Join this monthly reading group for a chance to talk with Salem State Faculty Colleagues about issues that matter for teaching first years - sign-up at the bottom of this page.

Description: First year students at Salem State are more diverse than ever before, coming from a wide range of cultures, languages, experiences and life-stages. What they have in common is that they’ve been through an unprecedented two-year pandemic. How can we reach, and teach, this group? This reading group will focus on short articles that challenge our preconceived notions of who first year students are, and what they need from us to learn. Open to any and all SSU faculty; come discuss one reading or all three.

Co-hosted by Liz Blood, Faculty Fellow for First Year Experience and Abby Machson-Carter of the SSU Instructional Design Team. All meetings will take place via Zoom; sign up below to receive updates and reminders for the series.

Readings and Meeting Schedule:

Monday, March 7, 3:30pm - 4:30 pm - Why I Don’t Grade and The Attendance Conundrum (articles). What would happen if you stopped grading and stopped taking attendance in your classes? Graded assignments and attendance are two traditional ways of evaluating students, but are there better ways to help them learn? We invite you to read these articles and join us as we examine these provocative questions and discuss how they might help us re-evaluate our practices.

Optional readings: Laura Gibbs’ OU Digital Teaching: Getting Rid of Grades and Susan D. Blum's Ungrading

Tuesday, April 19, 3:30-4:30 pm (Zoom link) - The College Fear Factor (article). “Despite best intentions, today’s first-generation college students and their professors ‘misunderstand and ultimately fail one another’ in the classroom.” How are we misunderstanding our first-gen students? What should we do when our idea of teaching doesn't fit our students' idea of a college classroom? We invite you to read this short summary of research on how traditional college culture is can be a barrier to student success, and come discuss our approaches to this topic and ways to make the classroom experience better for all of our students.

Optional reading: The New Traditional on Campuses - Lays out statistics around prevalence of “non-traditional” students and suggestions for supporting them.

Monday, May 16, 3:30-4:30 pm (Zoom link) - Underprepared Students in the College Classroom: Working with "At Potential" Populations with Dr. Newton Miller (podcast episode). Students are entering our courses with a range of backgrounds and aptitudes. What do we do when they have been “underprepared”? What are the small shifts we could make that might help our students stay in school? We invite you to listen to the podcast and join us for a conversation about working with “at potential” students in our classrooms.

Optional reading: Vincent Tito's How to improve student persistence and completion - Vincent Tito, major voice in the field of higher education research, talks about self-efficacy, belonging, and the relevance of the curriculum in the context of why students do (or do not) persist to graduation in higher ed.

Questions? Email Abby Machson-Carter

Image attributions: Vikings Logo: University Archives, Salem State University Archives and Special Collections, Salem, Massachusetts