College Teaching, Wntr 2001 v49 i1 p2
Excitement on the First Day?

(Brief Article) Paul Higgins.
Full Text: COPYRIGHT 2001 Heldref Publications

Students quickly create impressions of the course, the professor, and their classmates on the first day. Research shows that those early impressions can affect the students' experiences throughout the course. We can use the first day to intrigue students, to implement how the course will run, and to engender successful relations among the class members. Often, however, we lose that opportunity.

We are told that professors should explain clearly and completely how the course will run, the specific assignments, grading procedures, attendance policy, the purpose and importance of the course, what students can expect to learn, and more. Thoroughly discussing the syllabus can be used to cover these issues.

I wonder whether that is effective. Students can read a well-crafted, thorough syllabus before the second class and discuss it then. To explain what can be read in a syllabus robs students of their responsibility and may set an unintended precedent. Further, to tell students how the course will operate is not the same as implementing it. To give a monologue, for example, about how the class will be participatory undermines the message.

Some writers advise us to begin to build relations among the students and between the students and the professors. We can use various "name games" or ice breakers. These techniques recognize that classes are complex social groups, which must be nurtured to work well. Such "social work" appropriately may be continued throughout the semester.

I have found, however, that the first day, can also excite students about the course. To learn deeply requires that the learner first become puzzled and then engaged with learning.

Because I am a sociologist, I try to stimulate students to wonder about social life. For example, in a course on deviant behavior, I have arranged for a graduate student to sit in the class the first day as if he or she is a (somewhat) older student. As I greet the entire class after having greeted them individually as they entered the classroom the (graduate) student continues to talk to neighbors, even asking for a pen or paper.

I politely ask the student several times to stop talking, but the student continues. I then take the student outside the room. We return shortly. However, the student continues to speak loudly to others or respond to what I have said.

At that point, I stop. Then I introduce the student as the graduate student that she or he is. I then ask the other students to write their thoughts and reactions to what was happening before I informed them about the disruptive student. I may ask them to discuss their reactions in small groups and then present them to the class.

After their presentations, I ask the students to write what ideas they have developed about deviance based on the initial incident and their first reactions. We discuss their more abstract reflections, which I may comment upon and tie to future issues we will explore.

The experience draws students into the course; helps them to participate confidently as they use their experiences created at that moment for their writing, reflection, and class discussion; and enables them to get to know their classmates. The activity works well; students actively participate and share important reactions and reflections with each other and me.

I use various first-day activities in my classes. Not all involve the staging of a scene. But all are designed to engage the students, to enable them to participate actively, to create connections with their classmates, and to think about social life. Through written comments, students have told me that they have enjoyed those first days that differ so greatly from what they have come to expect.

We have a unique opportunity the first day. We can confirm the expectations of our students by getting the first day out of the way in order to "really" start on the second day or by plunging into the "real" work of the course. Or we can excite students through unexpected activities that promote their participation, collaboration, and wonderment. With students who are energized, we professors then face the demanding, delightful challenge of sustaining their interest.

Paul Higgins is a professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of South Carolina, Columbia.