list before compiling it.

Short Essays

Another method which can be beneficial to you and your students is an ungraded short essay written on the first day of class. If well conceived, short essays can reveal several important student characteristics, including perception, knowledge and attitudes about the subject, analytical and conceptual skills and general writing ability. For example, if you are teaching a course in the sciences, ask students to write about the questions and problems that science seeks to answer. If you are teaching a course in art history, show a slide of a lesser known work and ask students to identify and describe the style, symbolism and period of the work. If you are teaching about a foreign country, ask students to write about their perceptions and beliefs about that country. Reading their essays will help you understand what preconceptions, attitudes and prior knowledge students have about the subject matter and will help you identify themes that you may want to emphasize as you teach.

On the last day of class, repeat the essay exactly. When they have finished return the first essay and ask them to compare their two answers. This will give them concrete evidence of how their thinking may or may not have changed as a result of the semester's work. You can collect the papers and compare them yourself, to discover how much your course contributed to your students' intellectual development.

Another idea: Give a research assignment on the first day of class. Have your students go to the library and find out what happened locally, state-wide, and nationally on the day they were born.

Diagnostic Tests

Designing and administering a non-graded diagnostic test is another method you can use to gauge student's knowledge, perceptions, and ideas about the course. The questions might cover the major themes you will address during the semester. You should explain to the students that the purpose of the test is to help you present course materials more effectively. The more you know about your students' knowledge or understanding of the subject matter, the easier it will be to focus on what you need to teach them. Many of the questions asked in the diagnostic exam may be used as questions on the mid-term and final exams--this enables you and the students to compare their knowledge at the beginning and end of the course. You will have a basis for judging how much each student gained by participating in the course (even though you may not wish to use this criterion in assigning grades).

Introduce Yourself

The preceding suggestions are designed to help you learn as much as you can about your students. Just as you have good reason to want to know more about your students, students appreciate knowing more about you than is printed on the course syllabus (name, office location, office hours, and telephone number). Your willingness to reveal something about yourself helps overcome the hierarchy of the classroom that inhibits communication between you and your students. The first day of class is an opportune time to tell students something about your personal or professional life. Each teacher must decide what self-revelations are acceptable and relevant in the context of the teacher-student relationship, but some subjects are relatively safe and easy to talk about--for example, your educational background and research interests.

If you don't feel comfortable talking about yourself in class, there are other ways to convey the same information. Your might distribute an abbreviated personal resume or CV. For those who prefer to be more creative, you could construct a personal profile along the lines of commercial advertisements.

Introduce the Subject Matter

One way you can show students what to expect in the course is to give them a sample of course content. A professor in the natural sciences shows a fifteen-minute film which introduces his subject. The film is colorful, exciting, and motivational and he reports that students come to the second class eager to begin learning more. A teacher in social sciences asks students to think about the questions they want the course to answer for them. He writes these items on the blackboard and discusses each of them in turn, pointing out when in the semester the questions will be addressed--but he only hints at the possible answers in order to whet their curiosity. Providing samples of course content can be accomplished in many ways, but the more successful methods are creative approaches, that both introduce course concepts and stimulate student interest in course content.

In a political science class, ask students to compare their parent's political preferences with their own.

In literature classes, ask students to think about whom they would most like to be if they could be any writer or fictional character in a book they have read.

The first day of class affords a variety of opportunities to establish rapport with your students and to provide the kinds of information you and they want in that initial class. By meeting these needs, you can increase their motivation and achievement and enhance your own effectiveness. In this first issue of For your consideration, we have offered a few suggestions for the effective use of the first day of class, but there are many other possibilities. If you have ideas you would like to share with us, or if you have questions about any of the techniques in this issue, please call us (966-1289) or drop by CTL's offices at 316 Wilson Library.

Bibliography

• McKeachie, W.J. (1978) Meeting a class for the first time. Teaching tips, a guidebook for the beginning college teacher. Seventh edition. Lexington, Ma.: D.C. Heath.
• Rubin, S. (1987, August 7) Professors, students, and the syllabus. The Chronicle of Higher Education. p. 56.
• Wolcowitz, J. (1984) The first day of class. In M.M. Gullette, The art and craft of teaching. Cambridge, Ma.: Harvard University Press.

This is the first issue of For Your Consideration. The purpose of this publication is to share teaching ideas gathered from the experiences of UNC faculty and from the research literature in college teaching. The Center will publish FYC several times a year, and we hope you will find it a valuable source of teaching ideas. Future issues of FYC will be circulated by departmental routing slips and will not be mailed to individuals. A copy of each issue will be placed in a three-ring binder in the department office.

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