How many of your students are first-generation? How many of your students work more than 15 hours a week? How many of your students want to become doctors?
If you teach a small college class, then it’s easier for you to get to know who your students are, but this is much harder in a large class. Also, the impersonal nature of large science classes makes it difficult for students to feel like they relate to the instructor, which can negatively impact student learning and engagement, especially for members of marginalized groups. One simple strategy that has been recommended for helping instructors get to know their students is to distribute a “get to know you” survey at the beginning of the semester, but there’s a lack of data on how this might affect students. So, a recent study explored whether an instructor collecting and sharing aggregated student demographics in a large biology course could positively impact students.
Below are some of the main findings:
Most students appreciated being asked about themselves in a “get to know you” survey.
Researchers found that 72% of students appreciated the “get to know you” survey. When asked why, students explained that they felt less invisible, they felt like the instructor cared about them, and they felt more capable of succeeding and more motivated to do so.Most students thought the instructor’s decision to share results from the “get to know you” survey in class had a positive impact on their overall course experience.
Not only did this instructor collect data about who students were, but they also shared that information out with the whole class; this way, for example, everyone would know what percentage of students identified as first generation, worked more than 15 hours a week, and wanted to be physicians. Almost three-quarters of students expressed that the instructor sharing these “get to know you” survey results in class positively impacted their overall course experience. Students noted that seeing the percentage of students with specific identities helped them realize not only how diverse their biology class is, but also how diverse future scientists could be. Students not only saw differences between themselves and other students but also recognized similarities, helping them to feel less alone.Most students thought the survey and sharing of survey results made their instructor seem more approachable and inclusive and made them feel more like they belonged in class.
Most students perceived that taking the “get to know you” survey and seeing the instructor share survey results in class made the instructor seem more approachable and made them feel a stronger connection with the instructor. Further, students felt as though they belonged more in the course. However, both completing the survey and experiencing the instructor sharing the results made some students feel more different from their peers because of the identities presented.Notably, researchers found that taking the survey more positively affected women and non-binary students compared to men.
“Get to know you” surveys are easy to implement since they take little time for both the student and the instructor
- Online “get to know you” surveys can be deployed outside of class, which means instructors do not have to use class time to collect student information.
- “Get to know you” surveys allow instructors to ask each of their students a variety of questions in a non-intrusive way, as all questions are asked virtually, and the survey structure allows students to opt out of answering particular questions.
- Online surveys are re-usable, so once instructors create the survey the first time, they can deploy it to students in their courses in future semesters as well, minimizing long-term time costs.
- Instructors can share the aggregated patterns they learn about their course composition with the class in as little as 5 minutes to highlight course diversity and promote an inclusive learning environment.
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