Learning & Teaching Collaborative Resources

Planning activities for the first day of the semester is complicated by the fact that class rosters often change substantially during the add/drop period. Spending the first class meeting discussing content that is central to the course can create a logistical problem when when students who later add the course need to make up that content. Effective activities for the first class meeting prepare students for engagement with the course content by developing rapport and ensuring that students are equipped and motivated to succeed in the course.

A common approach to the first meeting is to focus on discussion of the course syllabus and other course structure-related topics, which also aligns with students’ expectations and preferences (Henslee, Burgess, & Buskist, 2006). Focusing narrowly on the syllabus, or or technical and transactional aspects of the course can be a missed opportunity, however. The first class meeting is also an opportunity to establish expectations and to foster a positive, motivating learning environment for the course.

Lang (2018) suggests four principles to guide activities and approaches for the first day of class to help you begin to engage students in the course: Curiosity, Community, Learning, and Expectations.

Similarly, McKeachie and Svinicki (2006, p. 28) recommend planning the first class so that “by the end of the first day, students will have

1. A sense of where they’re going and how they’ll get there.
2. A feeling that the other members of the class are not strangers, that you and they are forming a group in which it’s safe to participate.
3. An awareness that you care about their learning and will be fair.
4. An expectation that the class will be both valuable and fun.

There is evidence that engaging students in activities designed to foster a positive environment on the first day of class can positively affect students’ perceptions of the the course. Meyers and Smith (2011) found that the amount of time spent explaining the “hows and whys” of the course was positively correlated with student satisfaction after the first day. Case et al. (2008) developed a reciprocal interview activity that was designed to provide students with important information about the course in the context of positive interactions between the instructor and students. Students reported that the interview activity created a comfortable classroom environment and helped to clarify expectations for the course. McGinley and Jones (2014) also found that a similar reciprocal interview activity increased students’ perceptions of how interesting the course was and how caring the instructor was, both of which are associated with greater student motivation, when compared to students who did not participate in the activity.

There is also evidence that the positive effects of activities on the first day of class can persist for the duration of the course, leading to more positive evaluations at the end of the semester. Subsequent research using the reciprocal interview activity found that increased comfort after the activity correlated with greater satisfaction with the course and instructor at the end of the course (Foster & Hermann, 2011) and that students who participated in the activity reported clearer expectations, greater instructor support, and greater satisfaction with the course at the end of the semester than students who did not complete the activity at the beginning of the course (Hermann, Foster, & Hardin, 2010).

The following resources include suggestions for activities that you can use or adapt for the first day of class to help you and your students achieve these goals.

• Make the Most of the First Day of Class (Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence and Educational Innovation, Carnegie Mellon University)
• The First Day of Class (Cornell University Center for Teaching Excellence)
• 101 Things You Can Do in the First Three Weeks of Class (University of Nebraska, Lincoln; also see strategies for Building Rapport and Learning Students’ Names)
• First Day of Class (Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching)
• Five Things to Do on the First Day of Class (Maryellen Weimer, Faculty Focus)
• First Day of Class Activities that Create a Climate for Learning (Maryellen Weimer, Faculty Focus)
• First Impressions: Activities for the First Day of Class (Betty Anne Buirs, Faculty Focus)
• Ten Tips for Dealing with Nervousness on the First Day of Class (Delaney J. Kirk, Faculty Focus)
• First Day of Class Activity: The Interest Inventory (Jennifer Garrett & Mary Clement, Faculty Focus)
• Linking the first week of class to end-of-term satisfaction: Using a reciprocal interview activity to create an active and comfortable classroom. (Foster, Hermann, & Hardin, 2011) Describes a reciprocal interview activity for the first day of class that is designed to communicate important information about the course while fostering rapport between students and the instructor (see below).

Case, K., Bartsch, R., McEnery, L., Hall, S., Hermann, A., & Foster, D. (2008). Establishing a comfortable classroom from day one: Student perceptions of the reciprocal interview. College Teaching 56, 210-214.

Foster, D. A. & Hermann, A. D. (2011). Linking the first week of class to end-of-term satisfaction: Using a reciprocal interview activity to create an active and comfortable classroom. College Teaching 59, 111-116.

Henslee, A. M., Burgess, D. R., & Buskist, W. (2006). Student preferences for first day of class activities. Teaching of Psychology 33, 189-191.

Hermann, A. D., Foster, D. A., & Hardin, E. E. (2010). Does the first week of class matter? A quasi-experimental investigation of student satisfaction. Teaching of Psychology 37, 79-84.

Lang, J. M. (2018). How to teach a good first day of class. Chronicle of Higher Education.

McGinley, J. & Jones, B. D. (2014). A brief instructional intervention to increase students’ motivation on the first day of class. Teaching of Psychology 41, 158-162.

McKeachie, W. J. & Svinicki, M. (2006). McKeachie’s teaching tips: Strategies, research, and theory for college and university teachers (12th Ed.). Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.

Meyers, S. & Smith, B. C. (2011). The first day of class. To improve the academy: Vol. 29. Resources for faculty, instructional, and organizational development (pp. 147-159.) San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.