S&T's Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education

Adapted from A.W. Chickering & Z.F. Gamson, Bull Am Assoc Higher Ed., 1987, 39(7) 3-7
for Missouri University of Science and Technology, as approved by
the campus Retention Committee (3/20/2003) and Academic Council (4/17/2003)

Principle 1: Encourage Student-Faculty Contact
Frequent student-faculty contact is a key factor in student motivation, involvement, and learning. Faculty concern helps students get through rough times and continue to strive for success. Devise methods that actively and successfully promote student-faculty contact with both individual students and larger groups of students. 

Principle 2: Encourage Cooperation among Students
Learning is enhanced when it is more like a team effort than a solo race, and working cooperatively with others often increases students’ involvement in their own learning.  Sharing ideas and responding to others can sharpen thinking and deepen students’ understanding of the material at hand.  Take positive, proactive steps to ensure that meaningful and effective cooperative learning takes place among groups or teams of students.

Principle 3: Encourage Active Learning
Learning is not a spectator sport.  Most students do not learn very well or retain information very long by sitting passively in classes, memorizing pre-packaged assignments and spitting out answers.  Students need to ponder what they are learning, express it in a variety of ways, relate it to past experiences, and apply it to new situations.  Promote active learning by creating regular opportunities for students to engage deeply, directly, and creatively with course material.

Principle 4: Give Prompt, Frequent, Informative Feedback
Students who know where they stand in a course are better able to gauge their strengths, their weaknesses, and what they must do to succeed.  To reach their full potential, students require appropriate feedback about their current level of personal understanding and mastery of course content.  Provide students with frequent assessments of their achievement level and offer them specific suggestions as to how they can improve their performance.

Principle 5: Emphasize Time on Task
There is no substitute for time on task—the time students spend actively engaged with course material.  Learning to manage one’s time effectively is critical for success in the classroom, yet many students struggle to acquire and maintain this important skill.  Devise course strategies that ensure students spend productive time on their coursework, and hold them accountable for learning the assigned material.

Principle 6: Communicate High Expectations
High but attainable expectations are important for everyone—for the poorly prepared, for those unwilling to exert themselves, and even for the bright and motivated.  Expecting students to perform well can become a self-fulfilling prophecy when faculty clearly express their goals and how students can accomplish them.  Convey to students that they have individual responsibilities in achieving these high goals, and demonstrate that you are willing to help them succeed in this.

Principle 7: Respect and Encompass Diverse Talents and Learning Styles
Recognize and accept that students learn in many different ways.  Many talented students do not share the same learning styles and internal motivations as their teachers.  Some might learn better by hearing information out loud, seeing something written down, or witnessing concepts represented in visual or physical ways.  Incorporate a range of teaching approaches into your courses, in varying degrees, which allow for different styles of learning.

For further information and ideas about implementing the Seven Principles, please visit http://lead.mst.edu/sevenprinciples.