Expectations for Students

Welcome to the expectations page! Like all web pages, this is a work in progress. Please contact the CTL with suggestions and additions.

During Fall 2020, many LC students had the option to attend their synchronous classes remotely. It is likely that remote attendance had retention benefits, as well as helping us remain in-person for the semester. However, the flexibility in modalities resulted in several unintended consequences reported across campus and nationally. These include:

Zoom drift - students chose to attend remotely even when they could have attended in person, resulting in classes of a few in-person students and the remainder connecting remotely.
Disengagement - students who chose to attend remotely often did so without video, discussion contributions, or any indicators that they were engaged in the class; they acted as class audience rather than class participant.
Inequities in learning - faculty noted bimodal assessment results where in-person students consistently out-performed their remote peers. Freshmen, first-generation students, and other vulnerable students were also more negatively impacted than others.

There is a description of campus-wide academic expectations in the LC Student Handbook and also one with a General Education focus in the Catalog. Individual faculty and programs also have them, and they are sometimes implicit, the invisible curriculum. This set of expectations is an outcome of COVID-19 which has presented similar challenges across campus, and thus there is an opportunity to revisit how to describe how an LC student can learn to succeed academically.

Coupled with community agreement to abide by explicit expectations, expectations can clarify the performance and engagement required in a class so that every student can rise to success. Clearly communicating expectations is a foundational part of 'high expectations teaching' which demonstrates that we care about our students and that we hold them to high standards.

How the Expectations Work

We have an old problem, revisited - How do we guide students to make responsible decisions about their learning, especially when the best decisions are hard? In the past, you have probably invoked many methods that are relevant to your discipline and understanding of the learning process. A multiple modality classroom adds another dimension to the decision-making that students must do, and how we guide them to do that well.
Organization of expectations - The expectations below are organized by aspirational statements divided into operations:

Aspirations - statements of who we want our students to become, based on the Mission of the college: “Lewis-Clark State College prepares students to become successful leaders, engaged citizens, and lifelong learners.”
Daily practices - suggestions from faculty for ways of meeting the aspirations.

What to do with the expectations - adapt and adopt the expectations as is relevant to your discipline, your class, your students, and your voice. Use the aspirations and/or any of the daily practices to help you build your classroom into a place in which you can foster student success and find your teaching joy. Use whatever is useful to you and ignore the rest.

A note on terminology:

Face-to-face classes: classes that are in-person, with remote learning when needed
In-person: the student is in the classroom with their professor
Remote: a student who is connecting through Zoom or similar online program
Modality: the method by which a student connects
MIxed-modality: a class in which students attend in-person and remotely

The Expectations

Daily practices:

Attend class in-person unless administration has notified faculty directly that you must be away from campus for a period of time in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While class recordings are available for emergency use and by request, class is synchronous and your attendance is required for your success. Under no circumstances should other events such as work be scheduled during class time.
I will be checking in with you at various points throughout the semester, using class announcements, email and surveys. These check-ins are an opportunity for you to let me know what you need in order to succeed in the class.
Recognize that like going to the gym, making good decisions about your learning requires hard work and consistency. There is a payoff and I am here to help you be accountable and support you. Think about how your end-of-the-semester self will feel in relation to decisions you make throughout the term.
Check your LCMail regularly and turn on notifications for components in Canvas, including announcements, graded assignments, etc.
You are a whole person. Your wellbeing, mental and physical health is an essential component of your success. Here are resources that may be helpful to you if you find yourself needing help with life’s obstacles:

Warrior wellness: the domains of wellbeing with an emphasis on the emotional
Resources from Student Counseling: local, regional and national helplines, information, office
Warrior Food Pantry: You can also follow them on Facebook for updates, featured food, and links to other distribution sites.
Foundation Retention Scholarship
Harmful myths when coming out: It’s not all glitter and rainbows

Daily practices:

Engage in class every session by preparing as instructed, attending in-person, participating fully in class activities, and completing assigned work.
If you are connecting by Zoom, please leave your camera on so that you can participate in class in a manner that is as similar as possible to being in class in person.
I will call on you regularly in this class. You always have the option to reply or to pass.
I appreciate your questions and communication and will respond to emails in a timely manner during normal business hours.
What we call each other in class and in email is an important way to show each other respect. Please let me know how you prefer to be addressed. I prefer _____.
Work will only be accepted on Canvas. Assignments will be left open on Canvas for late submission, but once an assignment closes, you may no longer submit it. I am unable to grade emailed assignments. Make sure to plan for enough time to upload and submit your work.

Daily practices:

Attend class prepared. Have your texts, notebook, and supplies at the ready so you can engage fully. If you are attending remotely, sitting at a desk or table will help reinforce that you are attending class and help you focus.
Avoid distractions, such as doing work for a different class or scrolling on your phone, during class time.
Act with integrity and honesty. College is an important opportunity to grow into the ethical behavior that is required by your discipline. While some of this behavior is covered in the Code of Conduct, there are additional ways to practice your integrity and honesty every day in the classroom. For example, be honest in your conversations with your instructor, upload your best and final work to Canvas, follow assignment honor codes, etc. Reflect on your actions and make sure that they build trust between you and your faculty, and you and your peers.
You will be required to make and submit videos in this class. If you do not have a device that allows you to do this, please talk to me by X date, so that I can help arrange for you to have access to a device that can record the video assignments.

Strategies for Realizing the Expectations

Connect expectations with opportunity to learn - “You have an opportunity to develop skills in this very challenging time that can propel you through all kinds of challenges you will encounter as a student and professional.” - MDG
Normalize the idea of expectations - We always have them. It is easier to follow them when they are explicit, and more equitable because you are not depending on a student being well versed in how college works.
Be explicit with what you expect - It is important to grab the attention of the students more now than ever. We can be bold in our choice of language and we should choose to be as succinct as possible with the expectations. After this, providing anecdotal information such as exemplars, or non-examples can further illustrate our meanings.
Share your why.

Talk about what we learned from Fall '20 - We can model changing from what we learn by talking about how these expectations come from prior experience. Additionally, students may have had similar experiences and observations that can be a point for connection and building community. - WAS
A shared why is an important motivator - Having a better understanding of how things fit together helps students better understand the bigger picture; if they understand the "why" it's easier to try to accomplish the ask.

Design assignments that are transparent - Here are two links on TILT (Transparency in Teaching and Learning). The first in an introduction from BSU. The second an overview of methods and assignments.

Revisit and revise - here are a few ideas from faculty:

I will refer back to expectations and outcomes with more frequency throughout the semester. Doing this helps students to better understand how the different components of the class (including their effort) makes the class fit together as a whole. I'm going to start recording brief introductory videos for each assignment so, in addition to reading the expectations, students also have the choice to hear and see them. - HVM
I have started reviewing the learning outcomes with students at various points of the semester, including the end, and will directly connect these to class(room) expectations. - MDG
One thing I do around midterms is talk about prior student behaviors and what it resulted in - example: my grades were fine but started tanking at midterms, and I stuck my head in the sand and ignored it thinking it would magically go away. This precipitates a talk about drop dates and the decision to "stick it out because I'm not a quitter" versus the reality that a low GPA is harder to fight, especially when it happens in the first year. - JL
I will record an introductory video to explain the course and expectations clearly for the first week of class. Just because we are “online” does not mean that a visual reference point isn’t important. In fact, I had conversations with students last semester and they agreed that this would have been advantageous to their level of comprehension of what my expectations were/what outcomes I was looking for. I will strive to put a short video together before each module and invite feedback. I will also invite them to stop by my office if they are on campus. - SCS

Reinforce that modified face-to-face does not mean "less effort"

Help students identify their responsibility in achieving their learning outcomes - SH
Formalize language in assignments and communication to model language expectations - TC

Connect to your mission - if you have expectations that are built into your program’s mission, you may already invoke them in the classroom, and have class practices that meet them. The expectations in this document may fall under your current expectations, or may require little change to make them clearer if you wish to do so.