Teaching Underprepared Students and The Hidden Curriculum

By Tiffany Kolba (Math & Stats), Jenna Van Sickle (Lilly Fellows), Jesse Sestito (ME), & Lauren Sestito (ME)

This academic year, fifteen Valpo faculty and staff members met biweekly for a Faculty Learning Community (FLC) on “Teaching Underprepared Students and The Hidden Curriculum.” During the fall semester, we focused on reading two books: Teaching Unprepared Students: Strategies for Promoting Success and Retention in Higher Education by Kathleen Gabriel and The Hidden Curriculum: First Generation Students at Legacy Universities by Rachel Gable. During the spring semester, we have focused on developing concrete implementation plans to apply what we learned from the books and FLC discussions into our own teaching.

Many faculty have experienced challenges with teaching students who are underprepared, but we have learned, first and foremost, that it is helpful for faculty to adopt a mindset and commitment to “meet students where they are, rather than wish for different students” (source: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1242269.pdf).  It is also helpful to realize that underpreparedness can take several different forms. Some students are academically underprepared, while others are underprepared in their development of life skills–such as time management and professional communication–that are needed for success in college. Many of the tips we learned in our FLC are strategies that would benefit all students, but that are particularly beneficial for the underprepared population. These tips include (1) prioritizing and incentivizing class attendance and participation, (2) demonstrating empathy and encouragement, (3) explicitly teaching study strategies, and (4) incorporating frequent formative and summative assessments.

The other component of our FLC focused on the hidden curriculum, which is the set of everyday practices and norms that we expect college students to know, but never explicitly explain to them. Examples of hidden curriculum elements include (1) what “credit hours” represent, (2) what “office hours” mean, and (3) the importance of extracurricular activities. The hidden curriculum can be especially challenging for underprepared and first-generation students to navigate, but faculty can help by striving for clarity in their expectations and policies and by deliberately connecting students with resources. 

One hidden curriculum element that we paid particular attention to was late policies. Many faculty have a late policy stated on their syllabus, but will allow extensions to students who request one due to extenuating circumstances.  However, the possibility for extensions due to extenuating circumstances is often not explicitly stated, and some students, especially those who are first-generation, may not be aware of this opportunity, nor understand what may constitute valid extenuating circumstances. Our FLC recommends that faculty reexamine their syllabi and late policies and add additional clarifications so that first-generation students, or other subpopulations of students who may be less assertive, are not disadvantaged.

EDITOR’S NOTE: A recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education’s Teaching Newsletter ties into the issue of late policies. Here is the link: Why Professors Should not be Scared to Extend Deadlines.