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Home > Resources > Universal Design in College Instruction > Delivering > Interaction

Interaction

Instructors and students interact with students as a group in the classroom, and instructors also meet individually with students outside the classroom environment. Students study course content on their own and interact with each other to complete group work. Interactions within and outside the classroom between the instructor and students is a complicated and a challenging component to teaching.

To encourage regular and effective interactions between students and the instructor, consider the following:

In the Classroom:

• Meet your students, get to know their names, and something about them.
• Be available and accessible for questions immediately before and after class.
• Create active learning experiences in the classroom that do not always rely on lecture for the primary content delivery method.
• Call on different students during class time.
• Use Blackboard to randomly assign groups for class work.
• Design activities that allow students to deliver content to each other (i.e. discussion leaders or “experts for the day”).
• Take time to ask (and answer) student questions directly.
• Provide time for students to reflect or work with complex material during class.
• Provide opportunities for students to interact with you, each other, and the material by introduction classroom assessment techniques (CATs).

Outside of the Classroom:

• Always be available during your office hours. If you will be unavailable, communicate this to students in advance and reschedule a time to meet.
• Provide additional opportunities to meet with students who are unable to attend office hours.
• Respond respectfully to student emails.
• Use Blackboard to communicate with students via discussion groups and email lists to provide timely asynchronous communication.
• Provide opportunities for structured study groups or exam review.
• Assign group work that places a high value on different skills and learning styles, and requires students to support each other.

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Selected Teaching Effectiveness Program Resources for Inclusive Interaction

(NOTE: The below links will open in a new browser tab or window)

Classroom Management: provides resources addressing the issue of how to maintain a civil classroom environment that benefits all students.

Leading Small Group Exercises in a Large Class: offers an overview of working with small groups within a larger lecture course.

Tools of Engagement: links to resources to assist instructors working with online discussions, email communication, and videoconferencing.

Conducting Office Hours: addresses the process for conducting office hours and some of the basic expectations an instructor should have going into the experience.

Group Work: introduces the process of setting up group work and team-based learning.

Class Management: introduces the process of setting up group work and team-based learning.

Remember Students' Names: introduces the process of setting up group work and team-based learning.

Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs): provides examples and descriptions of CATs that can be modified and used in any course.

Frequent, Prompt and Facilitative: offers a description of CATs and additional resources for including them in your classroom.