This framework is motivated by:
It is a collection of academic practices, put together in related groups under general and special themes. The practices are colour-coded as Low Level of Effort Required, Medium Effort Required, and Significant Effort or Institutional Support Required.
The framework is based on personal experiences, interviews, and multiple sources such as UBC Well-Being Framework and information collected during Earlier Workshops at Carleton University
Primary contributors are:
See some reference articles at the end.
a. Acknowledging social and emotional needs of students
b. Engaging in conversation not directly related to the course/project
c. Reminding students that their marks do not determine their worth
d. Not requiring proof from students experiencing a crisis
e. Respecting students and their experience
f. Setting office hours that accommodate students’ schedules
g. Ensuring that the workload is reasonable
h. Providing a detailed course syllabus or project schedule (including milestones, deliverables, and evaluation)
i. Offering appropriate deadline extensions, exam retakes, and assignment options
j. Setting deadlines to encourage work-life balance
k. Incorporating flexibility into the grading scheme
l. Making efforts to understand and get to know students on a holistic level (life, families, hobbies, plans, etc)
m. Reducing the cost of educational materials
a. Providing a list of resources providing mental health services on campus to students
b. Providing referrals to students who you believe are struggling with mental health problems
c. Sharing general information about mental health and wellbeing with the students
d. Asking students how they are doing
e. Inviting guest lecturers from a support service related to mental health
f. Walking students to a support service and wait with them until they are met with
g. Meeting with students one on one, outside of office hours, if they disclose to you that they are struggling with mental health problems
h. Checking in with students who appear to be struggling
i. Addressing campus issues that affect multiple students
j. Discussing your own mental health and wellbeing
a. Treating student input as valuable
b. Taking breaks as necessary during challenging discussions
c. Asking for volunteers (vs. cold-calling) to answer questions or discuss topics
d. Acknowledging that university can be scary and intimidating to new students
e. Using inclusive language
f. Addressing safety and support early on in the term
g. Having a friendly and inviting office (box of tissues, non-intimidating arrangement, etc)
h. Receiving student presentations in a supportive and respectful way (no agressive talk, starting the review with the strengths, avoiding laughs or other gestures that may be perceived as personal attack, etc)
i. Respecting student autonomy
j. Establishing a relationship based on trust with the students
k. Allowing students space to be wrong, and gently redirecting students as appropriate
l. Ensuring that discussions allow space for different perspectives and opinions
m. Offering trigger warnings when necessary (for students who need time to prepare)
n. Allowing students to participate in multiple ways (e.g. online), if participation marks are deemed necessary
o. Arranging the classrooms and labs in a more engaging and supportive manner (such as round-table, proper lighting, etc)
p. Understanding and accommodating different groups (academic program/level, social, religious, ethnic, etc) and their special needs, concerns, and interests ***
a. Promoting reflection and sense-making
b. Providing meaningful, constructive, and non-generic feedback
c. Allowing and rewarding growth, not just a single final result
d. Offering appropriate deadline extensions, exam retakes, and assignment options
e. Finding tutors and peer support
f. Adjusting expectations from an individual based on their mental health and other personal needs
a. Managing expectations (sharing and explaining what you and students expect from the course/project and each other)
b. Defining appropriate conduct early on and collectively
c. Respecting students and their experience
d. Ensuring that positive comments are included when providing feedback
e. Providing novelty/variety
f. Having a cheerful Dedication to Subject (Enthusiasm, Excitement,…)
g. Facilitating planning
g. Raising curiosity
h. Making students better learners through affective strategies: respect, encouragement, enthusiasm, humour, etc ***
a. Introducing yourself
b. Smiling
c. Encouraging students to address you by your first name
d. Having short, informal conversations with students
e. Encouraging students to attend office hours
f. Sharing personal anecdotes
g. Admitting mistakes and problems
h. Explaining the reasons for changes and decisions
i. Making efforts to understand and get to know students on a holistic level (life, families, hobbies, plans, etc)
j. Making extra efforts to make your students feel valued
k. Initiating conversations with students who had regular attendance and are now missing class
l. Displaying your passion for the subject
m. Using humour as appropriate
n. Learning and using student names
o. Observing and listening (through talks, meetings, town halls, and other interactions)
p. Trying to be a life/career mentor ***
q. Understanding and accommodating different groups (academic program/level, social, religious, ethnic, etc) and their special needs, concerns, and interests ***
a. Maintaining or allowing the same groups throughout the term
b. Encouraging group work and in-class discussions (especially when it is not for marks)
c. Building learning communities (i.e. using icebreakers)
d. Fostering a safe classroom environment (3)
e. Incorporating a lab, discussion group, or tutorial
f. Offering trips, workshops, games, or other informal learning environments ***
a. Telling stories about Research and Subject Community
b. Offering bonus marks for students to attend related community events and activities
c. Inviting guest speakers from research, industry, and other communities
d. Planning and attending community activities (field trips, conferences, etc)
e. Planning community-related projects
a. Having a calm voice and body
b. Maintaining eye contact
d. Using “we”
c. Listening to feelings
e. Slowing down
f. Keeping records
g. Following up
a. Providing learning objectives for course/project and explain how it is related to their program/career
b. Explaining why a particular topic is important and its role in their course/program/career
c. Connecting educational concepts to the “real world”
d. Sharing your passion and enthusiasm for the subject
e. Showing students where to learn more about a topic
f. Allowing students choice in their assignments
g. Offering experiential learning opportunities ***
h. Connecting students to community (guest speakers, field trips, etc) *** (8)
a. Hand-writing class notes on the whiteboard
b. Encouraging students to participate (ask questions and provide comments)
c. Asking students questions
d. Speaking in an engaging tone of voice
e. Choosing interesting examples
f. Incorporating multi-media
g. Having In-class discussions
h. Using clicker questions
i. Using In-class practice
j. Using humour, role-play, and other fun activities
k. Offering experiential learning opportunities ***
l. Connecting students to community (guest speakers, field trips, etc) *** (8)
a. Prioritizing the content and tasks
b. Sharing the exam format
c. Sharing the grade distribution
d. Setting all key dates early
e. Providing a detailed course syllabus or project schedule (including milestones, deliverables, and evaluation)
f. Indicating what will be covered on an exam
g. Indicating expectations and marks breakdown on assignments
h. Allowing sufficient time to complete assessments
i. Scheduling time immediately after your lecture to speak with students
j. Offering appropriate deadline extensions, exam retakes, and assignment options
k. Having progress check-ins on major assignments
l. Offering flexible group work requirements if possible
m. Sharing all related information in one place
n. Providing practice problems (with solutions)
o. Designing assessment questions/tasks that allow students to demonstrate learning/understanding
p. Having smaller, more frequent assessments, so long as the total volume of work is not increased
q. Providing timely and constructive feedback
r. Using hands-on and applied tasks
s. Incorporating comprehensive and "real-world" projects
a. Providing lecture outlines
b. Using simple language
c. Providing learning objectives for course/project/topic and explain how it is related to other topics
d. Using clear examples
e. Explain things from multiple perspectives
f. Conveying the material in a clear logical manner
g. Recapping at the end of lecture
h. Moving at a pace that is appropriate to the student
i. Using active teaching methods
j. Providing thorough notes
k. Ensuring that all information is correct before posting
l. Using inclusive content (e.g. examples)
m. Making material easier to learn through cognitive strategies such as diagrams, scaffolding, etc ***
a. Encouraging students to attend office hours
b. Suggesting effective study methods for the course/project
c. Sharing your class notes online
d. Connect students to resources
e. Being accessible outside of class
f. Incorporate how-to’s into the course/project
g. Offering review sessions
h. Providing timely and constructive feedback to students
i. Facilitating study buddies and tutors
j. Providing necessary accommodations ***
a. Giving advance notice
b. Allowing students to opt out or delay
c. Pausing to write
d. Setting ground rules
e. Intervening
f. Engaging with other points of view
g. Avoiding polarization
a. Making an effort to understand own weaknesses, strengths, and biases
b. Reflecting on academic and life activities and experiences for sense-making
c. Developing an appropriate self-improvement plan
a. Sharing good practices with colleagues
b. Participating in mental health and well-being training
c. Participating in teaching and student support training
d. Updating course material every term
e. Scheduling professional development time
a. Receiving feedback about course, yourself, and your TAs
b. Reporting the feedback results and discussing the comments and your action plan
c. Setting up formal midterm course/teaching evaluation
d. Inviting observers and implementing their suggestions if possible
d. Organizing departmental open-houses to communicate with students
a. Using Indigenous Learning Bundles
b. Attending academic and non-academic courses and see how they work
c. Listening to students' ideas and give them responsibilities to run parts of the course or suggest methods
a. Acknowledging that there are "real people" in our class, even if we don't see them
b. Recognizing the guiding principles: Accommodation and flexibility, Communication and Interaction, Relationship of Trust and Understanding
c. Revisiting and prioritizing the learning objectives so everyone knows what to focus on and what is the minimum expectation
d. Using a combination of synchronous and asynchronous methods
e. Avoiding long lectures (both live and recorded)
f. Providing some levels of interaction and communication with instructor/TA, course content, and other students
g. Using context-aware announcements and using them as instructor reflections
h. Establishing online office hours and discussion forums using a convenient tool
i. Providing summary text for videos
j. Breaking videos into short segments
k. Providing content in a variety of formats (audio, video, text, etc)
l. Breaking down the evaluation into many small elements with options
m. Focusing on interactive elements such as group work for live (synch) sessions
n. Offering timely and regular feedback
o. Revising the content when necessary to show that you are responsive to what happens in class
p. Encouraging group work, mentoring, and peer reviews
q. Having regular quizzes and test exams
r. Requiring or suggesting reflections
s. Requiring or suggesting priming activities such as meditation
t. Providing flexible deadlines and rewarding catching up (e.g. by allowing to submit missed tasks)
u. Using a proper calendar for due dates
v. Balancing the amount and content of communications
w. Organizing the content in a way that is easy to navigate and search
x. Following departmen-wide formats and structures for ease of use
y. Tracking students performance individually
z. Setting up social events
a. Prioritizing student success and well-being
b. Providing suggestions for professional development
c. Providing clear and realistic expectations and milestones
d. Encouraging debate and discussion
e. Keeping a record of communication
f. Demystifying the graduate experience
g. Making students comfortable and encouraged before, during, and after thesis exams and other presentations
h. Respecting intellectual property
i. Providing career and life mentorship
j. Suggesting non-academic paths when appropriate
k. Establishing a friendly yet professional relationship through events, activities, etc
l. Making efforts to understand and get to know students on a holistic level (life, families, hobbies, plans, etc)
m. Starting collaboration early (meetings, planning, etc)
n. Maintaining and facilitating communication
o. Creating networks (researchers, students, industry, etc)
p. Resolving conflicts professionally and quickly
q. Providing timely and constructive feedback
r. Using a supervisory committee
s. Providing substitute advisor when not available
The all-important graduate student-supervisor relationship
Reimagining graduate student supervision
Of monsters and mentors: PhD disasters, and how to avoid them
Grad Mentoring, Queens U
Grad Mentoring, McMaster U
a. Using hands-on and applied tasks
b. Using active learning methods
c. Planning community-related projects
d. Incorporating comprehensive and "real-world" projects
e. Planning joint projects with other programs/universities
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Some Articles:
ICERI 2019 Paper by Arya et al. (survey results and literature review)
InsideHigherEd article on grad students mental well-being
InsideHigherEd article on grad students mental health crisis
Globe And Mail article on grpwing student mental health issues
University Affairs article on student mental health