»How to Create a Welcoming Classroom Environment

First-Day Planning

The first day of class is an opportunity for students to become comfortable with the instructor, their classmates, and the course expectations and outcomes. Especially in a student’s first semester, the experience of the first day and week of class can often reinforce a student’s decision to remain in the program and should encourage excitement. The first day is the time to establish how the classroom will function, what you expect of the students, and what they can expect from you. It is also important to establish an engaging and supportive classroom environment from day one.  

Another important first day of class purpose is to clarify reasonable questions students might have related to course objectives and expectations for performance, and to give you an understanding of who is taking the course and what their expectations are.

Consider creating a plan for the first day of class that includes the following first-day objectives:


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Create positive first impressions

How will you convey your encouragement and support of the students and make them feel comfortable approaching you?

Introduce yourself effectively

What do you want to convey about yourself, and how will you do so?

Clarify learning objectives and expectations

Highlight the main aspects of the syllabus, explain expectations for student behavior, including punctuality (attendance), guidance for seeking.

Help students learn about each other

Help students get to know each other in the context of the course material whenever possible; for example, asking them to share any previous experience in the field, or what they are most excited about in the program, and so on.

Set the tone for the course

Set an example of the level of involvement and interaction you expect from them on day one and establish a culture of feedback (from students). Students must feel comfortable asking questions or coming to you for help.

Collect baseline data on students’ knowledge and motivation

Assess students’ knowledge and skills necessary for the course; collect info about why the students are taking the course, what they expect to gain from it, and what challenges they anticipate; address any gaps in knowledge.

Whet students’ appetite for course content

Directed thinking activities can be used to collect student ideas about a typical problem in the course related to the discipline; connect course content to current events; check for “common sense” knowledge related to the course; can use paired or group activities to get students engaged with the content and each other.

Inform students of course requirements

Present logistical and other expectations for the term.

Building Rapport 

Creating an environment in which students feel comfortable with their instructor and peers is essential to their success in their first course and persistence in the program. The first day of class is a critical time to develop this rapport with students and to establish a classroom environment in which students feel supported, safe, engaged, and enthusiastic about their learning.


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First-Day Strategies for Building Rapport

  • Be the first one in the classroom, and greet and welcome students as they come in.
  • Learn the names of your students and address students by name in class.
  • Provide opportunities for students to get to know each other. Creating an informal discussion area in a Canvas course is a good way to extend this opportunity outside of the physical classroom.
  • Include opportunities for students to participate and encourage them to feel comfortable doing so.
  • Be personable: Share your own professional experiences and any personal information you are comfortable sharing to allow students to get to know you as a person.
  • Be prepared for class but also flexible as needed to ensure students get their questions/concerns addressed by the end of the class session.
  • Generate excitement about the course, term, and program through discussion about course content, outcomes, and students’ reasons for enrolling in the program.
  • Provide plenty of opportunity for students to ask questions and be responsive to them; establish a practice of positive communication and responsiveness so students feel comfortable approaching you.

Getting to Know Your Students

It’s also important for you to get to know your students. Remember that all students have their own unique backgrounds, experiences, fears, and perceptions about this journey they are embarking on. Collecting some information on the first day of class can help instructors understand their students’ interests, challenges, motivations, fears, and goals.

Index Card Activity

One strategy for collecting this information is to provide students with an index card and asking them to write down some information such as: their name, what their short- and long-term goals are, what they are most excited and nervous about in the program, what they feel will be most challenging to their success, and something fun, such as their favorite movie, song, or place.
This is also a good opportunity to collect contact information such as phone number and email address, so that information is easily accessible to you should you need it. Make a list of items you’d like them to write down on the card and allow for about five minutes at some point during the first class session for them to complete this activity.

Index Card Sample Questions:

  • Your name 
  • Your phone number/email address 
  • What are some of your short- and long-term professional goals?  
  • What are you most excited about as you begin this program? 
  • What are you most nervous about? 
  • What do you feel will be most challenging to your success? 
  • What are some things that will keep you motivated throughout the program? 
  • What is your favorite song, movie, book, or place?  

Engaging Students with Verb Boards and Whiteboarding

Research is clear about the importance of keeping students actively engaged during the learning process, so even if you adhere to the traditional lecture approach your students need not remain passive. An active learning strategy referred to as “whiteboarding” (using Steelcase Verb Whiteboards) has proven to be an effective way to engage learners during lecture (Inouye, Bae, & Hayes). During whiteboarding, students work in small groups using handheld dry erase boards to actively retrieve, discuss, visually represent, and apply concepts presented in the lecture.  Because these activities can be used for brainstorming, collaborative problem solving, or even to make the understanding of concepts visible, instructors can immediatelyidentify and address student misconceptions. To learn more about the use of verb whiteboards, read this professor’sblog. If you’re interested in trying this technique, contact Chapman’s ETS team for how to access Verb Whiteboards.


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What’s in a name? Rethinking Assessment Types and Naming Conventions to Alleviate Student Stress

The word exam alone can be enough to cause students to break into a sweat. Unsurprisingly, many studies have found that students often suffer not only from test anxiety, but communication and social anxiety as well, and that anxiety has an impact on student success (England, Brigati, Schussler, & Chen, 2019). There are a number of ways to help reduce students’ anxiety about tests and grades, including the use of frequent formative assessments throughout a course rather than only a few high-stakes, summative assessments that make up a large percentage of a course grade. Another, very simple way we can help alleviate students’ anxiety is to consider how we present our assessments. For instance, instead of a quiz, we might have a “knowledge check.” Parr (2020) has re-named her exams “Data Analysis Assignments,” while others have found a variety of different ways to assess student learning without using a typical (dreaded) exam. For more evidence-based strategies that can be used to alleviate student stress, see this article, published by Chapman faculty Jeremy Hsu and Gregory Goldsmith.

Let’s Get Loud: The Sound of Learning

We know that active learning is effective, but what does it sound like in the classroom? Germano and Nicholls (2020) challenge us to think about the “acoustics” of good pedagogy, or what a classroom with active, engaged students actually sounds like. Rather than a lengthy solo performed by the instructor, they suggest that learning is like a group improvisation performance, with each player (student) “perpetually occupied”. Researchers at San Francisco State University developed a tool they call decibel analysis for research in teaching (DART), that measures the sound of active learningand the “extent to which instructors use innovative teaching methods” in the classroom. We encourage you to use some active learning techniques in upcoming class sessions, and when you do, take a moment to listen to what that sounds like.

Flipping for Active, Engaged Learning

The term “flipped learning” is no longer new in higher education, but what does it mean for Chapman’s mission of personalized education? Flipped learning is based on an inverted model of traditional teaching, in which students listen to lectures in class and complete learning tasks like problem sets at home. In a flipped model, students engage with course content at home, and engage in tasks such as problem-solving, group discussion, or case analysis in class under the guidance of the instructor. Benefits of this model include:  
  • allowing students to learn at their own pace,  
  • encouraging students to engage more actively with lesson material,  
  • freeing up of class time for more active, creative learning activities,   
  • providing instructors with more time to interact with students and assess their learning, and   
  • encouraging students to take more responsibility for, and control of, their learning (Nouri, 2016).   
Interested in designing a flipped lesson for your classroom? Contact the CETL team to schedule a consultation.

words have power
“Words are a powerful aphrodisiac. They have the ability to awakenemotion, excite the mind and senses…”  (Shan O’Conner)  
As the poet O’Conner points out, the right choice of words can ignite excitement, curiosity, and passion. But words can also discourage and destroy. Neuroscientists warn that negative words “not only cause situational stress, but also contribute to long-term anxiety” (The Neuroscience Behind Our Words, 2019). Good communication skills are essential to effective teaching. In support of student success, faculty must choose words thoughtfully. Consider the psychological and physiological impact of the language used in your syllabus. What about feedback to students or in assignment expectations? And what about emails sent just before leaving at the end of the day? Language Matters. Do your word choices encourage or discourage, generate curiosity or fear, empower or disempower, include or exclude? Taking time to reflect is important for both faculty and students. For students on the last day, consider these Reflective Activities for the Last Day.

Support Student Learning with Mnemonic Devices

Mnemonic devices are mental tools to help students store information in memory and retrieve it when needed. Those who studied music probably used the mnemonics “FACE” and “Every Good Boy Does Fine” to recall notes in the treble clef. In addition to supporting retrieval, mnemonics have been found to help students think critically and increase confidence in decision making. For example, during advanced pharmacy practice experiences (like clinicals, labs, simulations, etc.), mnemonics maximized navigation through a complicated decision-making process and minimized patient assessment errors (see mnemonics with pharmacy students). “Mnemonics will not revolutionize education, but given the variety of techniques, their compatibility with other learning strategies, and effectiveness with certain materials, it seems that students would benefit from being familiar with them and knowing when and how to use them” (Putnam, 2015, p. 16). Consider how you might use these mental tools with your students to support their study and learning.

Priming Students for Success  

Students come to us with a wealth of preexisting knowledge, skills, beliefs, and attitudes, which influence how they attend to, interpret, and organize new information. How they process information will, in turn, influence how they recall, think, apply, and create new knowledge. Having a sense of what students know and can do when they begin a new topic of study can help us design instructional activities that build on student strengths, and more importantly, acknowledge and address insufficient prior knowledge and misconceptions. Click here for some ways you can assess your students’ prior knowledge and “prime” them for success. 

Who is Active in the Classroom? 

A great deal of empirical evidence suggests that student satisfaction and performance improve with a more active learning approach, where the educator takes on the role of facilitator (Baepler, et al., 2016; Patton, 2015). Active learning (AL) has been defined as any instructional method other than lecture that engages students in learning (Prince, 2005). Some AL activities take only 2-3 minutes (e.g., think-pair-share), while others may require much more time (e.g., Jigsaw). Allocate enough time for the activity, and make sure to leave time to debrief and identify the takeaways at the end of the activity. For a short list of proven strategies see Getting Started with Active Learning Techniques.

Interested in exploring any of these ideas further or discussing how you might implement them in your own teaching practices? Is there a tip you’ve tried that you’d like to share with colleagues? Contact CETL or schedule a consultation to continue the conversation.

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