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Onboarding Students

In any semester, there is a LOT for students to process during the first week of class. As faculty, we plan our courses carefully, with lots of rich opportunities for learning. We sometimes forget how complex orienting to our courses can be, especially when students are simultaneously orienting themselves to four or five different courses.

Students are likely experiencing a mixture of course modes, and it may be challenging for them to keep track of the multiple course-sites, syllabi, and online platforms (in and outside Canvas). Thus, it is especially important for faculty to focus attention on the “onboarding” and “welcoming” process for students.

This page provides concrete suggestions that are important for any course.

Welcome students to your course several days before classes begin

  • Open your Canvas course site
  • Send a welcome message (e.g., an announcement or a welcome video).  It should set a welcoming tone and orient students to know what to expect during the first week of the course.
  • Extend this “relentless” welcome throughout the semester (P. Felton and L. Lambert, 2020, Relationship-Rich Education: How Human Connections Drive Success in College).

Intentionally orient students to any digital platforms you will use in your course

  • This includes Canvas, online homework, Nearpod, Flipgrid… the list goes on and on! (Students have a lot to master across all their courses)
  • Provide students with clear guidance about where to go, what to do there, and when they need to do it.
  • If possible, minimize the # of new platforms students need to navigate all at once.  Introduce them into the course gradually and don’t assume that students will just know how to use/navigate.
    • You can link to the LTS Knowledge Base for “how-to” information for students for Flipgrid, Panopto, Canvas, and Zoom.

Plan engagement/assignment for the first week, but make it low stakes

  • If a student misses an assignment, recognize it as an opportunity to reach out and help get that student on track. (Students get very stressed when they realize they’ve missed an assignment)
  • Many faculty find it is useful to be flexible in the first week by waiving points for assignments due in the first week or dropping assignments for students who didn’t complete them.

Help students to know how to navigate your course over the semester

  • This can help students find their footing early and will help them dive into the content and engage regularly.
  • Is there a regular pattern you can represent in text, visually, and/or aurally?  (See this weekly cycle example shared generously by Kathrine Johnson, Mathematics)
  • Create a weekly roadmap or checklist that students can use to know when assignments are due.
  • Weekly summaries and/or previews can also help students navigate the course (see this ANTH 105 weekly update summary example shared generously by  Shelly Volsche).