Inspired by the premise of Ken Bain’s What the Best College Teachers Do, I wanted to talk to students about their best college teachers. The goal is to reflect on their experiences in a variety of college classrooms to find key actions that a college teacher displayed toward them or for them, so that we can learn how students believe they are best supported for learning. 

In this format, I sit down with a college student to ask a few simple questions about what they think makes for an effective college instructor. I’m curious if we can learn just one thing from each student, that might help us try something new, or double down on an activity or approach that students like and that they know helps them to learn. 

I learned from Jess about college teaching today. Jess is a doctoral student and so was able to speak about their views of the classroom as both a student and as an instructor. Jess shared about navigating teacher’s assumptions about their gender and abilities in the classroom, as well as the importance of teachers expressing trust in their students to do projects and activities.