August 2025 Tuesday Tips

26th August 2025

Tuesday Teaching Tip: The Importance of Student Voice

During Tipping Point, I had the privilege of moderating a student panel on AI. I learned a lot, but the lesson I want to share with you has nothing to do with technology. We often prepare for a semester with some specific ideas about who students are and what they want. I was reminded last week that there is no “typical student.” We plan teaching material and learning activities based on the kind of student we were, or a set of imagined identities, but students are complex and varied. In the example from Tipping Point, a group of six students from different majors and experience levels showed an array of anxieties, optimism, and fluency with AI. The same would have probably been true if the panel had been about academic integrity, distance education, or politics on campus. It was a reminder for me that sweeping generalities about “the student perspective” (singular) fail to capture the complexity of what it means to teach and learn in 2025.  

The beginning of the semester is a great opportunity to surface and test assumptions about who students are and what they want, and start anew. Here are some ways to gain useful information and break that cycle. 

1. Survey your students. Mix in questions about their experience with your topic area and questions about their perspectives on the functions of higher education or any number of other topics. 
2. Break them into clusters online or in person for introductions and then circulate to get a feel for who they are. But don’t ask them to just share their name and major. Ask them to share their name and their first impression of Chico State, or what they think the world will look like when they graduate.
3. Incorporate an early credit/no-credit introduction piece where you ask them to share what they think you should know about them.

The goal is not to customize learning experiences for each individual in your class based on their backgrounds, strengths, and interests–but if we can keep in mind that students are not a monolith, it will make us better instructors and probably help us enjoy our work here more.

Our fall offerings are live with a variety of paid and unpaid opportunities. Please visit the FDEV website for full descriptions and application links.

Zach Justus
Director of Faculty Development
Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences
Google Voice/Text: 530-487-4150

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