32 Tips for first lecture

What are your tips and strategies for the first lecture?

ES: Despite the fact that everyone hates it, go through the syllabus and make sure that you outline the policies that are the most important. Because I was teaching asynchronously, I also wanted to make sure that I clearly articulated the casual tone of my lectures, which the students could expect for the rest of the semester. I had quite a few students email me, mentioning that they appreciated my use of slang, humour, confessions that I do not know everything about the topics I was lecturing on, and my excitement to learn alongside the students.

EG: Agreed! In the first class (or first tutorial, for that matter), I like to start with an activity that’s connected to the content and involves participation, then transition into the syllabus overview. In Fall 2020 our opening activity was a Menti poll about how people spent their time during the past summer, which we connected to the field of cultural studies; another option I considered was a discussion based around the course image I selected for our Avenue page. I was motivated by a quote from The Chronicle contributor James M. Lang: “spark their curiosity about the content first, and then demonstrate — with a review of the syllabus — how the course content can help satisfy that curiosity.” The last thing I did was distribute, and provide time for students to complete, an introductory survey.