Principle 1: Encourage contact between students and faculty.

Building rapport with students is very important. The contact between students and teachers are vital to
the students' success. One of the main reasons students leave school is the feeling of isolation that they
experience. The concern shown will help students get through difficult times and keep working. Faculty
have many avenues to follow to open up the lines of communication.

For the regular classroom:

 Invite students to visit outside of class.

 Know your students by name.

 Help students with problems in their extracurricular activities.

 Personalize feedback on student assignments.

 Attend student events.

 Advise students regarding academic courses and career opportunities.

 Seek out students you feel are having a problem with the course or are frequently absent.

 Encourage students to present their views and participate in class discussions.

Principle 2: Develop reciprocity and cooperation among students.

When students are encouraged to work as a team, more learning takes place. Characteristics of good
learning are collaborative and social, not competitive and isolated. Working together improves thinking
and understanding.

For the regular classroom:

 Use cooperative learning groups

 Have students participate in activities that encourage them to get to know one another.

 Encourage students to join at least one organization on campus.

 Assign group projects and presentations

 Utilize peer tutoring.

 Encourage students to participate in groups when preparing for exams and working on
assignments.

Principle 3: Encourage active learning.

Learning is an active process. Students are not able to learn much by only sitting in classes listening to
teachers, memorizing pre-packaged assignments, and churning out answers. They must be able to talk
about what they are learning, write about it, relate it to past experiences, and apply it to their daily lives.
Students need to make learning a part of themselves.

For the regular classroom:

 Ask students to relate what they are learning to something in real life.

 Use journaling.

 Give students concrete, real-life situations to analyze.

 Encourage students to suggest new reading, projects, or course activities.

 Ask students to present their work to the class.

 Use of simulation software to run "what-if" scenarios allows students to manipulate variables and
circumstances.

 Practice role modeling and use web-based case studies to practice new thinking skills.

 Encourage students to challenge your ideas, the ideas of other students, or those ideas presented
in readings or other course materials in a respectful matter.

Principle 4: Give prompt feedback.

By knowing what you know and do not know gives a focus to learning. In order for students to benefit
from courses, they need appropriate feedback on their performance. When starting out, students need help
in evaluating their current knowledge and capabilities. Within the classroom, students need frequent
opportunities to perform and receive suggestions for improvement. Throughout their time in college and
especially at the end of their college career, students need chances to reflect on what they have learned,
what they still need to know, and how to assess themselves.

For the regular classroom:

 Follow-up presentations with a five minute period for students to write down what they have
learned in class.

 Provide informative comments that show the students' errors and give suggestions on how they
can improve.

 Discuss the results of class assignments and exams with the class and individual students.

 Vary assessment techniques (tests, papers, journaling, quizzes).

 Offer on-line testing, software simulations, and web-based programs that provide instantaneous
feedback.

 Have question and answer sessions.

Principle 5: Emphasize time on task.

Learning needs time and energy. Efficient time-management skills are critical for students. By allowing
realistic amounts of time, effective learning for students and effective teaching for faculty are able to
occur. The way the institution defines time expectations for students, faculty, administrators, and other
staff, can create the basis for high performance from everyone.

For the regular classroom:

 Expect students to complete their assignments promptly.

 Clearly communicate to your students the minimum amount of time they should spend preparing
for class and working on assignments.

 Help students set challenging goals for their own learning.

 Have realistic expectations (don't expect 10 papers in 10 weeks).

 Encourage students to prepare in advance for oral presentations.

 Explain to your students the consequences of non-attendance.

 Meet with students who fall behind to discuss their study habits, schedules, and other
commitments.

Principle 6: Communicate high expectations.

Expect more and you will get it. The poorly prepared, those unwilling to exert themselves, and the bright
and motivated all need high expectations. Expecting students to perform well becomes a self-fulfilling
prophecy when teachers and institutions hold high standards and make extra efforts.

For the regular classroom:

 Give a detailed syllabus with assignments, due dates, and a grading rubric.

 Encourage students to excel at the work they do.

 Give students positive reinforcement for doing outstanding work.

 Encourage students to work hard in class.

 Tell students that everyone works at different levels and they should strive to put forth their best
effort, regardless of what level it is.

 Help students set challenging goals for their own learning.

 Publicly acknowledge excellent student performance.

Principle 7: Respect diverse talents and ways of learning.

There are many different ways to learn and no two people learn the same way. Students bring different
talents and learning styles to the classroom. Students that excel in the seminar room may be all thumbs in
the lab or art studio and vice versa. Students need the opportunity to show their talents and learn in ways
that work for them. Then, they can be guided into new ways of learning that are not as easy for them.

For the regular classroom:

 Use Web technologies to allow students to pick and choose learning experiences that fits the way
they learn.

 Encourage students to speak up when they do not understand.

 Use diverse teaching activities and techniques to address a broad range of students.

 Select readings and design activities related to the background of students.

 Provide extra material or activities for students who lack essential background knowledge or
skills.

 Integrate new knowledge about women, minorities, and other under-represented populations into
your courses.

 Use learning contracts and other activities to provide students with learning alternatives for your
courses.

 Encourage students from different races and cultures to share their viewpoints on topic discussed
in class.

 Use collaborative teaching and learning techniques and pair students so they compliment each
others abilities.

 Give students a problem to solve that has multiple solutions. Guide them with clues and examples.

 Consider field trips.

 Be familiar with Howard Gardner's research on multiple intelligences.

References

Benson, David, Lu Mattson and Les Adler (1995). Prompt Feedback. In Susan Rickey Hatfield (Ed.), The
Seven Principles In Action (55-66). Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing Company, Inc.

Brown, David G. and Curtis W. Ellison (1995). What is Active Learning?. In Susan Rickey Hatfield (Ed.),
The Seven Principles In Action (39-53). Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing Company, Inc.

Bunda, Mary A. (1993). The Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education.
Instructional Exchange 4 (1-6), 1-4.

Chickering, Arthur W. (1991). Institutionalizing the Seven Principle and the Faculty and Institutional
Inventories. New Directions For Teaching And Learning. Jossey Bass Inc. 47.
Chickering, Arthur W. and Ehrmann, Stephen C. (2000). Implementing the Seven Principles: Technology
as Lever. [Online]. Available:
http://www.hcc.hawaii.Edu/intranet/commi.../FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/7princip/htm. [2001, January
10}.

Chickering, Arthur W. and Gamson, Zelda F. (1987). Seven Principles for Good Teaching in
Undergraduate Education. AAHE Bulletin 39, 3-7.

Chizmar, John F. and Walbert, Mark S. (1999) Web-Based Learning Environments. The Journal of
Economic Education 30 (3), 248.

Codde, Joseph (2000). Applying the Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education.
{Online}. Available: http://www.msu.edu/user/coddejos/seven.htm. [2001, January 10].

Questions and Answers

1. First step in addressing knowledge gaps is to figure out where students are. Think about assignments
and outcomes, just because students know facts and concepts does not mean they know how to use them.
I good place to start is with differentiate declaratively. To this end does differentiate declaratively mean:

A. Knowing what and knowing why?

B.Knowing how and knowing when?

2. Research suggests it is important to understand how knowledge organizations develop:

A. People make associations based on patterns they experience in the world.

B. Associations build, larger more complex structures emerge.

C. People organize their knowledge differently, based on experience (i.e. culture).

D. No organizational structure is necessarily better, just well or poorly matched to any given situation or
task.

E. All of the above.

3. A Performance Approach to a goal, would mean to:

A. Focus on avoiding incompetence by meeting standards.

B. Students try to gain competence and learn what an activity or task can teach them.

C. Desire to finish work quickly, with little effort.

D. Attain competence by meeting normative standards.

E. All of the above.

4. A crossroads where the experts’ unconscious competence meets the unconscious incompetence of the
novice is called the expert blind spot:
A. True

B. False

5. Strategies That Promote Student Development and Productive Climate:

A. Resist a single right answer.

B. Incorporate evidence into performance and grading criteria.

C. Examine your assumptions about students.

D. Establish and reinforce ground rules for interaction

E. Turn discord and tension into a learning opportunity .

F. All of the above.

6. When Assessing the Task at Hand, how would you approach your students?

A. Be more explicit then you think necessary.

B. Tell students what you do not want.

C. Check students’ understanding of the task.

D. Provide performance criteria with the assignment.

E. All of the above.

7. If a student…

A. Knows HOW to do something then it is safe to assume they understand WHY they are doing it

B. Knows WHY we do something then it is safe to assume they know HOW to do it

C. If the student can explain a theory well and perform a procedure then they require no further teaching

D. If the student can explain a theory well and perform a procedure you should adjust your lesson plan to
teach them more

8. When a student makes many small errors in an assignment you should:

A. Only point out a few so as not to discourage her.

B. Point out all the errors, but write a positive message at the bottom of the assignment telling her she
made a great effort.

C. Schedule a meeting with the student to tutor them further until she can reach her potential.

D. Not point out any small errors because she got the key concepts right.

9. You are teaching a class to 400 students lecture-style and have no teaching assistant and a very full
course load and cannot offer office hours at al. What would be the best strategy to serve the learning
needs of your class…
A. Assign only one major assignment midway through the semester, and return the assignments several
weeks before the final exam with very thorough feedback.

B. Create many very short assignments throughout the semester, but only provide a letter grade and no
written feedback so you have time to mark each one.

C. Assign several projects throughout the semester and assign the students to have them peer reviewed
twice before submission.

D. Only many multiple choice assignments that can be graded by scantron and provide statistical
feedback (ie, 40% of the class got question 2 wrong).

10. Since upper level students are expected to have a higher metacognitive ability you should

A. Give very little direction because they are expected to be confident and able to self-start.

B. Micro-manage tasks to ensure process.

C. Allow students to work independently.

D. Not offer any assessment or feedback unless it is asked of you because sel-directed learners should be
able to evaluate themselves effectively.