The First Day Students come to the first class session of each term with various questions. Generally, these fall into two categories: housekeeping questions and interpersonal questions. Students new to college bring very different versions of these questions to class than do our "well-seasoned" students. To further complicate the issue, beginning students tend to be more reluctant to pose even the most basic questions in front of other students due to anxiety and peer pressure and often choose, instead, to infer the answers to their important questions or depend upon the advice of other students.
In a well-organized class, most housekeeping questions will be answered through a brief in-class review of the course syllabus. After such a session, students can be expected to be aware of the syllabus requirements throughout the course to determine exactly what is expected of them and when. Many questions that sound like course related questions are really thinly veiled variations on the theme of "what does it really take to get an 'A' in this course?" Experienced students know that the most concrete measure of academic success in
college is their grade point average. There is abundant evidence to suggest that Tech students carefully manage their time and degree requirements to maximize their ability to get good grades. Some carefully select term course load and may drop courses to maintain their average. Being straightforward with students about workload requirements, on the first day of class, is one helpful way for the professor and the students to assess early on whether a given course can be managed.The second category of questions that students bring to class on the first day are interpersonal in nature and are commonly answered at the non-verbal level or by "reading between the lines." Students want to know how rigid you are, whether you are open and approachable, whether you have a sense of humor, and whether or not you are ready to care about them as people. They want to know what you expect of them in class. Do you send the message that you want active learners or passive note takers? Students want to know if you enjoy defending the ideas you teach or if you prefer the students to simply remember what you say.
If you expect to see students during your office hours, you have to convince them that coming to your office won't brand them as being below average or "slow" in your eyes. If you want them to use a learning center or a tutor during the term to reinforce their learning, you have to convince them that you truly value these tools and resources.
The first day of class provides a golden opportunity to ask students to take the last two minutes of class to write out and submit their reactions to the first day in class. This exercise, and your subsequent response, sends the message to students that you are interested in them and their ideas and can set the tone for more productive interactions throughout the term. --Bill Kennedy