There’s nothing like the first day of a new semester: waking up early, preparing your course notes, and walking into a classroom full of silent faces staring at screens. Sound familiar? Think about it: How often do you actually see your students talk to one another? Do they share weekend plans before class? Discuss course material after dismissal? When you assign group work or partner discussions, do students listen and engage with one another, or do they simply complete the assigned task? Educational research shows that peer-to-peer relationships can make or break students in college. While generating these relationships in a world of screens can certainly be challenging, the advantages speak for themselves: student-to-student interactions enhance student belonging by building confidence and increase learning through accountability and self-efficacy.
In their 2020 monograph on how relationships provide the baseline for quality educational experiences, Peter Felten and Leo Lambert discuss the importance of these interactions in student achievement. Positive relationships with other students lead students to stronger understandings of material and often encourage them—especially marginalized students—to help one another learn. Their research also shows that instructors who lay the groundwork for effective student-to-student relationships early in the semester (primarily through strategic classroom activities) reap these benefits throughout the term, so consider some of the following strategies as you begin your courses this term:
- Explain the importance of working with peers. Using your syllabus and/or the first few days of class, set clear expectations for peer-to-peer engagement. Many introductory (and some advanced) students are unfamiliar with effective group work. Ask your students about their positive and negative experiences working with their peers and explain what ideal peer-to-peer interactions look like in your classroom and why these interactions are important for student success.
- Demonstrate peer-to-peer study skills during class. Bryan Dewsbury, a biology professor at Florida International University, asks his students to explain tricky concepts to hypothetical celebrities. Students take turns playing the role of a celebrity or explainer, with the celebrity asking questions and the students responding sans notes. Dewsbury then encourages students to take this approach when studying with their peers outside of class. If you have undergraduate teaching assistants (UTAs), ask them to explain their study strategies (both in and out of the classroom) to current students.
- Use class time to build community. In a recent discussion about office hours, students in the current cohort of CITL’s Faculty Learning Community, Improving Your Pedagogy Through Student-Faculty Partnerships, admitted it is sometimes easier to ask their classmates questions than to approach their professor. While we know office hours are crucial spaces for student learning, instructors can leverage this initial response by promoting community within their classrooms. The more connections students have to their classmates, the more opportunities they have to learn from one another. You can encourage students to use one another’s names in class (try the Canvas feature, NameCoach), or you might give my favorite teaching strategy, attendance questions, a try. Any opportunity that encourages students to engage with one another on a personal level will help create an atmosphere of collaboration and accountability.
Helping your students create positive relationships with their peers is a pedagogical move grounded in a commitment to student success. At its best, it can help your students find a sense of belonging in your course and increase their learning. At the very least, it might encourage your students to ask one another when an assignment is due rather than sending you a hoard of midnight emails.
Want to chat more about how to encourage peer-to-peer engagement? Start your year off right with a CITL consultation where we can talk one-on-one about what works best for your class. Write us at citl@indana.edu.
References and further reading
- Felten, P., & Lambert, L. M. (2020). Relationship-rich education: how human connections drive success in college. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
- Light, R. J. (2001). Making the most of college: students speak their minds. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
- Supiano, B. (2023). The Missed Opportunity of Office Hours. The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Note: All book links go to IU Libraries. IU readers can access the Chronicle article off-campus via IU’s proxy.
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