School of Arts and Sciences
Department of Psychology

Ways to Support All Students

Amidst a global pandemic, the continued urgency of movements for racial justice, political upheaval both domestically and abroad, the climate emergency, and more, students, staff, and faculty have a great deal to contend with as they go about their daily activities on our campus. This confluence of major events has brought into sharp relief a need to consider how to support effective student learning. The interpersonal and structural factors that limit student engagement and performance are long-standing; they will continue to affect students in different ways, particularly students with minoritized identities on this campus. For this reason, we have compiled this guide for instructors and mentors to help them meet students where they are. These suggestions reflect best practices for teaching under any circumstances. Adopting them now will, we propose, pay dividends moving forward.
Students wearing masks meeting in a Zoom session

Reduce cognitive load

World crises abound, a fact which taxes working memory capacity, making it tougher for students to keep track of all commitments in and beyond their classes. Accordingly, we propose that instructors:

  • Communicate information using easily accessible language.
  • Make syllabi and assignments accessible
  • Consider modifying penalties for late work but, no matter what, make policies about late work and extensions explicit in syllabi.
  • Give frequent reminders of upcoming deadlines; invite students to contact you if they need help or wish to discuss a new timeline for the work. (Remembering to remind students might increase your cognitive load; Canvas makes it possible to program announcements to be released later so you don't have to remember.).
  • Highlight the deadlines for selecting a pass/fail option or withdrawing from the course.
  • Be transparent and up-to-date with grading, ideally using the Canvas gradebook, such that students can make a reasonably accurate estimate of their current course grade at any point during the semester. When presenting course content, minimize "extraneous cognitive load." Remove superfluous information and provide worked examples to help students learn new tasks. Read up on Sweller's Cognitive Load Theory.
  • Present information in multiple ways, where appropriate. For example, list deadlines on the syllabus and on the course’s Canvas calendar, and announce them along the way during the semester too.

Promote anti-racist values

The consequences of the global pandemic have been distributed unevenly among racial and ethnic groups in the United States. More generally, our society is organized according to social, economic, and legal systems that systematically privilege White people and that oppress Black, Brown, and other people of color. Indeed, White supremacy shaped the very inception of this country, and many would argue that the United States has been experiencing a racial pandemic ever since.

White supremacy persists everywhere, including in our classes. However, we can work to create the equitable, safe spaces that all students deserve. Here we propose some initial steps you can take in your classes toward this goal.

  • Use your syllabus as a tool for inclusion! Taking an inclusive approach means everyone in the class will feel that they belong in that space. One way to be inclusive is to tell students the pronouns you use. As this resource notes, "appearance does not reveal gender." Gender identity varies and is not the same as gender expression.
  • Include in your syllabus a statement supporting the importance of equity, diversity, and inclusion. Know that this statement is a social contract between you and your students; by including this statement you are committing to certain actions (e.g., confronting racism) that you must be willing to take when the need arises. Review one source for inspiration.
  • Audit your syllabus; reflect on whose work you are including and amplifying, and whose work you are excluding. Look for opportunities to include scholars of color in your readings. Review a whole database of scholars of color, and a database of papers authored by BIPOC scientists (indexed by subfield of psychology).
  • Educate yourself. Like any topic, it is impossible to become an expert in racism and interracial relations overnight. However, with each reading you will gain a fuller understanding of the work needed to practice anti-racism in the classroom. Review a list of anti-racism resources.

Promote mental health

According to the 2020 Household Pulse Survey, symptoms of anxiety disorder or depressive disorder (combined) are rising among all age groups. These trends are particularly worrisome in people ages 18-29 years old, the demographic of most of our undergraduate and graduate students.

  • Include in your syllabus a section pointing students to the Student Accessibility and Academic Resource (StAAR) Center and Tufts Counseling and Mental Health Services.
  • Make yourself accessible to your students. Make it clear when you are available to meet with them and how. If you'll host weekly "office hours," consider calling them "student hours" or "drop-in hours" to emphasize implicitly that this is time you have set aside for them. Regardless of what you call this time, explain in your syllabus that you invite students to drop in to ask questions, chat/check in, strategize study techniques and that dropping in to see you is not a sign of weakness or failure. Review an NPR piece about student perceptions.
  • Students who are struggling with mental health or other pressures or concerns don't always know to whom they can turn. Tell students explicitly that you are a resource and their ally. This does not mean you are committing to being their therapist; that would not be appropriate. Rather, you are signaling the understanding that things may be hard and you want to help them connect with the resources they need to flourish in your class and beyond.
  • Foster opportunities for social interaction, virtual or otherwise. Make developing a sense of belonging and togetherness a goal (explicit or not) of your classes. If you’re running synchronous events via Zoom, consider giving students control over whether they make themselves visible via video. Although you might prefer everyone to be visible to facilitate social connection, students won't necessarily feel comfortable doing so for many reasons. Also, this is an easy way to give students control over an otherwise uncontrollable situation.
  • Make use of Kognito, an online educational program designed to educate faculty, staff, and students about mental health, student retention, and important campus resources. Kognito provides role-play and simulation training so users can practice important and challenging conversations with students who need our support. Faculty, staff, and students can create an account with Kognito and use the platform at any time.

Additional Resources (categorized by topic)

Content warning: resources include discussion of trauma, acts of racial violence, and mental health