This Week for Faculty: Supporting classroom culture mid-semester

by Columbia CTL | Mar 12, 2025 | Announcements

Supporting classroom culture mid-semester

1. Revisit community agreements. Remind students of the expectations for respectful and inclusive behavior during interactions inside and outside of the classroom. Use class time to revisit and revise the agreements as class needs have evolved.

Sample agreements may include:

Everyone here has something to learn.
Disagreement is welcome, disrespect is not.
Make space for all voices to be heard.
Critique ideas, not people.
Be open to new ideas and viewpoints, even if they challenge your own.
Listen actively and attentively.

2. Check in with students. Check in with your students to see how they are doing. This can be done through office hours or informal conversations before and after class, brief survey, and anonymous poll.

Check-in questions might include:

What questions or concerns do you have?
Do you feel comfortable asking questions in class?
How comfortable do you feel participating in class discussion?
What ideas do you have for ways to feel more connected to your peers in this class?
Do you feel comfortable expressing your thoughts in this class?
What ideas do you have for ways to feel more comfortable speaking in class?
What word would you use to describe the classroom culture today?

Tools like PollEverywhere and Google Forms can be used to take the pulse of your classroom. The choice of tool depends on whether you prefer real-time anonymous feedback or responses that you can review after class and plan to address during the next class.

The CTL’s Early and Mid-Semester Student Feedback resource outlines two approaches: 1) the start-stop-continue method; and 2) a question bank for gathering feedback from students.

The CTL is available to consult with you as you design your feedback survey, interpret the data, and address the results with your students.

Reach out to CTLfaculty@columbia.edu with questions and for assistance as you implement this strategy in your course.

3. Connect students to campus resources. Mid-semester may be a stressful time for students. They may not be aware of all the campus resources available to support their well-being and academic work or may need encouragement to take advantage of the resources that can help them thrive in your classroom. Provide links to resources in your CourseWorks site, share them in class, and during office hours to remind students that there is a network of support available to them. These might include connecting students with a librarian, the Writing Center, or health resources.

Connect students to Columbia Health and Alice! Health Promotion or Student Health on Haven for CUIMC students (Student Health on Haven offers 1:1 confidential well-being strategy sessions), for individual counseling, peer support through Friend2Friend, and coping tools. Mention these resources in class and include links to these resources in your CourseWorks site. Consult the Columbia Blue Folder for tips and tools to identify and refer students in distress appropriately.

Syllabus and course design support from the CTL

Are you developing a new course? Are you working on a course proposal for your Committee on Instruction?

The CTL can help you as you draft a syllabus and work on your course design. CTL consultants can look over your syllabus and provide feedback. Reach out to us at CTLfaculty@columbia.edu.

The CTL provides course design support as you design a new course or redesign an existing course. Engage with our on-demand resources including self-paced course and video playlist. Schedule a consultation to discuss your course.

Mid-semester assessment support from the CTL

Are you working on mid-semester assessment and grading?

The CTL can help you as you set up and use CourseWorks Assignments and Gradebook. Join CTL Learning Designers for office hours via Zoom (or phone) Monday-Friday, 9:00am-5:00pm to have your CourseWorks Gradebook questions answered.

Explore on-demand resources such as:

Prior to mid-semester assessment, have conversations with your students about academic integrity, AI usage, and any other course policies and expectations. Communicate the criteria that you will be using to evaluate student work. This transparency helps students understand expectations. Consider incorporating rubrics into your feedback and grading practices.

Upcoming workshops

Ways to be More Inclusive In Your Course
March 10, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Related resource: Guide for Inclusive Teaching at Columbia

Entering Mentoring: Assessing Understanding
March 20, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Related resource: Advancing Mentorship Practices: Supporting Mentors of Graduate Students and Postdocs at Columbia

Navigating HOT Moments: Before, During, & After Class
March 26, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Related resource: Navigating Heated, Offensive, and Tense (HOT) Moments in the Classroom

The CTL is here to help!

Connect via Zoom or over the phone
Join us for office hours via Zoom (or phone) Monday-Friday, 9:00am-5:00pm to have your teaching with instructional technology questions answered.

Schedule a consultation
Schedule an in-person or virtual consultation to discuss any teaching and learning need by emailing ctlfaculty@columbia.edu or email the CTL Learning Designer assigned to your school or department.

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