Welcome Students to Your Class: Set the tone early by welcoming students to your class by sharing information not only about the course – its purpose, value, themes, etc. – but also about you as a scholar, teacher, and person. For example, your openness in sharing some information about your teaching approach, scholarly background, learning journey as a student, career trajectory, and other interests can help students connect to the course  and better know what to expect from it and from you. by. You can do this in person on the first day, with an announcement in Canvas, or even a video on Canvas, available before the first class session (for in-person classes) or as soon as you publish your Canvas site (for online courses).  An example instructor welcome video can be found in TEP's Welcome Module.  

Learn About Your Students: After you’ve shared about yourself in your welcome message, invite your students to share some information about themselves – who they are, what their interests are, why they are taking your course. Learning about their backgrounds and interests can help you find pathways to connect your course content with the students. This can improve student interest in the course, their effort on assignments, and their feelings of being members of the class and campus community. 

Our introduction to inclusive teaching page offers strategies for learning student interests. TEP’s Canvas Welcome Module also has a sample “Getting to Know You” survey. To use it, access Canvas Commons and search for “Course Welcome Module.” You can then explore, import, and adapt it for your courses.

Ensure Students Know How to Contact You: Being available to students reveals your commitment to addressing their needs. Remind students of the ways they can get reach out to when they need to—email, Canvas messaging, your office phone. 

Use Student Names and Pronouns: Provide opportunities for students to share their preferred names and pronouns if they wish to. Similarly, encourage your students to use oneanother’s names and pronouns. The Division of Student Life has a helpful resource on pronouns, including details on their uses, different types, how to engage in conversations about them, and what to do when making mistakes. Our Introduction to Inclusive Teaching page offers suggestions for learning student names and pronouns.

Chat informally with your students: Before and after class or during breaks, chat informally with your students. You can use office hours as time to get to know your students. Chat with them when they attend before you delve into their course questions. 

Collect and implement student feedback on the course: Student feedback can help you gain insight into what students are experiencing as supports—and barriers—to their learning. You can ask for their views with the Midway and End-of-Term Student Experience Survey or even make student feedback a regular part of the course by using daily exit tickets or weekly reflections. Showing you do value their input by discussing their responses with them and making changes to improve their learning will help your relationship with students flourish. 

Class Introductions & Connections: Have students introduce themselves as part of an icebreaker activity, which can be done in class or as part of a Canvas discussion post.  This can include a short reflection about the present moment, which can involve writing or sharing something like “who I am, where I am, how I am” or “one fun thing I've learned to do” or something similar.  

TEP’s Course Welcome Module also has a sample “Introduce Yourself to Your Classmates“ activity. To use it, access Canvas Common and search for “Course Welcome Module.” You can then explore, import, and adapt it for your courses.

Form Cooperative Base Groups: These groups of 3-4 students meet at least once each week during class time to connect socially and share how they are doing in the class and beyond.  Our Student Success Toolkit has helpful tips for implementing base groups. 

Have Students Participate in Class (Active Learning): Many forms of active learning asks that students collaborate to solve a problem, brainstorm, refine their thinking, critique peer work, and a host of other tasks. These can help build relationships between students as they work together to apply, examine, and discuss course material. Our page on Active Learning and Metacognition gives guidance in how to apply active learning in your classroom.

Lead Effective Class Discussions: Good discussions invite all students in and are an essential space to build community in a class. Leading a good discussion helps all students feel they belong and can actively contribute to the topic, but we’ve all seen discussions get dominated by individuals or drift far from the intended purpose. Our page on designing discussions for universal participation outlines components of good discussions, principles that underpin a good discussion, and extra resources to help you plan and lead good discussions.

Encourage Students to Form Study Groups: You can help students organize groups to meet outside of class. UO’s libraries have study space students can reserve for groups to meet. It can be helpful to make this information readily available on your course Canvas page. Our Student Success Toolkit has helpful tips for helping students form study groups.