Setting Positive Class Expectations through Shared Language, Civil Practices, and Clear Directions

Instructors seek to create meaningful learning experiences for their students, and through student evaluations and self-reflection, teaching practices can be improved. While feedback from student evaluations at the end of a term can help to improve the experience, there are many proactive tactics instructors can use to create a positive and beneficial learning experience for students. The first step is to evaluate teaching practices and to create and revise courses as needed to reflect the constantly evolving challenges of teaching at a university. Given how content delivery is evolving, instructors need to reflect on how they can create a positive environment that provides structure and support for all students. This article discusses a few ways to improve teaching, including setting up clear expectations for communication and performance, providing clear directions and rubrics, engaging and communicating with students, building a safe community for learning, and providing substantive feedback. While the main goal is to increase student learning, another possible outcome of creating a safe and open space is more positive end of the term evaluations.