Northcentral University

Terry Stone, PhD Part-Time Faculty, Department of Psychology In my experience, good teaching begins with a true understanding of your students. By taking the time to get to know my students and what is motivating their academic journey, I feel I am in a much better position to motivate and engage them. By reaching out during week 1 and asking about their goals, experiences, and interests, we can forge a connection and gain valuable insight to help them succeed. Over the years, I found it helpful to create a spreadsheet listing this information that they share with me. When I grade their assignments, I refer back to this and personalize my feedback. I can provide them with additional guidance in areas which I know they are concerned and offer them additional resources that align with their particular research interests. In online environments, some students may, at times, feel like they are just another name on a roster. By taking the time to understand their goals, passions, and individual backgrounds, we can foster connections helpful for promoting their engagement with the course. Maria Rodriguez, PhD and Siva Perera, PhD, LMFT Associate Directors of Faculty Support and Development, SSBS Both Terry and Michael provided some great suggestions on engaging with students and providing solid mentoring while relying on NCU's Teaching Through Engagement (TTE) approach as a blueprint. Terry and Michael highlighted useful strategies on connecting with and staying connected to students. Their tips on managing our own time commitments while striving to provide substantive feedback by having dedicated grading days and maintaining spreadsheets are realistic and practical. Regardless of whether you are a new faculty or one who has been with NCU for a while time now, we hope you find these ideas useful. Thank you Terry and Michael for sharing your teaching tips and strategies. Happy New Year to everyone! Do you have an approach, strategy, or idea you think others would find useful or interesting? Please share! You can send your ideas to Maria (mrodriguez@ncu.edu) or Siva (sperera@ncu.edu) and we would be happy to include them in an upcoming faculty newsletter. Thanks! 8 8

• Cover