Communicating Effectively and Appropriately with Your Instructors

Communicating Effectively and Appropriately with Your Instructors

Watch the following video about e-mail communications created by World Campus.

Video: Tips for Writing a Good Email to Your Instructor (0:42)

Establishing and maintaining communication with your instructors throughout your time in the ESP program will be an integral part of your success as a student. And, because you're taking your classes online from a distance, communication will take on a slightly different role than if you were in a face-to-face classroom. Think about this - your instructors can't see you showing up each week for class and diligently taking notes as they lecture. Similarly, you can't see their passion and dedication to the course material as you complete reading assignments and follow along on course websites - your one-on-one communications with each other will be integral to establishing a solid working relationship.

Don't let the distance discourage you from being an active and engaged student! Just because we need to do things a little differently for an online course doesn't mean we can't have all the same benefits as a residential course - and maybe a few extra ones! Below is a list of tips for effectively and appropriately working with your instructors as you take online courses with us here at Penn State. These are meant to be general guidelines for how you should approach your relationship with your instructors since all instructors will have slightly different expectations.

Use Course Mail in Canvas

Yes, it's slightly more cumbersome than just e-mailing from your personal Penn State e-mail account, but using the course specific e-mail provided in Canvas (also known as "Inbox" or "Conversations") does provide you with a few important reassurances:

1. You can guarantee the instructor has received the message and that it hasn't fallen victim to an overly sensitive spam filter.
2. You will both have a complete record of your correspondences within the course space if you always use it to communicate with your instructor. This could become important if you are having some sort of problem or issue with the course.

Also, remember that all correspondence with your adviser, the financial aid office, bursar, etc., should be done using your PSU account, not a personal account.

Credit: Communication by Austin Kleon
is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Communication Tips

Be professional, courteous, and respectful

Make sure that you're conducting yourself in a way that's respectful of both yourself and your instructor. It's easy to feverishly type an emotional e-mail, so, before you hit send, review what you've written. Think to yourself, "Am I handling this the best way possible?" ask, "Would I say this in front of others if I were sitting in a classroom?" if either of these questions cause hesitation, consider letting the draft sit while you have some time to think things through a bit more.

While it may be tempting in a world of overly abbreviated, unpunctuated text messaging, e-mail with your instructors is not the appropriate place to be super casual. For example, never address an e-mail to an instructor as, "Hey," - you're corresponding with an instructor, not reconnecting with a friend. Don't send off an e-mail with poor grammar, no punctuation, or other typographical errors.

Be sure to:

• use a descriptive subject line for your mail message. Poor subject lines such as "Question" or "Grade" are difficult to search for later;
• use an appropriate salutation;
• write in complete sentences;
• sign your e-mail.

If you have a question or concern about a grade earned or other issue with the course, make sure you describe it fully so that your instructor understands the concern.

Your correspondence with your instructor is a reflection on you and your dedication to your education. Treat these correspondences as you would be communication with a boss or colleague.

Phone or e-mail?

This will inevitably be a matter of personal preference from instructor to instructor, but the majority of instructors will request that you send them questions and concerns via e-mail (using Canvas). It's always helpful to have a written record to refer back to, and a phone call doesn't afford that. Now, sometimes, it's just easier to resolve an issue over the phone - so this isn't a black and white issue by any means. The important thing to be thinking about here is what works best for you and your instructor. It's possible that both of you are working on this class in the evenings or on weekends, and maybe one form of communication is more convenient than the other.

Be honest and upfront

While each instructor will have his or her own policies for handling late assignments and missed exams, there is a common theme that you'll find repeatedly. Instructors are people, too. Really, we are! And we recognize that sometimes life gets in the way of getting schoolwork completed as scheduled - especially for our students who are juggling so many other important commitments to family, employers, etc. We're all here to help you, and we want to see you succeed in the ESP program and beyond!

Help us help you

We can't help you if we don't know there is a problem. If you suspect that something is going to prevent you from completing a graded assignment or exam of some kind, you need to talk to your instructor sooner rather than later. Be proactive, upfront, and honest. Illnesses, deaths, natural disasters, and other surprises come our way when we least expect them, and somehow always when it's least convenient. Save yourself some stress and alert your instructors to potential conflicts as they arise, not after the fact. Instructors will be much more willing to work with you toward a solution if you handle it immediately, rather than falling off the radar for a few weeks and then asking for extra credit to combat missed assignments.