Peter Newbury Center for Teaching Development, UCSD ctd.ucsd.edu 5 March 2014

1. First Day of Class
1
What do you notice?
What do you wonder?
That Huge Lecture Theatre by teddy-rised on flickr CC

2. 2
Amphitheater in El Djem, Tunisia. Built by the Romans in 3rd Century AD – “The amphitheater was used for filming some of the scenes
from the 1979 Monty Python film Life of Brian and was also used for filming some of the scenes from the Academy Award (Oscar)
winning film Gladiator.” (Wikipedia entry for “El Djem”)
(Image: Tunisia 3277 by archer10 on flickr CC)
First Day of Class

3. CTD WEEKLY WORKSHOPS:
THE FIRST DAY OF CLASS
Peter Newbury
Center for Teaching Development,
University of California, San Diego
pnewbury@ucsd.edu @polarisdotca
ctd.ucsd.edu #ctducsd
resources at ctd.ucsd.edu/programs/weekly-workshops-winter-2014/
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
12:00 – 12:50 pm Center Hall, Rm 316

4. By the end of the first class, you want
students to have a good sense of
First Day of Class4
 why the course is interesting and worthwhile
 what kind of classroom environment you want
 how the course will be conducted
 why the particular teaching methods are being used
 what the students need to do to learn the material
and succeed in the course
 your respect for them
 your desire for all of them to succeed
(CWSEI, [1])

5. By the end of the first class, you want
students to have a good sense of
First Day of Class5
 why the course is interesting and worthwhile
 what kind of classroom environment you want
 how the course will be conducted
 why the particular teaching methods are being used
 what the students need to do to learn the material
and succeed in the course
 your respect for them
 your desire for all of them to succeed
(CWSEI, [1])
Is that all?
C’mon, you’ve got
50 minutes!

6. The First Day of Class[1]
First Day of Class6
1. Establish motivation
1. personal relevance and interest
2. choice and control
3. sense that one can master the material
2. Personalize the learning experience
3. Establish expectations
4. Don’t go over the details
Wait, when do you welcome them?
When do you tell them your name?

7. First Day of Class7

8. First Day of Class8

9. Clicker question
First Day of Class9
How do your want your students to address you?
A) Dr. Smith
B) Mr. / Ms. /Mrs. Smith
C) Professor Smith
D) Michael / Elizabeth (first name)
E) Mike / Beth (familiar, nickname)

10. friend students
class twitter acct
professional acct
professional/personal
follow students
will you initialize
google hangouts?
participate in them?
class pinterest
class flickr acct
Social Media
First Day of Class10
How many of these social
media channels do you think
you’ll use to connect with
your students?
other?
LinkedIn

11. Think-Pair-Share
First Day of Class11
What’s the difference between academic misconduct
and academic integrity?

12. Course details: don’t
First Day of Class12
 Don’t go into details during first class; give links to
more details on
 course syllabus
 detailed schedule
 detailed learning outcomes
 academic misconduct integrity
 deadlines
 rules/policies (eg, late assignments, missed exams…)
 Could give an assignment involving reading these.

13. First Day of Class13

14. First Day of Class14
(Image: Peter Newbury CC-BY-NC)

15. Why is this necessary?
First Day of Class15
 You want every student to leave the first class thinking,
“This will be a good course, I’m ok being here.”
 If you don’t do it, “students who are most likely to see the
subject as worth learning are those whose backgrounds,
and corresponding attitudes, are most like that of the
instructor. Those students whose backgrounds are
different, which by definition (usually) includes most
members of under-represented groups, will be less likely
to understand the appeal of the subject and
consequently more inclined to put their efforts into
pursuing some other discipline.” (CWSEI, Motivating
Learning)

16. First class do’s and don'ts
First Day of Class
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17. Check out classroom
before the first class
 clicker hardware?
 podium computer?
 lapel mic (“lav”)? Try it.
 presentation remote
works from back of
room?
 assume you’ll be able
to figure it out at the
time.
 let a technical
problem ruin your only
chance to make a first
impression.
17
First Day of Class
Do Don’t

18. Start the class on time.
(establish expectations)
 arrive late (what
expectation does that
establish?)
 have “intimate”
conversation with
students in the front
rows while you wait for
others to wander in.
This doesn’t
“personalize” the class.
18
First Day of Class
Do Don’t

19. Tell students you think
they can all succeed if
they put in the effort.
Fine to say the course is
challenging as long as
you also express it is
 interesting/worthwhile
 do-able with
appropriate effort
Say threatening things like
 telling them you expect
some to fail
 telling them that students
don’t usually like the
course
 telling tell them that
students find the course
extremely difficult
19
First Day of Class
Do Don’t

20. Try to give them an
authentic experience of
what the class will be like.
 If you’re going to use
peer instruction, do it
even if some don’t have
clickers yet.
 email pre-reading
assignment 2 days
before class
Use teaching practices
that are inconsistent with
how you’ll teach the rest
of the time:
 don’t use clickers if
you’re not (really)
going to use clickers
20
First Day of Class
Do Don’t

21. Involve students during
class
Talk the entire class time
21
First Day of Class
Do Don’t

22. Address academic
conduct in context
throughout the course:
 talk about plagiarism
when you give out a
writing assignment, not
now
Emphasize rules and
penalties on the first day:
 sends a message of
distrust
 they’re not listening
anyway
22
First Day of Class
Do Don’t

23. End class on time with a
slide containing pertinent
info:
 your name
 office hours
 contact info
 course website
 homework
 important thing
End class early
(establish expectations)
23
First Day of Class
Do Don’t

24. Repeat vital info at the
beginning of the 2nd class,
too
 your name
 contact info
 course website
Assume everyone was
there in the 1st class.
24
First Day of Class
Do Don’t

25. Reinforce all of these
messages (motivation,
personalized learning,
expectations,…)
periodically throughout
the course, at the
appropriate times.
25
First Day of Class
Do Don’t

26. Have a growth mindset:
You must believe all of
your students are
capable of learning your
course’s content.
If you don’t, you may
inadvertently deny your
students learning
opportunities.
 Have a fixed mindset
about your students’
abilities, including
 your job is to find 5%
who will be like you
 your job is to filter
out students from
advancing to the next
course
26
First Day of Class
Do Don’t

27. CTD WEEKLY WORKSHOPS:
THE FIRST DAY OF CLASS
Peter Newbury
Center for Teaching Development,
University of California, San Diego
pnewbury@ucsd.edu @polarisdotca
ctd.ucsd.edu #ctducsd
resources at ctd.ucsd.edu/programs/weekly-workshops-winter-2014/
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
12:00 – 12:50 pm Center Hall, Rm 316

28. References
First Day of Class
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1. Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative (2009). First Day of
Class – Recommendations for Instructors. Available under
Instructor Guidance Resources at cwsei.ubc.ca
2. Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative (2013). Movitating
Learning. Available under Instructor Guidance Resources at
cwsei.ubc.ca