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Teaching Late Enrollment Students

Strategy 1: Empathy 

We are all late at times, especially in new and challenging situations. Approaching late enrollment students with empathy and curiosity can reduce stress for yourself and students. Empathy can be generated by imagining or (respectfully) asking students about the circumstances of their enrollment. Any information shared with you provides opportunities for building trust with the student(s) and may inform your pedagogical approach throughout the course. You may also happen upon logistical issues that can be addressed by college staff.  

Strategy 2: A light first week 

The first week is a period of transition and upheaval. Students are learning new classroom locations, software, commute routes and times, and more. Faculty and students alike are meeting new people, learning new names, and making decisions for the next 3 months. Because of this high cognitive load, it is helpful to design courses with a lighter Week 1. What this looks like is highly variable. It may include lighter homework, community-building to decrease social anxiety, built-in flexibility for due dates, and more.  

Here are few additional tips: 

  • To increase student performance, avoid scheduling major assignments due dates during the first two weeks. 
  • If you have a late penalty, waive it for a reasonable time for students that enrolled later. 
  • To encourage students to catch up on any work they have missed, state your commitment to flexibility in the syllabus, on Canvas, and in other communications. 

Strategy 3: Syllabus updates 

It is helpful to address students who enrolled late in your syllabus so that they feel welcomed to the class and immediately engaged. Here are few ideas:  

  • Your syllabus can include a section along the lines of: “I enrolled late, what are my next steps?” This is an opportunity to outline recommended actions, which is especially helpful to first-generation students. Recommended actions may include contacting the instructor ASAP to ask clarifying questions, prioritizing some materials over others, and asking at least one classmate for a recap of prior work. 
  • Your syllabus can include a detailed course calendar. This helps all students get oriented in the beginning and throughout the quarter. Students who enrolled later can use this tool to see exactly what they need to catch up on. 
  • You can use the Canvas calendar to add events, especially for the first two weeks, to allow students to clearly see what they have missed. Here is a written guide on setting up a Canvas calendar and a calendar how-to video (5 minutes). 

Strategy 4: 'Start Here' module 

A module titled “Start Here” or “Week 1” helps students work their way through the material in the most effective sequence. This type of module can introduce the instructor, course objectives, syllabus, assignments, and other key things to know about the course at the beginning.  

Strategy 5: Recording live (synchronous) classes 

If the course meets synchronously, it is helpful for all students to have access to recorded class sessions. The recordings can be shared with students who were sick, enrolled late, or missed a or part of a session for other reasons. Students may also re-watch parts of a class they attended to update their notes, clear up confusion, or catch content they missed while stepping out temporarily. 

Note: To follow FERPA and protect students’ privacy, inform students in advance that the session will be recorded so that they can choose whether to have their camera on or off, background visible or blurred, etc.  

Recordings can be shared with students by posting them in Canvas.  

For technical help, visit this educational technlogy page and/or contact an Instructional Technologist. You can also submit a support ticket or email elearning@seattlecolleges.edu to get support. 

Strategy 6: Announcements via Canvas 

For any major course announcements, the “Announcements” feature on Canvas can be better and reach more students in a timely manner than email. Announcements are archived in the Canvas course; this means a late enrollment student can see all prior announcements after they start (which is not the case for emails). Being able to access past announcements is also helpful for any student in the course who may need to find a link or piece of information.