Following is a brief summary of the Seven principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education as compiled in a study supported by the American Association of Higher Education, the Education Commission of the States, and The Johnson Foundation.   These seven principles are often referred to at Empire State College and are considered foundational to our educational practices in all modalities of learning, including online learning.

Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education
by Arthur W. Chickering and Zelda F. Gamson

  1. Good Practice Encourages Student-Faculty Contact – Frequent student-faculty contact in and out of classes is the most important factor in student motivation and involvement.  Faculty concern helps students get through rough times and keep on working. Knowing a few faculty members well enhances students’ intellectual commitment and encourages them to think about their own values and future plans.

    What you can do:

    • Provide clear expectations
    • Demonstrate teaching presence
    • Provide weekly course homepage entries in bulletin board news
    • Regularly check-in with your students through course mail and/or phone calls about how they think they are doing
    • Monitor question areas and discussion forum activities
    • Occasionally seek feedback  from your students about how you can support them
    • Blackboard Collaborate

  2. Good Practice Encourages Cooperation among Students – Learning is enhanced when it is more like a team effort than a solo race. Good learning, like good work, is collaborative and social, not competitive and isolated. Working with others often increases involvement in learning. Sharing one’s own ideas and responding to others’ reactions improves thinking and deepens understanding.

    What you can do:

    • facilitating cooperation among students
    • fostering student connections
    • encouraging collaboration
    • reinforcing the value of  engagement and responding to peers

  3. Good Practice Encourages Active Learning – Learning is not a spectator sport. Students do not learn much just sitting in classes listening to teachers, memorizing pre-packaged assignments, and spitting out answers. They must talk about what they are learning, write about it, relate it to past experiences, and apply it to their daily lives. They must make what they learn part of themselves.

    What you can do:

    • Providing clear expectations 
    • Coaching students on learning to learn
    • Encourage students to explain their ideas in detail (why do they agree/disagree, describe their observations or experiences, give examples of applying a concept to their lives or hypothetically
    • Foster critical thinking and active learning

  4. Good Practice Gives Prompt Feedback – Knowing what you know and don’t know focuses learning. Students need appropriate feedback on performance to benefit from courses.  In getting started, students need help in assessing existing knowledge and competence.  In classes, students need frequent opportunities to perform and receive suggestions for improvement.  At various points during college, and at the end, students need chances to reflect on what they have learned, what they still need to know, and how to assess themselves.

    What you can do:

    • Provide regular feedback to each student through course mail
    • Provide timely feedback to each student on completed activities (weekly discussion forums, assignments, other activities)
    • Explain to students what they are doing well (indicate their strengths, the ways in which they are meeting expectations on assignments, discussions, other activities)
    • Explain to students what areas of improvement still exist in their learning (indicate their gaps of learning, the ways they have not yet met expectations,specific items they should improve on for next learning activity/assignment)
    • Remind them you have provided feedback and where they can find it.

  5. Good Practice Emphasizes Time on Task – Time plus energy equals learning. There is no substitute for time on task. Learning to use one’s time well is critical for students and professionals alike. Students need help in learning effective time management. Allocating realistic amounts of time means effective learning for students and effective teaching for faculty. How an institution defines time expectations for students, faculty, administrators, and other professional staff can establish the basis for high performance for all.

    What you can do:

    • Set clear expectations on learning activities and completing them.
    • Monitor course participation and attendance.
    • Reach out to students who have stopped engaging.
    • Include learning activity due dates on your course schedule.
    • Provide regular task reminders on the coruse home page of what is due, when.
    • Let students know what they should do if they run into difficulties on submitting assignments or falling behind.
    • Consider how and when you will be flexible with students who are falling behind and communicate expectations.
    • When appropriate, ask for, or negotiate with students to devise an action plan to complete outstanding work including a date when it will be completed.

  6. Good Practice Communicates High Expectations – Expect more and you will get it. High Expectations are important for everyone – for the poorly prepared, for those unwilling to exert themselves, and for the bright and well motivated. Expecting students to perform well becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy when teachers and institutions hold high expectations of themselves and make extra efforts.

    What you can do:

    • Set and communicate clear expectations prior to the term start.
    • Notify students where they can find your expectations,  objectives of the course, and criteria to be successful.
    • Remind students, when needed, your expectations and the coursecriteria to be succesful.
    • Provide regular feedback to students about how they are meeting expectations (what they are doing well, what they need to improve on and any insights about how they might have applied previous feedback).

  7. Good Practice Respects Diverse Talents and Ways of Learning – There are many roads to learning. People bring different talents and styles of learning to college.  Brilliant students in the seminar room may be all thumbs in the lab or art studio. Students rich in hands-on experience may not do so well with theory. Students need the opportunity to show their talents and learn in ways that work for them. Then they can be pushed to learning in new ways that do not come so easily.

    What you can do:

    • Personally connect with your students at the beginning of the term and learn about their interests and how they approach learning.
    • Touch base regularly with your students to find out if they are struggling with anything in particular and what type of support they might need.
    • If students are in need of academic support, recommend students contact CDL’s Academic Support Office:  CDLAdademic.Support@esc.edu