This "Quick Fix" describes the author's use of a single-use "Life Happens Waiver" as a modification of an otherwise typical late work policy. The strategy is intended to empower students, to establish rapport, and to provide a combination of structure and flexibility that enables students to meet learning goals.

This article outlines a three-phased approach to enhancing online student-instructor interaction using asynchronous threaded discussions: check-ins. These instructor-initiated touchpoints, a form of Classroom Assessment Technique, are staged throughout the grading period to help affirm online presence, clarify expectations, monitor performance,…

To help students become better learners, educators need to be able to provide feedback to students on their learning processes. However, this can be challenging for educators due to the customized nature of such feedback. To that end, we have created and evaluated the Acknowledge, Affirm, Challenge, and Encourage (A[superscript 2]CE) framework as…

Complaints about inappropriate attempts by a liberal professoriate to influence their students' political attitudes and even punish those who disagree with them are common. Assumptions are made that because the profession leans left, professors must be trying to persuade their students to be like-minded. Little academic evidence supports this…

Trying to learn the names of students is a challenging semester ritual for many professors and graduate students. In support of this endeavor, research suggests that learning students' names promotes greater student participation and engagement (Auster and MacRone 1994; Pearson and Lucas 2011). However, both research and practical pedagogical…

Empathy is recognized as the ability to relate emotionally to an experience or another person's emotions. Evidence supports the notion that students learn better and have greater positive perceptions when instructors display empathetic values and seek more meaningful relationships with their students. The purpose of this study was to assess…

Using structural equation modeling, this study identifies the direct and indirect relationships among campus diversity climate, faculty attitudes, student--faculty interaction, and cognitive skills development, examining how the relationships differ by students' race/ethnicity. With data from the University of California Undergraduate Experience…

An increase in student veterans on campuses creates issues similar to the growing population of other nontraditional students, yet unique experiences for this population. Although higher education environments are working to provide on-campus support for military populations, student veterans continue to report issues with communication,…

Within the work of teaching, college faculty can develop stronger understandings of both their subject matter and their students' socio-cultural understandings of that subject matter. Such learning is particularly important for faculty that teach today's students, who bring unprecedented racial, ethnic, socio-economic and age diversity to higher…

During the fall 2020 semester, classes at my institution were taught almost entirely online in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to promote student engagement in the online environment, I developed the Artistic Office Hour to promote casual social interactions outside of synchronous class-time. During the Artistic Office Hour, students…

There has been a movement toward pedagogies that employ student-centered learning (SCL) to increase student engagement and motivation. Our experience transitioning to remote teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic provided an opportunity for us to observe how students used the chat function to take ownership of their learning. We used qualitative…

Not all instructors find the process of establishing positive interpersonal relationships with students easy. Even for the most experienced instructor, determining the best ways to establish and strengthen relationships with students in higher education settings can, at times, be difficult. As noted in the literature, instructor-student…

The experiences of first-generation college students (FGCS) can guide the development of effective practices for supporting and retaining these students. Open-ended interviews with 10 FGCS produced themes related to challenges and strategies for success. Applied thematic analysis identified barriers in school, home, and work settings, including a…

The pedagogical literature offers advice for effective management of difficult student behaviors, but there is little acknowledgement of the negative feelings teachers may develop toward the students who need managing. The current research examined college teachers' (N = 364) intense dislike of students. Intense dislike occurred among 47% of…

Even though research studies have consistently found that personal cell phone usage during classes has a deleterious impact on learning, faculty are often unwilling to ban the activity because of strong student resistance and a desire to maintain a positive student-instructor relationship. This paper presents a successful strategy for eliminating…