Whether in a small tutorial class or a large lecture theatre, students thrive when learning environments are engaging, interactive and responsive to their needs. Flexible, inclusive teaching practices bridge diverse settings and promote a sense of belonging and community among students.
Here, we’ll share the strategies we use to establish connection and community in our classroom at the start of a new term, and those we use to build on it, lesson by lesson.
Strategies for the start of the semester
Start building connection from the first class of the semester – make fostering a sense of community the point of that class. This helps students feel seen and valued within the learning environment. When they feel safe, they’re more driven to participate. Some examples that promote connection and build educator-student relationships include:
Begin the class with an icebreaker activity, such as a scavenger hunt, to get students moving around the room and meeting each other.
Get students to introduce themselves and share something they think might be unique to themselves, their motivations for studying the course, future plans or interests outside the classroom. The sharing of interests builds community and prevents learners feeling isolated.
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Have a collective discussion on classroom and assessment expectations for your course. The co-creation of “house rules” provides students with an opportunity to reflect on and set their own expectations. This also promotes the establishment of a safe and respectful learning environment.
Have students create a large name card for themselves. This offers students a way to express themselves creatively and provides an avenue to acknowledge them as individuals. The name cards also encourage participation, communication, accountability and an overall sense of belonging.
Strategies for day-to-day teaching
Beyond the first class of the semester, employ strategies to set the scene for each class, to capture students’ attention and drive engagement. Examples include:
Enter with a smile, greet students by name, encourage excitement about the content and share a laugh to create a positive, energetic atmosphere. This brings meaningful connection to the forefront and helps sustain engagement, particularly in courses where content might feel overwhelming.
Play an upbeat song before the start of lectures and seminars, either when delivered online or face-to-face, to energise yourself and the cohort. To further build on connections, you can offer students the opportunity to volunteer their own song ideas.
Intentionally designing your learning environment to prioritise dialogue, collaboration and connection can transform the humble classroom into a thriving community. Here’s how:
Create an inviting space: By creating a “coffee house” environment, where everyone’s opinions and cultures are valued, you can set the standard for respectful and meaningful discussion. This frames each class as a shared exploration of ideas where all voices are valued, and knowledge is authentically co-created.
Use a range of small-group activities to build connection between students and deepen learning. Incorporate creative and problem-based tasks for students to explore and learn together in an engaging, relational environment. Join in with student discussions to model curiosity and collaboration.
Use storytelling and shared humour to build connection and deepen understanding by linking abstract concepts to real-world narratives. Creating course-specific jokes or activities fosters a sense of shared experience, belonging and collective identity within the class.
Hold office hours/drop-in sessions following a class, or regularly throughout the semester, to encourage broader discussions of course content beyond the classroom. As well as developing the student-teacher connection, this helps reduce student anxiety and encourages peer-peer connection, when multiple students attend.
Integrate personal interests and experiences into course concepts to make learning more meaningful and engaging. Throughout classes, encourage students to share their own experiences and reflect on how this relates to course content.
Developing these strategies will strengthen classrooms into environments where students feel connected, engaged and valued within their learning community.
Sally Martin is senior lecturer, Rachael Farrington is lecturer, Bonnie Williams is lecturer, all at the School of Biomedicine; Ingrid Sierp is senior lecture at the School of Allied Health Science and Practice; Benito Cao is associate professor at the School of Social Sciences; Kam Kaur is lecturer at the Division of Academic and Student Engagement, Elizabeth Jensen Young is senior lecturer, Raymond Vozzo is senior lecturer and Amali Weerasinghe is lecturer, all at the School of Computer and Mathematical Sciences; all at Adelaide University.
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