Why is it so important to clearly & thoroughly communicate expectations?

• Most students begin the semester motivated to succeed. Your Syllabus, along with more detailed instructions for activities and assignments, provides the roadmap to their success.
  
  
• Communication is different at a distance. With no bewildered looks to cue you that students aren't quite "getting it," it's especially important to be thorough and crystal clear.
  
  
• Students are often juggling multiple courses as well as family and work responsibilities. They need to be able to plan for the course workload and prepare for long term projects at the beginning of the semester.
  
  
• Students may be anxious about what lies ahead in your course. You can help to overcome the fear of the unknown by communicating requirements and prerequisites clearly up front.

TAKE IT FROM ME....

Dr. Cathy Turley uses audio recordings to welcome students to "Planning and Marketing in the Health Sciences" and introduce herself to students in the graduate captsone course (click the links to listen).

According to Dr. Turley, "This has been so much fun and suprisingly easy to do!"

Students say they appreciate the efforts that Dr. Kim Aquaviva and her fellow instructors of Research for Health Professionals have made to clarify course expectations. This letter lets students know what they can expect from instructors in terms of availability, feedback, and turn-around times. Here is a template that you can customize for your students. Instructors also provide weekly videos to review course expectations and clarify potential areas of confusion. In this short video, Dr. Acquaviva welcomes her students to the semester.

Click here for some real world observations and tips from Mary Corcoran based on her experience teaching the research courses.

WHOSE COURSE IS IT ANYWAY?

As important as it is to communicate your expectations, it is equally important to encourage student reflection about their goals as they relate to the course objectives. Help students see the relevance of the course to their personal and professional lives. Here are a few suggestions:

• Express yourself. Don't be afraid to show your enthusiasm, even passion for what you are teaching.
• Elicit connections. Provide examples of how the course objectives relate to professional practice and encourage students to share their relevant past experiences.
• Just ask. Ask students to send you an email to introduce themselves and express their interests; provide a discussion forum where students can share their expectations; or take a quick survey. Here is an example of a survey that Ian Toma uses at the beginning of each semester to gather information from his CRA students about their past experiences and learning goals/expectations.

Note: Setting up a survey in Blackboard is quick and easy - just like setting up a test. Results are reported through the gradebook. Here's a link to the online tutorial about this feature from the CIDD.

WHY ARE STUDENT GOALS SO IMPORTANT?

• Expectations and motivation are integrally connected.
• Research from O’Donnell and Kelly (2001) suggests that students who have strong academic goals (along with appropriate prerequisite knowlege) can easily navigate course content, locate relevant information and fill in their knowledge gaps.
• Encouraging students to think about their learning goals early on lays the groundwork for later reflection on their personal progress.
  

SETTING BOUNDARIES

Distance learning students can be a demanding group, expecting you to be on call 24-7. You can save yourself and your students alot of frustration by being clear about your availability. Tell students what they can expect from you in terms of virtual office hours (if you choose to have them), response times for emails, and turnaround times for grading.

This Faculty Commitments document developed by Dr. Kimberly Acquaviva for adaptation by faculty teaching the Research course lets students know what to expect from their instructors in terms of availability, communications, discussion participation, etc.

Click here to for an interesting read from the New York Times sent in by Lou MacDonald about today's "Me" generation of students.

KEEPING IT REAL

So often when we plan our courses we think in terms of what we want students to do throughout the semester. We jump right in and develop our syllabi, complete with outlined activities, resources, grading information and performance rubrics. Isn’t that what instructors do? Isn’t that what students expect?

Before putting that syllabus together, think about what you really want your students to learn and achieve rather than what you want them to do. This may seem like a subtle distinction, but it's one of the most important things you can do before planning your course.

Before you start planning what your students will be doing....

Ask yourself:

• What are the most important things I want my students to know when they complete this course?
  
• How might my students successfully apply the content they learn in this course?
  
• What will convince me that my students know this content?
  
• What do I consider the most important things my students must do to learn what they need to learn in this course?

The answers to these questions will help you clarify the goals and objectives for your course. See the Goals and Objectives section for more information about the difference between goals and objectives and how they provide an essential framework for course planning.