Cooper et al. have been cited in several recent publications about fostering relationships in college. The authors suggest that using nameplates to facilitate addressing students by name leads to relationship gains, even if faculty wouldn’t otherwise remember students’ names. Cooper et al. studied a high-enrollment biology class in which instructors used active-learning strategies and asked students to use name tents – folded card stock on which students wrote their names. At the end of the semester, the instructors could name approximately half of their students when looking at a deidentified photo roster, but 78% of the students surveyed thought the instructors knew their names (5). Moreover 23% of the students indicated that instructors knowing their names contributed to student-instructor relationships (7). 

Annotation contributed by Dr. Buffie Longmire-Avital

Costa and Mims describe using notecards to check-in with students at the beginning or end of class as a way to build rapport. In this “Quick Fix” article, they describe distributing index cards to their students periodically during the semester. They ask students to respond to questions about their stress level, self-care plans, or recent good news, and the instructors respond either individually or with synthesized responses to the class. Costa and Mims write, “Setting aside five minutes during class has allowed us to quickly and easily learn (1) what is currently causing distress, (2) the good and the bad things that are going on in students’ lives, and (3) whether students are utilizing resources on campus that they might need. As a result, notecard check-ins have fostered a greater sense of connection between us and our students” (33). 

Annotation contributed by Dr. Buffie Longmire-Avital

Alise de Bie provides an interesting editorial explaining Mad(ness) Studies – “an area of scholarship and pedagogy establishing roots in the academy, has emerged as a result of this activism and is principally inspired by and concerned with Mad people’s ways of knowing, being and doing (Menzies, LeFrancois, and Reaume 2013; Reville 2013)” (2). Her inclusion of Mad people includes: “(service) users, (psychiatric) survivors, consumers, patients, disabled, Mad (for an overview see Reaume [2002]; Speed [2006])” (2). The four main themes include: 1) equality; 2) interpersonal concord and consensus; 3) mutual collaboration; and 4) inclusion. The article brings up many excellent points about how certain voices may be valued more in Students as Partners practices and that conflict may be fine – everything does not have to be okay. 

Annotation contributed by Dr. Buffie Longmire-Avital

The quality of student-teacher classroom interactions is important to learning, belonging, and success, particularly for students from groups that have been historically excluded from or marginalized in higher education. The literature commonly asserts that one necessary part of high-quality educational interactions (whether in person or online) is trust, but several scholars note that trust has not been systematically explored by scholars of higher education teaching and learning. In this paper, we propose a conceptual framework for identifying and describing teacher-initiated “trust moves” in the classroom, based on both the literature and interviews with teaching faculty in varied contexts. In doing this, we hope to provide a practical resource for teachers to reflect on possible approaches for building trust with students in their own classrooms—and for scholars and academic developers who wish to study or support these efforts. [Article Abstract]

Click here to read the corresponding ISSOTL blog post.

The purpose of this study was to explore how peer support schemes can be used to facilitate meaningful relationships and a sense of belonging for underrepresented students. Using three case studies, the study explored and compared peer support leaders’ narratives about their experiences at three universities: one in the United Kingdom (UK), one in the United States (USA), and the other in Singapore. One-to-one interviews and focus groups were completed with 25 students (15 in the UK, four in the USA, and six in Singapore) to explore their perceptions and experiences of being a peer support lead within their institution. These three case studies (one at each institution) explore the multifaceted concept of belonging in order to identify the relative influences of social connection, shared culture/experiences and interpersonal trust. The results demonstrated that the students were aware of the challenges faced by underrepresented students and how peer support schemes can facilitate belonging. Whilst the three settings are diverse, the findings demonstrate that supporting learning transitions and the navigation of liminal spaces through peer support can encourage trust, belonging, and student success. We propose a conceptual model for considering how social connection, shared culture/experiences, and interpersonal trust can contribute to the central goal of belonging. This conceptual model can be used as a resource to support consideration of peer support schemes for underrepresented students that can be developed to support student belonging. [Article Abstract]

The use of fictive kin by African American communities is a longstanding practice. Beyond extended families, fictive kin are relationships elevated to the status of familial and have been effective in creating nuanced support networks, and tangible social capital for historically underrepresented minority groups (HURM). The authors find that first-generation students who create a network of fictive kinships across peers, faculty, student life, and administrators associate their persistence, self-efficacy, sense of belonging and perceived inclusion with the engagement in these relationships. Relationship building should consider the effectiveness of a fictive kinship models and approaches.

Annotation contributed by Dr. Buffie Longmire-Avital

Positive teacher-student and student-student relationships are among the most significant factors contributing to learning, motivation, wellbeing, and graduation rates in higher education. Trust is commonly understood as a key element for the development and sustenance of positive educational relationships, yet relatively little empirical research investigates trust in higher education classrooms. In this study, we explore how science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) teachers (n=29) from universities in four countries (Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, and USA) describe their intentions and actions related to trust in one of the large enrollment courses they teach. We consider the ways that teachers understand and value trust in their teaching, and what this might suggest about how they approach trust-building with and among their students. We report on four broad approaches to trust expressed by teachers in this study, framed as teacher statements to students: “trust me,” “trust yourself,” “trust each other,” and “I trust you.” This research has implications for teachers, SoTL scholars, and academic developers in higher education. [Article Abstract]

Read the corresponding ISSOTL blog post here.