This resource has been developed as part of a national research project, Effective teaching and support of students from low socioeconomic status backgrounds: Resources for Australian higher education <www.lowses.edu.au>. This guide provides practical advice about the teaching characteristics and strategies that contribute to the success of students from low socioeconomic status (LSES) and about the ways in which student agency may be enabled.
How do I, as a sessional lecturer, identify a low SES student in an online lecture when I have more than 50 students online? I can’t see them and they can only interact with me through a text-based chat interface, so I have no way to determine who would fit into this category.
Frankly, as a lecturer, that’s also not my problem and is really a quite discriminatory approach. All students, low SES or otherwise, deserve the best professional instruction and attention that we can provide.
We would be better off changing our approach so that ALL our students are given the opportunity to become properly engaged with the subject.
That’s a great point Peter. Thank you.