10. Interacting with students

How do I contact my students?

There are a few options here. A first option is to use the Announcements forum in Moodle and post a message to students there. Students will receive an email notification with the message text, and can also go to Moodle and find the message in the Announcements forum. Another option is to copy students’ email addresses from the class roster in myUPEI and send a bcc email directly to students. This can be a helpful approach for getting in touch with students before the scheduled start date for your course or to reach first-year, new transfer, or graduate students who may still be learning to navigate Moodle.

How might I demonstrate equity, diversity, and inclusion for all students in my class?

There are many equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) resources and options available to instructors who want their classes to be inclusive and equitable while still demonstrating respect for the diversity of worldviews that students bring to our classes. There are a variety of resources on Inclusive and Culturally Responsive Teaching linked on the Instructional Resources Hub including those through myUPEI (also found under the Administrative Services tab). In addition, the Arts and Sciences Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Working Group has developed a guidebook on EDI considerations for faculty preparing for emergency remote teaching or online teaching; there are also resources on the Teaching Online website.

The Equity and Inclusion Reading Group gathers colleagues from across the campus periodically to discuss readings related to EDI. Discussions often generate ideas and practices that faculty can bring to their classes. Notices for these gatherings are circulated through campus notices.

How can I get my students to be engaged in my classes?

Student engagement depends very much on your audience, your teaching methods, your personality, your course content, whether you are in a classroom on campus or teaching in an online environment, and even factors like time of day and personal commitments students may have outside of your class. In short, there is no magic formula. For example, students taking a first-year service course may appear more tentative about the course than students taking a fourth-year seminar course in their field of interest. But this perspective can be shifted with engaging, meaningful learning activities. For most classes, active engagement methods will be necessary to engage students, but these activities need to be designed to work with the course content. There is a link to a library of Active Learning Tools available through the Instructional Resources Hub where you can use filters such as characteristics of your class, course delivery modality, complexity and amount of time required to find an approach that is best suited to your circumstances.  Whatever you do, it is important to communicate to students that you care about their learning. Their perception of your engagement sets a baseline for your interactions with them.

Since the answer to this question depends on so many factors, you might want to arrange for a consultation with the Teaching and Learning Centre. You might also invite a peer to come into your classroom (or virtual learning space for online courses) to observe and provide feedback. This sort of teaching observation can help identify ways to enhance your students’ engagement. If you are specifically concerned about student engagement in online courses, there are resources available on the Teaching Online website.

What can I do if students stop attending my class?

If you notice that a particular student has stopped attending your class, you can try to contact the student to find out what is going on. Experience shows that most students appreciate their instructor’s interest and will ask for your advice once they learn that you actually noticed their absence. Research has shown that persisting in reaching out to students is particularly important for online courses. Prior to beginning your teaching, take some time to review “Promoting Student Well-Being in Learning Environments: A Guide for Instructors created by the Teaching and Learning Centre and Student Affairs at UPEI. You can also submit a Student of Concern form through the myUPEI portal if you feel that additional follow-up for a specific student is warranted.

If you notice that a large number of your students have stopped attending class, it might be a sign that your teaching strategies are not working for them. This is why asking for some feedback directly from students early in the term can be valuable, so you have the opportunity to adjust your teaching and turn things around rather than waiting until students fill out the course evaluations at the end of the semester. The Academic Instructional Skills Program has resources on developing a mid-semester feedback survey.

What can I do if a student keeps interrupting my class?

The first step is to determine why the student is engaging in this behaviour. Is it a need for your attention or to demonstrate knowledge in front of other students? Is there a mental health issue behind this behaviour? Behaviour issues can be delicate. If you are uncertain about the root of the problem and how to handle it, we recommend you ask for help from someone, perhaps from an experienced colleague you consider a mentor or from your department chair or dean. You can also reach out to Accessibility Services for support and suggestions.

What can I do if the same student is always answering my questions to the class?

Make sure that individual students know that you appreciate their enthusiasm, but that it is important for other students to contribute as well. Try to figure out why it is always just one student (or a small number) who interacts with you: Are the other students disengaged or just shy? Sometimes you can tell from your students’ facial expressions that they have something to say but need some encouragement. They may be encouraged to contribute if you address them directly. Make it clear that saying something wrong is acceptable. People learn from mistakes! A great way to avoid the barrier of reluctance altogether is to use student response systems such as clickers or polling platforms like menti.com or polleverywhere.com. If your class is online, your platform (such as Class Collaborate or Zoom) may have a polling feature. With systems of this kind, students don’t need to reply to your question in front of a large group. Their responses are displayed anonymously. Allowing peer discussion before they submit answers will help students learn through discussion. Seeing the distribution of responses for the whole class also helps students evaluate their own level of understanding in relation to that of their peers.

I have difficulty communicating with some students in my class because of a language barrier. What options do I have?

If you notice that your students have problems understanding you because of your particular accent, or if you have problems understanding your students because of their accents or lack of proficiency in English, consider contacting staff in the English Academic Preparation Program for suggestions and advice.

How might I support students with disabilities?

Accessibility Services has an entire webpage with resources and links for instructors to help them effectively support students with disabilities at UPEI. You can add information to your syllabus for students who require accommodations. There is sample text on the Faculty Resources webpage. Instructors should advise students to contact Accessibility Services directly and make an appointment to meet with a case manager to discuss potential academic accommodations. Also, watch your UPEI email for accommodation letters from Accessibility Services, which provide specific information about the approved accommodations for individual students in your course. This presentation entitled, “I have received an accommodation letter, now what?,” contains useful information on how Accessibility Services will liaise with instructors about students who have been granted academic accommodations.

What does it mean when a student asks me to provide academic accommodations?

Student Affairs provides, among other things, disability-related information, support, and counselling to the UPEI community. Students with a documented disability can register with Accessibility Services to request “academic accommodations to offset the effects of their disability on academic life.” You are welcome to contact Accessibility Services for more information about their work, for example, how they determine a student’s eligibility for accommodations, what these accommodations might be, or how to refer a student to this office.

What can I do when I see a student struggling academically?

You can suggest to your student that they contact Academic Advising, with the option of booking an appointment or going to a drop-in advising session.

If your student has declared a major, they should contact their program or departmental advisor rather than Student Services. Students can also find many helpful resources through the Pathways to Academic Success (PAS) program, including learning strategies, materials on writing, time management advice, academic coaching, and much more. There is also an Accessibility Referral Form on myUPEI for faculty and staff to refer someone to Accessibility Services if they suspect or come to learn someone has a diagnosis (e.g., learning disability, mental health disability, ADHD, brain injury, temporary accommodation, etc.)

Free services are available through the Writing Centre, the Engineering Success Centre, the Help Centres in Math and Computational Sciences, and Chemistry. Students can also reach out to Student Affairs to arrange for tutoring assistance.

What can I do to support and recognize an excellent student?

A variety of grants, scholarships, and awards are available for undergraduate and graduate students, depending on their field. Contact your department chair to find information relevant to your discipline or program. For summer research awards, the Research Office has information on a variety of Undergraduate Student Research Award opportunities (USRAs). In addition, you can acknowledge excellence in all forms of academic writing by nominating students for a MacLauchlan Prize for Effective Writing. Make sure to refer students to the Scholarships and Awards webpage, which has searchable information about various internal and external funding sources for both undergraduate and graduate students. In addition, draw their attention to the deadlines for the fall and winter awards cycles.

For general information about financial aid, bursaries, undergraduate student loans, and grants, you may wish to refer your students to the Financial Aid section of the UPEI website.

What can I do when I see a student struggling personally?

In some cases, you can make your students feel better simply by being available for them and talking to them. Encourage students to come to your office hours or make an appointment. When teaching online, you can hold virtual office hours using Google Meet, Class Collaborate, Zoom, or a virtual service of your choice. A number of studies have shown that students today feel stressed out more easily or more often than previous generations. In some cases, simply talking with your students may lift their spirits because it shows them that you have an interest in their well-being.

In other cases, your students might need professional help. Options to consider:

You can refer them to health counselling services through the UPEI Health Centre located in the WA Murphy Student Centre: email: healthcentre@upei.ca; phone: (902) 566-0616

For personal counselling services, you can refer students through Student Affairs and the Webster Centre for Student Success. Counselling Services offers confidential, short-term help to students dealing with personal, relational, or mental health concerns. They are located on the fifth floor of Dalton Hall: email: studentserv@upei.ca; phone: (902) 566-0488.

 You might also want to let students know about the services of the Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Office: email: sv-pro@upei.ca; phone: 902-620-5090.

The Mawi’omi Indigenous Student Centre assists current and incoming Indigenous students with admission and course selection, provides tutoring and access to other student services, and offers support, cultural growth, and teachings from the Elder in Residence.

To prepare yourself to deal with a student in distress and to learn how to identify levels of concern, we strongly recommend that you review the Students in Distress  section at the end of the guide called

Promoting Student Well-Being in Learning Environments: A Guide for Instructors.

In addition, you can also submit a Student of Concern form through the myUPEI portal if you feel that additional follow-up for a specific student is warranted.

Do I have to allow students to record my lectures?

Information about your intellectual property rights is available here. Although this policy is listed under research, the definition of intellectual property explicitly includes educational materials as well. While, in theory, any recording of a lecture should be subject to the consent of the lecturer, it is hard to control in practice what students record on their mobile devices. Education around academic integrity can help avoid difficult situations, and the Academic Integrity Portal has resources for both students and instructors. Students requesting to record lectures as part of their academic accommodations also sign an agreement that outlines their responsibilities and limits. Click here for a copy of the agreement. 

What should I do if I suspect that a student has cheated on an assignment or exam?

To avoid this situation, take a proactive approach and ensure your students have a clear understanding of your expectations and the institution’s expectations with regards to academic integrity. You can review the Academic Integrity Portal to get an overview of UPEI’s related Academic Regulations, and how to encourage academic integrity and deal with academic integrity violations.

In general terms, if you suspect a student has engaged in academic misconduct, they are entitled to information about the alleged wrongdoing and the opportunity to provide a response. Academic dishonesty may be resolved by informal means, depending on the extent of the misconduct, the impact of that misconduct, whether the act was deliberate, whether the act is isolated, and any other pertinent factors.

Informal measures may include issuing a warning, requiring the work to be redone, assigning a low grade, or assigning a grade of zero for the assignment. Formal measures may result in a note in the student’s file in the Dean’s Office, failure in a course, denial of admission or readmission to the University, forfeiture of University awards or financial assistance, and suspension or expulsion from the University.

What do I need to do if a student wishes to appeal their grade?

In general, a student will be advised to contact the instructor—you—to resolve the issue. In some cases, the solution will be easy: for example, when there has been a technical issue with the student’s clicker grades not being recorded properly. If you agree with the student’s request, you can adjust the grade and move on. Other cases may be more complicated. If no successful resolution is reached, the next step is a written appeal. You may wish to discuss a potential appeal with your department chair, especially if you have limited teaching experience. If you do speak with someone else about the situation, consider carefully what information you may share and what has to be kept confidential.

The policies and process on reconsideration of a grade are outlined in Academic Regulation 12 of the UPEI Calendar. As with other grading-related issues, your department chair or colleagues can help you with information about how these procedures are implemented in practice.

What can I do in the (unlikely) event that there is a medical or other emergency in my class?

You can reach Campus Security Services at (902) 566-0384. When you call, security staff will be sent to your location to assess the situation and call 9-1-1 if necessary. For more information, visit Emergency Contacts and Safety Initiatives on the UPEI website.

Interacting with Graduate Students

If you are teaching or supervising graduate students, your interactions may vary quite significantly from those you have with undergraduate students. Both you and your graduate students should refer to the graduate studies handbook for your faculty, which outlines important rights and responsibilities for faculty supervisors, students, and committee members. The graduate studies coordinator for your faculty will be able to direct you to the handbook.