Encouraging end-of-semester reflection from students

The close of the semester is the perfect time to encourage your students to reflect on the communication skills they’ve gained within your C-I course. Highlighting the connections among the content knowledge they’ve engaged with, and the transferability of the disciplinary communication skills they’ve acquired, elevates students’ overall learning long-term. This is also a great time to ask for feedback—remind students to please complete their course evaluations so that you can learn and elevate your skills as a teacher.  

Intentionally creating this space for reflection doesn’t have to be time-intensive. For example, you may choose to lead a 20-minute class discussion, do in-class or out-of-class quick-write reflections, or simply send an email to your class. One C-I faculty member chose the latter option and here’s what she wrote:

Hello Everyone!

Thank you for making our first-ever formal poster session a success! While a C-I course can sometimes be more challenging than traditional courses, your efforts will set you apart from your peers in your ability to write, analyze, and visually present technical information for a lay audience. Don't forget to include your poster presentation experience and all the skills you’ve gained through this work on your resume!

As we wrap up the semester, here are a few reminders:

  • If you haven't already done so, please fill-out your Course Evaluation. I hope to improve this course and my teaching each semester and I can only do that with your feedback! 
  • If you’ve earned a B- or higher in this course, you will automatically receive 1 written credit and 1 visual credit toward your LSU Communicator Certificate. If you would like to further develop your skills and graduate as an LSU Distinguished Communicator Medalist, check out more information about that program here. Both of these credentials look great on your resume as well!
  • The amazing support and resources you accessed via the CxC Studios for this course are still available to you as long as you're an LSU student. I encourage you to continue to take advantage of these services! 
  • Communication skills are critical for your success post-graduation regardless of what job, field, or industry you’re headed into. As you are scheduling courses in future semesters, I hope you will continue to seek out C-I courses to deepen your content learning and elevate your communication skills.

I’ve truly enjoyed working with you all this semester and I hope you will stay in touch as you go on to do amazing things!

Best wishes for a great finals week!

Do you send similar end-of-semester emails to your students? What other ways do you encourage your students to reflect on their learning? Share your emails and/or your approaches with us at [email protected].

 

LSU