Student Perspectives

Christine Harrington from New Jersey City University presented at the Lilly Conference 2021 on “Keeping Us Engaged: Student Stories (and Evidence) on What Works!” Today I heard several moving student stories as part of a webinar with Jesse Stommel. This webinar started with a talk by Stommel about designing courses and education with care in mind. Stommel gave a phenomenal talk that emphasizes students as humans, believing in students, and listening (and inviting) to student perspectives. Three students discussed their challenges and perspectives in a powerful discussion about how we have to keep their voices in all discussions addressing change in higher education. Thus, I was really excited to see that the Lilly talk I wanted to watch tonight compiled student stories.

Harrington just published a book with fifty student perspectives/stories on what works for engagement. The first story Harrington shared was about the impact on a student of a faculty member learning their name and fun fact. One online learner Harrington included talked about an icebreaker activity where students explored the syllabus, discussed parts they were worried about asynchronously. Learners shared concerns, got to know each other, and explored the syllabus. Another icebreaker Harrington mentioned asked learners to share similarities they had with the instructor, and the study that Harrington cited suggested this activity narrowed gaps. I enjoyed how Harrington used student quotes and videoclips to provide tips and insight. For the “Tapping into Student Interests” section of the presentation, one student shared how a faculty member used polls to learn about their students and customize lectures and examples. The faculty member in this story emailed students with information about their interests. In another example, a student explained how a faculty member met with them and showed they genuinely cared.

Harrington described a study conducted at Oakton Community College in Chicago in which faculty members were asked to have a 15-minute meeting with each student in one course. The results showed high grades overall and especially for Black students. This is really important to keep in mind! I wonder if it works with small group meeting too? Students also shared their excitement for having a choice in the assignments and assignments that had real utility beyond the course. Students spoke about the assignment not being an academic exercise alone. One student talked about an essay portfolio and how every assignment in the course prepared them for and contributed to the last assignment. One student spoke in a short video clip about how empowering having creating choice was. Even if it is not a creative class, there are options for helping students find their directions and share their perspectives. One last takeaway and quote was