At the start of each semester, CAIFS hosts a very short and optional Blackboard Ultra Quick Start course for incoming students. The goal of the course is to invite students to explore the LMS and try out the discussion board, assignment submission, and Yuja video quiz so they have some level of familiarity and comfort with the learning environment before classes begin. The discussion board prompts students to discuss how comfortable they are with digital tools and to share some goals for the semester ahead and how they plan to achieve them. Of the students who engage with the course, almost all of them say they feel pretty comfortable with different digital tools, they want to establish and maintain a 3.5 GPA or higher, and they hope to meet some friends. These qualities and experiences that they hope for all contribute to and support student well-being and belonging. So what can we do to help students expand their tech skills, get the most from their courses and major, and find some friends?
Expanding 21st Century Tech Skills
Now that USC Upstate students have shared with us that they feel pretty comfortable with common tech tools, what can we do to increase their comfort with and use of 21st-century skills? One consideration is to embed technology use within authentic disciplinary tasks rather than treating technology as a standalone skill or course. We might ask students to use technology and also to analyze data, collaborate digitally, evaluate content and sources for accuracy, and communicate to different audiences across multiple platforms. Designing assignments that require students to select tools intentionally, document their decision-making, iterate based on peer and instructor feedback, and reflect on ethical considerations, like accessibility, data privacy, and AI use, can improve student motivation and engagement. It also invites students to build durable skills that are transferable beyond specific tools or disciplines. If you’re interested in learning more about tech-integrated authentic assessment, explore Digital Authentic Assessments (DAA) in the article, Authentic Assessment in Higher Education: The Role of Digital Creative Technologies.
Nurturing Academic Persistence and Career Readiness
Faculty can also play a role in supporting students as they reach their academic and career readiness goals. Instructional practices that support persistence, like transparent assignments, scaffolded skill development, timely and actionable feedback, and opportunities to revise, build students’ confidence and sense of belonging, especially in 100 and 200 level general education courses. At the same time, students are interested in their career prospects and rely on faculty to make disciplinary skills explicit, to provide access to simulations or applied projects, and to guide them through the practice of communication, collaboration, and problem-solving like a historian, nurse, educator, or other professional. Small shifts in how we describe our assignments can make a huge impact: by naming the transferable skills, inviting students to reflect on how course learning connects to several careers, and aligning assessments with career-focused expectations, we can guide students toward achieving their academic and career goals. To learn more about integrating career readiness into your courses, reach out to Lillian Reeves (reeveslg@uscupstate.edu) to learn about how to access ACUE’s Quick Study course on that topic.
Finding Friends
While students have plenty of opportunities outside of class to meet people, they also spend a lot of time in class, which makes it the perfect place to meet a friend or two. Faculty can play a small, but powerful role in helping students meet their peers by designing classes that make connections feel natural. Small group work, low-stakes peer discussions in the early parts of the semester, and in-class collaborative projects with clearly defined roles can give students the repeated opportunities they need to get to know each other. When students have opportunities to speak and be listened to, community can emerge. To learn more about how to nurture the kinds of connections that lead to student success or to add some new strategies for building community to your practice, visit Elon’s Center for Engaged Learning and read the free copy of Peter Felten and Colleague’s book, Connections are everything: A college student’s guide to relationship-rich education.
Students come to college often full of hope and nerves. In recognition of both, we can listen to their aspirations and create opportunities for them to achieve their goals and make lasting connections with peers, faculty, and staff. Evidence across institutional size, rank, and geographic location in the United States has shown that relationships enrich the college experience and strengthen students’ sense of belonging immeasurably. In this way, fostering connections becomes a powerful – if often overlooked – dimension of student success.