3.2 What’s a Welcome Module?
The Welcome Module, or Getting Started Module, orients students to the course instructor, course outcomes, and grading rationale. It provides students with communication expectations and links to campus resources to support their success in college. This module is important because it helps students to get their bearings and build confidence in navigating the course site. Whatever your course delivery format, online, in-person, or hybrid, a course Welcome Module is an essential element to help students feel connected and ready to get started.
What does a Welcome Module look like?
Welcome Modules will differ according to the preferences and personality of each instructor, but they generally contain the following pages:
- [Page] Instructor Welcome
- The Instructor Welcome page typically includes a short welcome written by the instructor to their students as well as salient biographical information about the instructor, including their research interests and personal goals as a teacher. Often instructors can begin to build rapport with students by sharing a few personal details about their favorite places for travel, their favorite foods, or any pets at home. A few details about life beyond the classroom can help to emphasize that the instructor is both approachable and willing to get to know students.
- Instructors can also create a short welcome video (5 minutes or less) to help students orient themselves to the learning experience ahead. For some excellent sample introductory videos, check out the following:
- [Page] Course Information
- On this page, it’s a great idea to note the format of the course (online, in-person, on Zoom) and any required synchronous class sessions.
- Please list the hours of expected course work per week. It’s also helpful to link to your institutional policy on course credits hours as they relate to expected hours of course work if it is available.
- On this page, it’s useful to link to the syllabus.
- Listing course-level learning outcomes is super helpful on this page as it sets the stage for the work ahead.
- [Page] Grading and Assignment Information
- Sometimes instructors group this page as a subheading on the course information page, but often it is helpful as a page on its own in the module view. This way students can more easily find out how they will be graded.
- Please provide a grading rationale for students:
- How do you score or evaluate their work in the course?
- What matters to you most about their performance?
- Why did you choose the assignments and their weight toward the final grade?
- How should they interpret feedback and what should they do if they have questions?
- Please list and describe the assignments for the course. Often it is helpful to have a short description of assignments on this page and direct students to the appropriate course site location for more information.
- [Page] Communication Expectations
- On this page, it is helpful to share office hours, emai