You have reached the middle of a fast-paced term, creating a class community and digging into your course materials and assignments, together. Now it’s time to check-in with your students and ensure that they’re on track to meet course outcomes (and their own learning goals) by the end of the term.
In this guide, we explore several strategies that will help you gauge where learners are and what support they may need to successfully complete your course. Additionally, we’ve rounded up Dartmouth resources that may be useful for students who are struggling.
Check-in on Student Wellness
Fostering a culture of self-care benefits both faculty and students. Balancing expectations can be difficult with Dartmouth’s fast-paced quarters, and strain often starts to show by mid-term. Now is a great time to ensure that students are aware of support services throughout the term by referring them to the Student Resource Guide and the service leads below:
- Student Wellness Center: A suite of support services including wellness check ins, yoga, mindfulness and meditation, sexual violence prevention, sexual health, sessions, blogs, and social media devoted to student wellness at Dartmouth.
- Student Life Committee (for graduate students): A committee that organizes events and invests in policies at Dartmouth that support student well-being, especially for mental health.
- Student Health Committee (for undergraduates): A committee devoted to promoting wellness through RADical Hope (a 4-week mental health program), creation of wellness spaces at campus, fostering campus partnerships, and numerous programs for wellness, suicide prevention, and services.
- Dartmouth Well-Being Resources Map: actively updated map for wellness resources and services around Dartmouth.
- The Counseling Center: offers short-term therapy, 24/7/365 crisis services, medication evaluation and management, sport psychology appointments, workshops and discussion groups, ADHD evaluations, and trainings and presentations for the Dartmouth community
- Rigorous Care: The Early Warning Syllabus: Developed by Professor Michelle R. Warren (Comparative Literature) and Research Assistants, this syllabus offers a set of policies that guide faculty to integrate pedagogies of care into their courses.
To ensure individual students receive the support they need, it is important to identify those who might benefit from regular check-ins (Hoyt, 2022). Develop a personalized support plan that includes consistent meetings, mental health resources, and academic guidance. This plan should be adaptable to the student’s needs, fostering both emotional well-being and academic success (Buckle, 2024).
Before giving any high stakes tests or assignments (anything weighted more than 20% of the student’s overall grade), consider and practice wellness activities that will reduce stress, promote self-efficacy, and support students’ development of executive functioning skills to better prepare for and complete the high stakes activity. Here are a few examples:
- Test-Enhanced Learning: Encourage students to take low-stakes quizzes before any high-stakes tests to promote retrieval practice and reduce anxiety. This approach strengthens memory and improves long-term retention without the pressure of a major exam (Roediger & Butler, 2020).
- Mindfulness and Deep Breathing: Before tests, guide students through mindfulness exercises such as deep breathing, progressive relaxation, or guided visualization. These practices have been shown to lower test anxiety and improve focus during exams (Bamber & Schneider, 2020).
- Peer Learning and Discussion: Facilitate structured peer discussions where students can talk about challenging concepts or questions they’ve encountered in preparation for an exam. This not only reinforces understanding but also alleviates stress by fostering collaboration (Smith & Trujillo, 2020).
Facilitate Student Reflection (Metacognition)
Practicing metacognition (reflecting about their thinking, knowing, and being processes) mid-semester encourages students to address their learning strategies and academic progress, allowing them to adjust their approaches to better meet course objectives and personal goals (Harris et al., 2023). This self-awareness fosters deeper learning, enhances problem-solving skills, and can lead to improved academic performance and self-efficacy (Soicher & Gurung, 2023).
- Minute Papers: At the end of a class, students write a brief response to a prompt such as “What was the most important thing you learned today?” This activity helps students engage in self-reflection and reinforces learning by requiring them to summarize key takeaways (Angelo & Cross, 1993).
- Application Cards: Ask students to reflect on connections between their courses to other courses, events on campus, their work, their immediate environment, and the world? The Carnegie Mellon Eberly Center “Application Card” is an example of what this type of reflection can look like.
- Index Card Reflect: Celebrate your students’ achievements and strategize for improving challenge areas. Create a 15-minute mid-term reflection during which each learner writes on a notecard: What are some areas for which I must continue “stretching” and areas in which I am “shining” in this course? What strategy can I create to work on those stretch areas?
- Exam Wrappers: After exams, students complete a reflection activity focused on their study strategies, exam preparation, and performance. This encourages students to think about how they approach learning and adjust their strategies for future success (Lovett, 2013).
Conduct a Mid-Course Evaluation
For detailed guidance on gathering mid-semester feedback and improving course outcomes, refer to the Mid-Course Evaluations Guide, which offers strategies to help faculty assess and adjust based on student needs. To ensure a successful course trajectory and meet the evolving needs of your students, revisit your syllabus mid-semester to assess deadlines, workload, and learning objectives, adjusting where necessary based on mid-course evaluations and student feedback. If time permits, hold 1:1 interviews with your learners to address any questions or requests they may have about the course or strategic planning for internships, graduation, job seeking, graduate school applications, etc.
Take Time for Self-Care
Prioritizing self-care is crucial for faculty to be their best selves for students. While that’s easier said than done, here are a few resources we recommend:
- Faculty Employment Assistance Program: offers short-term counseling and other services for faculty and their families.
- Set Boundaries Around Work Hours: Establish clear work hours to prevent burnout (Nash & Churchill, 2022).
- Seek Peer Support: Faculty peer support groups can provide a space for sharing challenges, receiving emotional support, and discussing teaching practices (Robertson & Brindley, 2023).
Sign up for a One-on-One Consultation with a Learning Designer
If you have questions about any of the strategies mentioned here, or would like to consult with a learning designer, please don’t hesitate to book a consultation with us!
References
Angelo, T. A., & Cross, K. P. (1993). Classroom assessment techniques: A handbook for college teachers. Jossey-Bass.
Bamber, M. D., & Schneider, J. (2020). Mindfulness-based programs for reducing stress and improving well-being in students: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review, 32(1), 1-28. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-019-09487-7
Buckle, J. (2024). 21 student well-being check-in questions in 2024-25. Panorama Education. Retrieved from https://www.panoramaed.com
Carnegie Mellon University. (n.d.). Eberly Center: Teaching excellence & educational innovation. https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/
Harris, K. R., Santangelo, T., & Graham, S. (2023). Metacognitive strategies and academic performance: Enhancing student reflection and critical thinking. Metacognition and Learning, 5(2), 137-156. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11409-021-09387-4
Hoyt, L. (2022). Approaches to student success, retention, and well-being examined. Council of Independent Colleges. Retrieved from https://cic.edu
Lovett, M. C. (2013). Make exams worth more than the grade: Using exam wrappers to promote metacognition. In M. Kaplan, N. Silver, D. LaVauge-Manty & D. Meizlish (Eds.), Using reflection and metacognition to improve student learning: Across the disciplines, across the academy (pp. 18-52).
Robertson, J., & Brindley, J. (2023). Faculty well-being through peer support networks in higher education. Journal of Educational Change, 24(1), 133-150. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-022-09407-8
Roediger, H. L., & Butler, A. C. (2020). The critical role of retrieval practice in long-term retention. Educational Psychology Review, 32(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-020-09488-z
Smith, M. K., & Trujillo, G. (2020). The benefits of peer discussion and instructor feedback during in-class question sessions in STEM classrooms. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 19(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.19-12-0251
Soicher, R. N., & Gurung, R. A. R. (2023). The impact of metacognitive interventions on student learning: A single-course evaluation. Psychology Learning & Teaching, 20(1), 64-73. https://doi.org/10.1177/147572572110471