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Using Structure and Flexibility to Support Students

22Feb’22

Support for Your Students

Students often experience stressors and competing demands for their time that can interfere with learning. A course that combines structure and flexibility reduces the cognitive load associated with navigating busy academic schedules.   

Structure can take many different forms, such as scaffolding larger assignments or creating a predictable rhythm of due dates and course activities.  

Flexibility allows students to meet the course objectives even when unexpected challenges arise. Flexibility also eliminates the need to negotiate every extension and exception, which reduces stress for students and instructors alike. Flexible policies particularly benefit students who may not feel comfortable asking for help or extra time when they need it. 

Incorporating Structure & Flexibility into Your Classroom

Communication Between Students and Instructors

The principles of structure and flexibility apply to the ways in which you and your students communicate with each other. If you clarify when and how you’d like students to contact you, students who usually hesitate to ask for help may feel invited to do so.

Offering multiple modes of communication (such as emails, Zoom appointments, office hours, speaking after class, or surveys) can help you to connect with a greater number of students. Soliciting feedback from students early and often communicates your support of their learning and allows you to adapt the course to students' needs. 

  • Provide clear guidelines about how students should contact you, when and where your office hours are, and types of things students might discuss with you. 
  • Reinforce your openness to engage with students by sharing your communication guidelines in the syllabus, on the Canvas homepage, and in class.  
  • Start the course with activities that help your students get to know each other and you. These activities might relate to course content or students’ goals or interests.  
  • Give students a pre-course survey in which you ask about their interests, strengths, concerns, and needs related to the course. 
  • Require students to come to office hours early in the semester and give them a small incentive for doing so. 
  • Conduct periodic check-in surveys to ask how students are doing and what you can do to help them learn. It may be useful for students’ responses to be anonymous. 

Class Participation and Attendance

Explaining the purpose of class time can help students understand why attending class is valuable. Providing specific guidance on how to prepare for and participate in class improves the learning experience for all students and helps you navigate situations in which a student must miss class or is unable to meet expectations. 

  • Provide specific guidance on how to prepare for class. This might involve sharing reading questions, a list of discrete tasks, or asking students to take a quiz on pre-class materials. 
  • Clarify the purpose of class time by introducing the goals or important takeaways at the start and end of class. 
  • Begin class in the same way each time to help students transition to a learning mindset. 
  • Let students know how and when you want them to participate or ask questions. 
  • Set clear guidelines for group work and active learning experiences. 
  • If attendance and class participation count toward students’ grades, provide a set number of classes that each student can miss without consequence. 
  • Consider how students will make up learning activities  they may miss. For example, you can ask students to engage with course materials by writing a response or summary. 
  • Give students access to in-class materials, such as class recordings, lecture notes, or PowerPoint slides. 
  • If you have students who are missing multiple classes, consider CETLI’s Strategies to Help Students Stay on Track When They Must Miss Class. 

Assignments, Exams and Deadlines

Students need deadlines to help them organize their time and stay on top of their work. But students can face unexpected challenges and need to know what to do if they can’t meet a deadline.

Consider drafting these guidelines in advance and communicating them to your students, both in class and in writing. Making your policies for late work and missed exams and quizzes clear and non-judgmental to students upfront will encourage students to communicate with you before they fall behind and save you from negotiating each case individually. 

  • Provide a complete schedule of assignments and due dates that establishes a predictable rhythm to the course when possible. 
  • Provide multiple, low-stakes assessments to help students keep up with course material. Consider grading some work for completeness while still providing feedback. 
  • Scaffold large assignments so students can make progress and get feedback on each step of the project over time. 
  • Allow students to drop or skip one or more exams or assignments. This can reduce stress and help them catch up more easily when they fall behind.  
  • Give students the autonomy to choose their own paper/project topics, which can motivate them to complete the work. 
  • Give students opportunities to revise assignments or take new versions of a test. 
  • Allow students a set number of late days for assignments that they can use at their choosing without penalty. 
  • Explain the policies for extensions and missed work clearly in your syllabus and Canvas. 

What To Do if Students Fall Behind

Inevitably, some students will face challenges and struggle to complete their classwork. Even with good course structure, flexibility, and communication, some students may need more support. There are multiple ways to get students connected to help as soon as you see students falling behind. 

  • Send a Course Action Notice: These email notifications go to the student and the student’s school advising office and can help advisers know they need to reach out. 
  • Reach out directly to a student’s adviser. You can find the name of each student’s adviser in your class list. 
  • Contact student resources—like Student Counseling or the Weingarten Center—to consult about how best to connect a student with additional support. 
  • More information is available at CETLI’s page on Resources to Support Your Students. 

Supporting Your Students

More Resources

Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Innovation