Practical Strategies to Support Students in Large Courses: How Do We Encourage Students to Ask for Help?

Abstract

It is impractical for academics to individually support students’ needs when teaching large cohorts. We describe scalable and sustainable approaches using the Student Relationship Engagement System (SRES) that were developed iteratively over four semesters, on-campus and online, with the aim to promote two-way communication between students and academics in two large second-year courses. We delivered timely, personalised communication to students and simplified processes to encourage students to contact us for help, enabling us to gain insight into students’ needs. To evaluate effectiveness (uptake and student perceptions), we analysed usage data and student feedback on the SRES and student evaluation surveys. There was high uptake from students, including email views from students who were identified to have low engagement, and students requesting to reschedule classes. Responses from students to personalised communications and online dashboards have been mostly positive. This practice report describes practical approaches that support students while reducing the administrative burden on academic staff, particularly in large courses. Furthermore, these can be efficiently reproduced across courses and semesters, on-campus and online.