Overview: Interact with Students by Name

Learn your students’ names and begin using them on the first day of class and throughout the quarter.

Whatever approach you decide to use for learning and using students’ names, be sure to help students learn other students’ names, too.

All Modalities

• Canvas Profiles: Ask each student to add a photo and a short personal description to their Canvas profile (be sure to do the same if you have not already). While a portrait photo is preferable to help with name memorization, some students may not feel comfortable or safe using a photo of themselves. Instead, ask them to post a photo of their favorite animated character, animal, super hero, car, etc. For the short personal description, provide prompts:
  • What are your educational goals (e.g., earn a degree or certificate, transfer, study a particular major/program, etc.)?
  • What are your career goals?
  • What are your favorite activities outside of class? Remember, this is a professional profile. 😊
  • What are your strengths as a student and/or employee and/or parent, etc.?

• Introductions: Whether in an online forum or during a class session online or in person, ask each student to share their preferred name and something simple (i.e., not too vulnerable) about themselves. From Martin Cockroft at Olympic College: Encourage students to share an activity they feel confident teaching someone else how to do. Any of the items listed above for the Canvas profile are great for introductions as well.
• Feedback, Messages, Emails, Etc.: When you interact with students, state their names as part of the interaction. For example, when leaving comments in Canvas, write the student’s name into the comment where natural/conversational.

Face-to-Face

Name Tents: Cut up old file folders to be used as name tents in class. On the first day, ask each student to write their preferred name on the name tent (front and back). At the end of class, collect all the name tents. Quiz yourself by passing them back as best as you are able at the beginning of the next class session. Repeat use of the name tents until you (AND the students) know the students’ names. Note: Hold onto the name tents for days when guest facilitators come to class.

Teaching Online: Interact with Students by Name

The following strategies related to practicing the 4 connections in the online teaching environment were generated during faculty discussion in spring 2020 at Lake Washington Institute of Technology.

How have you been using students’ names in the online environment?

In Zoom

• Encourage students to include their names and pronouns when participating in Zoom. If they do not have their video on, recommend that they include a selfie if possible.
• Greet students by name as they join the Zoom session. Using the Waiting Room can help you manage this.
• Use students’ names when students ask a question or respond. When two students speak at the same time: “Go ahead, [Name].” Then, “Okay, [Name], please share.”
• Ask students to say their names (first name only is okay when recording) when they contribute to the discussion.
• Use names when referring to what students said earlier in a session.
• Invite student to help with attendance: Have them look for each other in Zoom and confirm, “Yes! [Name] is here.”
• Use breakout rooms to help students learn each other’s names.
• In Chat:
  • Write out the student’s name when using Chat (this also helps with clarification). Address individuals with @[Name] (e.g., @Rhonda – Great point! Let’s talk about that more at the end of this section.).
  • Use chat for conversational wayfinding; in other words, to find and highlight student comments by name when they connect with later discussions. It helps to have two screens when using Chat this way.

What other ways have you wielded the power of being seen (Korbey, 2017) to connect with and support your students?

This overlaps with the other three practices that are part of the 4 Connections. For today’s discussion, let’s focus on “Getting to Know You” opportunities.

• Profile Pages: Assign students to complete their Canvas Profile, or use Discussions or Assignments (e.g., a Word Doc upload) to learn more about students. Ask them to include a photo and provide prompts for them to respond to (e.g., what they hope to get out of the class).
• Break classes into small groups and ask them to learn one unique thing about each person and then introduce one another to the full class.
• Arrive early to Zoom to connect with students as they join the session. As mentioned above, using the waiting room helps with this.
• Participate in Discussion assignments with students (let student respond to one another first). Alternative: When you meet in Zoom or via Canvas Announcements, provide a recap of the Discussion that highlights contributions from each student.
• Be very intentional about ensuring students connect with one another by using breakout rooms (because Zoom in big groups limits this significantly).
• Add an extra 30 minutes to one of your synchronous sessions each week or every other week as dedicated time for chatting/connecting. This is optional, and students direct the topics (class-related or not; e.g., chatting about how COVID has impacted cooking, shopping, family time, etc.).

Research: Interact with Students by Name

Newly included by popular demand, the following references list relates to the first of the 4 Connections, learning and using students names. Each of the 4 Connections modules will now include a similar list of research as available. Each list will change as new references are discovered. Contact Sally Heilstedt if you have a reference to add to the list.

References

Cooper, K.M., Haney, B., Krieg, A., & Brownell, S.E. (2017). What’s in a name? The importance of students perceiving that an instructor knows their names in a high-enrollment biology classroom. CBE Life Sciences Education, 16(1). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5332051/Links to an external site.

Igwe, N. (2016). Getting students’ names right: It’s personal. Faculty Focus. Retrieved from https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-and-learning/getting-names-right-personal/Links to an external site.

Korbey, H. (2017). The power of being seen. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/article/power-being-seen?utm_medium=socialflow&utm_source=twitterLinks to an external site.

O’Brien, M.T., Leiman, T., & Duffy, J. (2014). The power of naming: The multifaceted value of learning students’ names. QUT Law Review, 14(1). https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/31373/2/01_O’Brien_The_Power_of_Naming:_The_2014.pdfLinks to an external site.

This chapter is from 4 Connections course by Boyoung Chae. It is licensed under “Creative Commons Attribution“.