33 Simple Strategies for Faculty

A Week-By-Week Resource for Teaching First-Year and First-Generation Students

Lisa M. Nunn

• Publisher: Rutgers University Press
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9780813599472, 9780813599489
• eBook ISBN: 9780813599496
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Many students struggle with the transition from high school to university life. This is especially true of first-generation college students, who are often unfamiliar with the norms and expectations of academia. College professors usually want to help, but many feel overwhelmed by the prospect of making extra time in their already hectic schedules to meet with these struggling students. 33 Simple Strategies for Faculty is a guidebook filled with practical solutions to this problem. It gives college faculty concrete exercises and tools they can use both inside and outside of the classroom to effectively bolster the academic success and wellbeing of their students. To devise these strategies, educational sociologist Lisa M. Nunn talked with a variety of first-year college students, learning what they find baffling and frustrating about their classes, as well as what they love about their professors' teaching.Combining student perspectives with the latest research on bridging the academic achievement gap, she shows how professors can make a difference by spending as little as fifteen minutes a week helping their students acculturate to college life. Whether you are a new faculty member or a tenured professor, you are sure to find 33 Simple Strategies for Faculty to be an invaluable resource.

WEEK 1

Introducing Yourself (Not Your Professional Self)

How to Spend Your 5 to 15 Minutes Devoted to Student Success

Strategy 9: Introduce Yourself in Class

Give details about you as a person rather than about your professional self. Consider doing one or all three of the following:

1 Share a favorite moment from this summer. (Include who was with you. Find a way to talk about your family members or other important people in your life.)

2 Share a recent accomplishment you are proud of (not a professional accomplishment, a personal one). Maybe it is something small such as finally cooking an omelet without burning it or something bigger such as running a half marathon.

3 Share a challenge on your horizon. Maybe it is puppy training for your new dog, learning how to be a fan at your child’s sporting events rather than the coach, or trying a new diet.

As you introduce yourself, be explicit about what you want your students to call you. Many first-year students do not know what the appropriate forms of address are. I usually say something along the lines of “My name is Lisa Nunn. Students here at USD call their faculty ‘Dr.,’ so you should call me Dr. Nunn. You can also call me ‘professor’ if you like that better. If you become a sociology major, you will see that in our department, students often drop the ‘Dr.’ for professors they really like. It’s an affectionate nickname, a lot like the way teammates on sports teams often refer to each other by their last name only. So, once we get to know each other a little bit better, you are also welcome to refer to me as ‘Nunn.’ However, you should not call me or any of your professors ‘Mr.’ or ‘Mrs.’ I know you are probably used to that from all your previous years of schooling, so it can be a tricky habit to break. Here at USD, the faculty are called ‘Dr.’”

. . .

STUDENT VOICES

“She’s so happy, and she shares so much about her life, which I feel like a lot of professors don’t do. A lot of them, I have no idea if they’re married, if they have kids. But my psychology professor, she’s so open about everything. . . . I feel like when they’re willing to share with us part of their lives, they tell us they care about us as well. . . . There are just so many that—I don’t know. Do they just come and teach and leave? With her, when she shares stuff about her life, I feel like she enjoys being around us so she doesn’t mind talking about her personal life.”

Sabrina, first-generation student

Private University

Low income

Ethnoracial identity: “I’m Mexican.”

. . .

Consider a brief activity in which students introduce themselves too, following your model. One-by-one introductions to the whole class will take longer. I prefer pairs or small groups instead. Write one or all three of these suggested topics on the board:

1 Favorite moment from the summer

2 Something you are looking forward to about college

3 A challenge on the horizon (college or not college related)

RATIONALE

First-year students want to feel like they know us. It helps build trust. Trust allows them to feel safe reaching out to us down the line when they need help. It also gives them some comfort immediately as they settle into campus life. It helps their sense of belonging because it eases the disconcerting feelings of being new, unknown, and lonely on campus.

. . .

STUDENT VOICES

“I don’t go out that often. I would like to. It would be very nice. . . . Every single time I eat, I’m usually by myself. . . . I get back from class and do the rugby workout, and everyone else has already eaten. So usually I say, ‘Well, I’ll just bring homework with me to eat so I can do homework and study so I don’t feel totally depressed.’”

Alejandro, continuing-generation student

Private University

Middle class

Ethnoracial identity: “I’m Hispanic and American Indian because I’m 100% Mexican. My dad tracked down our ancestry to a tribe in Guadalajara, which is where my dad’s family is from, and a certain family in Spain.”

. . .

Things to Keep in Mind This Week

Strategy 10: Meet Students in Small Groups

You might meet students in office hour or over coffee. Intentionally invite individuals or pass around a sign-up sheet. During the visit, do the following:

1 Ask questions about them that both are friendly and will help you get a sense of what their transition-to-college stressors might be:

Where is your hometown? What do you miss about home? [homesickness]

Do you have any siblings already in college? [first-generation needs]

What does your family think about you coming here? [family support]

Have you already found enough people to eat with, or are you still collecting new friends? [loneliness; social belonging]

What are your first impressions of your roommate? [roommate strife]

Who is your favorite professor/class so far? [academic belonging]

What is your most challenging class so far? [academic struggles]

. . .

STUDENT VOICES

“I do really want to have a relationship with my college professors. I’m looking to talk to my chemistry professor. . . . I really do want to just go to her office hours: ‘Hey can we just talk, like not about chemistry? I just want to know more about you.’ I just want to have that experience with her. So, hopefully . . . I am a little bit intimidated to go to my professors’ office hours. I know they’re really nice professors, but it’s always intimidating to reach out.”

Alma, first-generation student

Public University

Low income

Ethnoracial identity: “Chicana and Latina. Chicana because I was born here, but my family comes from Mexico, but I’m also from here, so it’s the best of both worlds. And Latina too because I am from a Latin American country in the sense of my family and my ancestors, I’m proud to say.”

. . .

STUDENT VOICES

“I love when professors incorporate their own lives into the material they are teaching. . . . I think it makes students more willing to engage into what’s going on.”

Dalisay, first-generation student

Public University

Middle class

Ethnoracial identity: “Filipino. Asian American. I also define myself as an American.”

Have any student clubs or organizations caught your eye? [being involved vs. being overextended]

2 Tell a story about yourself from your undergraduate college days (not from graduate school):

A favorite activity or organization or team that you were part of

A favorite class that you took

An instance when you failed or struggled or suffered in college: a terrible roommate or a failed midterm or a poor decision that had unpleasant consequences (share these stories in class regularly too)

. . .

Further Resources

“First-Generation College Students: A Study of Appalachian Student Success,” by Christie Hand and Emily Miller Payne, in Journal of Developmental Education 32 (1) (2008): 4–15.

“Resource or Obstacle? Classed Reports of Student-Faculty Relations,” by Megan Thiele, in Sociological Quarterly 57 (2) (2015): 333–355.

The Skillful Teacher: On Technique, Trust, and Responsiveness in the Classroom, 3rd edition, by Stephen D. Brookfield (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2015). See chapter 4 for an explicit discussion of the benefits of sharing personal stories with students and chapter 17 on the benefits of learning about your students’ individual circumstances.

What the Best College Teachers Do, by Ken Bain (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2004). See chapter 6 for an explicit discussion of the benefits of sharing personal stories with students and chapte...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Introduction
• Week 1: Introducing Yourself (Not Your Professional Self)
• Week 2: Modeling a Study Guide
• Week 3: Finding Study Partners
• Week 4: Articulating Your Pedagogic Rationales
• Week 5: Improving Time Management
• Week 6: Sharing Stress-Management Ideas
• Week 7: Attending Office Hours
• Week 8: Collecting Midsemester Feedback
• Week 9: Interviewing Fellow Students
• Week 10: Finding Your Discipline
• Week 11: Discovering Life Purpose and Passion
• Week 12: Sharing Stories of College Woe
• Week 13: Laughing and Commiserating Together
• Week 14: Learning from Failures
• Week 15: Saying Farewell
• Acknowledgments
• References
• Index
• About the Author