This week, we bring you insights and research-based practices that faculty can use this semester to ensure students are poised to succeed.

From the ACUE community blog:

Avoiding Stage Fright: Feeling nervous is natural. Being overly prepared is one way to reduce those first-day nerves, explains Dr. Linda Nilson.

Preparing Your Syllabus: Michael Wesch talks about how to design a syllabus that both communicates essential information and facilitates student success.

Sparking Engaging Discussions: Stephen Brookfield shares how to start your discussion on the right foot.

Helping Underprepared Students: Experts explain what it takes to motivate and support underprepared students.

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News in brief

The latest news and opinions in higher education.

Reeling Them in Early

David Gooblar advises new instructors to focus on engaging students, making their subjects exciting—and relaxing. (Vitae)

What First Years Might Not Know & What To Do About It
Incoming students may be missing some basic understandings about college classwork, according to Anne Trubek. In this series of tweets, she highlights some of the gaps that instructors may need to address in those early days, from study habits to classroom conduct. (Profhacker)

Ready to Feel Old? Time for the Mind-Set List
To help faculty relate with incoming students, Beloit College has released its latest edition of the “mind-set” list, which highlights some of the cultural and technological forces that have shaped the Class of 2021. (Inside Higher Ed)

Six Steps for Colleges to Inspire Innovation
Bryant University President Ronald Machtley aims to inspire innovation in the classroom by adopting measures that encourage a “design thinking” approach to instruction. (University Business)

Revisiting Classroom Laptop Bans from the Intersections of Disability, Race, and Ethnicity

Elspeth Slayter writes that bans on using laptops in the classroom could unintentionally discriminate against students with disabilities and other unique learning needs. (Elspeth Slayter)

Demanding Kinder Classrooms Doesn’t Make You a Snowflake
Instructors must strive to accommodate the different goals and expectations that many students have about college. (The Walrus)