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After having students introduce themselves and get into some discussion (usually around what they think about some component of the course content), I’ve taken to doing something that certainly grabs their attention…I ask: “So the syllabus is my set of expectations for you.  What are your expectations for me?”  This catches most students off guard and rattles their somnolence, but it also effectively communicates that the seminar is a mutual effort, that we all come with expectations, and that I care about what theirs are of me.

    I would ask the participants to jot down in any order they preferred anything that came to mind as they free associated about the course. So, in a course about German history in the 20th Century, items like Hitler, Nazis, holocaust, etc, would appear.

    The students were then asked to sign their name to the lists so that I could return them to the originating authors at the end of the course, when they were encouraged to compare their understanding of the topic now to their impressions recorded then. This enabled every student to estimate whether and to what degree their understanding of the subject matter discussed had been modified.

    I liken the process to sticking a marker in the ground as you begin to traverse unknown terrain so that you can measure the distance travelled when you pause to look back.

    Who knows, it might have been useful. Some students thought and said so.

“Uncommon Commonality”

    -I ask students to pair up with someone they have not previously met

-Each pair has about five minutes to chat, brainstorm, and ultimately identify one thing they have in common with each other that (they hope) no one else in the room shares with them. This is their “uncommon commonality”

     -We go around the room. Each pair shares their uncommon commonality, and we see if any of them actually identified something that is distinct.

     This exercise serves to build rapport and comfort among students, give them a chance to practice intentional discussion skills (open lines of communication but with a specific goal in mind), and gets every single person talking and thinking on day 1.

Here’s what I’m doing in the first class—along with describing the syllabus and readings:

• I’ll ask students to write a short bit of nonfiction or fiction that begins with the following

phrase: “We were fine until it fell off.” Students will hand in that rough piece immediately after class but may use it later.

• Also, I’ll request that each student write a note to me, telling me something (anything) that

they’d like me to know about themselves.

I’m sure this all sounds a bit odd as a start, but I find that these students (all freshmen) start to laugh and relax.

My own seminar course is extremely demanding (students each research and give a 90-minute presentation and run a subsequent 90-minute discussion about it) so in my first session I must make that clear by discussing the syllabus and expectations of them, as you say.  At the same time I try to motivate their commitment of effort with a short lecture that introduces the topic in ways that deliberately upend what they have previously been taught in Bio courses. Yes it is just me talking, but students rarely leave the course, so hopefully I am able to engage their intellectual curiosity and maybe communicate some of my own passion for this topic. I really like your idea of asking what their expectations are of the course, and I think I will try that!  but for me, just that one question will be enough….

Something I did this semester to help set the “discussion style tone” was when we got to the grading scheme on the syllabus (25% is participation), I gave examples of what participation meant to me and how the students could get prepared to participate in discussion.  Examples I gave: writing questions/”aha’s” in the margins of the papers we are reading, making sure to do the “thinking questions” I post with the reading, coming to office hours with questions, when we do group work- talk and add your ideas to the group, volunteer to write the ideas on the board or be the person that reports out to the class. Last year, students reported that they thought participation credit was too subjective. I’m hoping by giving examples of what I am looking for, they will know how to do it.