10 (+1) Tips for Supporting International Students (and Everyone Else) While Teaching Online

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Kathryn Brillinger, Nasreen Sultana, and Laura Stoutenburg of Teaching and Learning, and Thomas Campbell and Kavya Adapala from Student Engagement. 

Keep the Welcome Going

Work on a big, warm welcome each class. Students will either be remote and trying to manage bandwidth and scheduling and new systems or in Ontario settling in or seeking housing, grocery stores, etc. Start your class right on time but expect some students to sometimes be late and never forget to check if students are waiting to be admitted if you have set up a waiting room. Showing appreciation for them joining you on Zoom is much more motivating for the next session than being disinviting. In collectivist cultures (e.g., India, China, Iran, Syria, Indigenous cultures, etc.) forging a personal connection with others is a key element of success and safety.  

Collectivists are more likely to prioritize group over self, promote in-group favouritism and harmony, have an external locus of control, draw a sharper  distinction between friends and strangers, welcome social support and  empathy, attend more carefully to signal of approval and disapproval and have  a narrower trust radius (Strand, 2020, p.780). 
 
In a synchronous online class, you may want to play music while students are joining in the session or run a PowerPoint with visuals and hints. In addition, you can keep welcoming each person by using their names when they join.  This helps you learn their names and develops a sense of belonging to the class.

Make Connections

Even if you may not see the students’ faces, try to establish authentic relationships. You can do some strategic disclosure about yourself and ask the students about their lives too. For example, the first 5 minutes of the class can be a chitchat session between you and your students or, if you prefer to stay more tied to course content, you can chat about previous experience with related studies or work or interests. Educational processes are closely linked with the meaningful connection that teachers and students make.  

The qualities that comprise the essence of connection create a student–teacher  relationship that is affirming and transformative and a place of possibility for  students. A connected student–teacher relationship supports students ‘at risk of  failing’ by minimizing teaching as evaluation and, when failing is inevitable,  preserving students’ dignity, self-worth and future possibilities (Gillespie, 2005, p. 217).

Use Everyone’s Name

Using names has always been a positive motivator in the classroom (see tip for what to do when you are worried about pronouncing a name). In a Zoom or Teams session, you can see everyone’s name. At the start remind students to change their screen name to what they wish to be called. If you are not sure how to pronounce a name, request the students with a friendly manner to teach you the names during a break. Students will appreciate your good intentions. Also, by doing this, you are making a direct connection with the students. Whenever anyone sends a public question or comment in the chat feature, respond with their name while addressing the questions/comments. students feel more valued and invested when a teacher attempts to know their names. Using students’ names is likely to create a positive learning experience.  

Students reported that instructors knowing their names made them feel more comfortable approaching instructors for help… Students who are more willing to seek help from instructors, particularly in large-enrollment courses, have been shown to be more motivated and perform higher … Furthermore, student– faculty interaction has been shown to positively predict students’ grades and confidence in highly challenging college science courses (Cooper, 2017, p. 11).  

Discuss Resources and Establish Communication

Encourage students to obtain their books and resources in a timely fashion, first by explaining how resources will be used in class and assessments.  Give students one week grace before you expect them to have the books, and if your program uses a pre-paid e-text, connect the link in your course shell and walk the class through the process of retrieval and use (link to web page from bookstore). Then USE the resources. Use resources in class, and have students refer to resources in group work. If you switch to lecture format to accommodate students who do not yet have their books, you will accidentally reinforce the belief that the books are not necessary, and that class participation is optional. Also, establish the expectations and rules for the course from the beginning of the course. It is important to establish communication with the students. “The specifics of the rules and consequences were less important than the teacher’s ability to communicate those rules early in the semester and to enforce them consistently” (Cothran et al. 2003, p. 442). 

Consider Tech Skills and Leverage eConestoga

Consider the fact that international students may be new to using technology in learning. Screen share eConestoga each class and show the students where you are in the Instructional Plan and where the materials you want them to reference are housed. Refer students who are having challenges with Word or Excel to the Tech Tutors at the Library or to Lynda.com. Link to the services for the students. Discuss with the students the fact that eConestoga is only one part of their learning and that they need to consider 4 or more streams of information that will aid their learning: 1. your commentary in class, 2. the materials in eConestoga, 3. the practice tasks in class or for homework or preparation, and 4. their collaborations and discussions with others over the material.  

Make Tasks Concrete

Take into account that many students will not have engaged in interactive classroom environments before and may be hesitant to participate.  Carefully explain and model the first activities you have students do in class before sending them into break-out rooms. For the first group tasks they do, try to keep the groups no larger than 3 students.  Give them a concrete task and provide a clear method for reporting on their results. Success early on will encourage further engagement and participation as the semester unfolds.

Manage Group Work

Supervise if everyone is equally contributing to the group work. As an example, you may want to use a collaborative document (see link) so you can identify which portion of the work is done by which group members. This will create accountability among the group members. Also, create groups in the beginning of the semester for any large projects so that students have opportunities to understand each other during formative tasks.  

Review the Evaluation, Assignment Description, and Rubric Scheme

Explain how the marks in the class will be allotted over the semester and draw special attention to the fact that the students can’t be “rescued” at the end of the semester by a big final exam or a plea bargain. Explain the intention and significance of the small tasks and how important those marks are. Screenshare the rubrics and assignment schemes to explain to students how they can use these as guidelines to their assignment. Also, Tell the students how the assignments are associated with the outcomes and how each assignment is going to support the next assignment. 

Discuss Academic Integrity

Have a conversation from the beginning of the course. Tell students why academic integrity is important and how they can write papers without cheating. Tell them it is okay if they do not know how to cite but encourage them to learn. Connect to the APA site in your course shell and remind them about this before they start doing each assignment. Be firm in your approaches from the first assignment of the course. Once students know that they cannot cheat, they will not.  

Consider Capping Late Marks and Being Flexible with Requests for Extension

Consider capping late marks in order to encourage students to submit work regardless of the due date. In the first few weeks many new students are not sure of what is required. Regardless of whether a student submits on time or not, be sure to mark the work and return it so that you provide feedback for learning. Do not set your Assignment Box so that students cannot submit after a certain time. You will still want to see and respond to their work even if they cannot earn marks. You can have 10% deduction for three days, but after 3 days they can continue to submit up until week 13 of the semester for up to a pass. 

Get Formative Feedback

Try a feedback method such as an anonymous “start, stop, continue” to give your students a chance to tell you what is helping them learn.  For “start, stop, continue,” you can share a link to an online form which ask students three questions: things that you could start doing to help them learn better, things that they would like you to stop doing that is/are not helping them learn, and things that they would like you to continue doing that they are finding helpful.  This provides you with insight and them with some say in the teaching and learning process. 

References

Cooper, K. M., Haney, B., Krieg, A., & Brownell, S. E. (2017). What’s in a name? The importance of students perceiving that an instructor knows their names in a high-enrollment biology classroom. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 16(1), 1-13. 

Cothran, D. J., Kulinna, P. H., & Garrahy, D. A. (2003). “This is kind of giving a secret away…”: students’ perspectives on effective class management. Teaching and Teacher Education, 19(4), 435-444. 

Gillespie, M. (2005). Student–teacher connection: a place of possibility. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 52(2), 211-219. 

Strand, P. S. (2020). The security-seeking impulse and the unification of attachment and culture. Psychological Review, 127(5), 778–791. https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000194