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- If you do group work, structure the group work. Give students roles, and change the roles throughout the semester. Provide guidance for what each role should accomplish.
- Provide steps for completing assignments.
- Provide guidelines for ways to succeed in the class.
- Provide rubrics prior to giving assignments. Teach students how to use them.
- For each week provide a list:
- What we will learn this week.
- What assignments are due this week and when.
- What assessments are happening this week and when.
- If you see "stack-ups" where multiple important learning events occur on one day or within one week, push the calendar around. If you cannot push the calendar, announce this "stack up" two weeks early and remind students that it is coming (dates in the calendar are closer than they appear).
- Build in encouragement moments. "Look at how far we've come!" "Look at what we've accomplished this week."
- Create 4-5 minute recordings of solutions/answers/responses to known problem areas in the course and material. Post these for students to review. Be sure to explain in a different way from the way that you have explained "in class" so that learners get the information in a different way. (Suggestion courtesy of Jon French)
Setting expectations is crucial.
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