Syllabus Strategies to Foster Student Sense of Belonging

Student sense of belonging continues to be an ongoing concern in Higher Education.  Evidence demonstrates that student sense of belonging in the classroom contributes to increased academic performance and overall well-being.  Faculty and instructors can play a critical role in contributing to sense of belonging in the classroom through course materials and pedagogical style. 

In this workshop we will discuss intentional approaches to syllabus design.  Participants are encouraged to have their existing syllabi available to edit or work on during the session and will be given the opportunity to incorporate suggested strategies throughout the workshop.  Excerpts from exemplary syllabi will be shared, and participants will leave with a customized plan for implementing concepts from the workshop into their syllabi.  Participants who do not currently have a a syllabus to work on are also encouraged to join this session and can benefit from the topics discussed.  This workshop was developed by the Drake Institute in collaboration with Counseling and Consultation Service.   

After this workshop participants will be able to:

• define how academic belonging fits into a student’s overall sense of belonging
• describe intentional design strategies that can utilize the syllabus as a tool to contribute to student sense of belonging
• implement syllabus design choices that demonstrate and align with participant’s personalized approach to fostering student sense of belonging
• identify ways to demonstrate support for students’ mental health and well-being

You may register here.

If you have registered for this event, or are on the waitlist and require an accommodation such as live captioning or interpretation to participate, please contact drakeinstitute@osu.edu. Requests should be made at least two weeks prior to the event, but the university will make every effort to meet requests made after this date.

All members of the university community are welcome in Drake Institute activities, programs, services, and employment —regardless of age, ancestry, color, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity or expression, genetic information, HIV/AIDS status, military status, national origin, pregnancy, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, or any other bases under the law.

Institute for Teaching and Learning programming is offered in accordance with university guidelines associated with in-person and remote activities. The Institute will inform registrants of delivery modifications should those guidelines change.