Seven Principles of Good Practice

  1. Encourage contact between students and faculty: Frequent student-faculty contact both in and outside of class is an important factor in student motivation and involvement. Faculty concern helps students get through rough times and keep on working. Knowing a few faculty members well enhances students' intellectual commitment and encourages them to think about their own values and future plans.
  2. Develop reciprocity and cooperation among students: Faculty should create and encourage opportunities for collaborative learning among students. Learning is enhanced when it is more like a team effort rather than a solo race. Good learning, like good work, is collaborative and social, not competitive and isolated. Working with others often increases involvement in learning. Sharing one's own ideas and responding to others' reactions sharpens thinking and deepens understanding.
  3. Encourage active learning: Learning is not a spectator sport. Students do not learn much just by reading, listening to lectures, memorizing prepackaged assignments, and spitting out answers. They must discuss what they are learning, write about it, relate it to past experiences, and apply it to their daily lives. They must make what they are learning a part of themselves.
  4. Give prompt feedback: Knowing what you know and what you don't know focuses learning. Students need appropriate feedback on performance to benefit from the course. When getting started, students need help in assessing existing knowledge and competence. Students also need frequent opportunities to perform and receive suggestions for improvement. Encourage the students to reflect on what they have learned, what they still need to know, and how to assess themselves.
  5. Emphasize time on task: Time plus energy equals learning. There is no substitute for time on task. Learning to use one's time well is critical for students and professionals alike. Students need help in learning effective time management. Allocating realistic amounts of time means effective learning for students and effective teaching for faculty.
  6. Communicate high expectations: Expect more and you will get more. Faculty should set and communicate high expectations for students. Doing such creates a self-fulfilling prophecy for students, and they often will rise to meet the challenge.
  7. Respect diverse talents and ways of learning: Faculty should create learning opportunities that appeal to the different ways students process and attend to information. Varying presentation style and assignment requirements will allow individual students to showcase their unique talents and learn in ways that work for them.

Adapted from Chickering, A. W., & Gamson, Z. F. (1987). Seven principles of good practice in undergraduate education. AAHE Bulletin, 39 (7), 3–7.