Before the start of a programme of module, there may be a vacation or other slack time when students could, if they wished, do much to pave their way towards success. To be able to do so, they need to know what might be useful things for them to do to prepare for your programme. Here are some ways to help them:

Make sure they’re given appropriate information: For example, try to ensure that students are given printed documentation about your programme (or your part of a course) some time in advance. A syllabus, for example, can be a useful start – better still, a programme or module handbook. If you know they’ve all got appropriate access, such material can be useful online.

Get them pre-reading: Give them a list providing some ideas about useful sources to consult before the programme begins. The shorter and more focused such a list is, the more likely it is that students will try to do some pre-reading.

Tell them why: Explain why it’s useful to study each major piece, and give positive suggestions regarding what students should try to extract from each source. Arming students with lists of questions can be a very productive way of helping them focus their reading. Build in tasks to accompany their pre-reading, including specific short-tasks.

Alert students to the intended learning outcomes: The sooner they know about the standards they will eventually need to achieve, the more they can adjust their expectations about your programme. Giving examples of aims, learning outcomes, relevant assessment criteria and last year’s exam questions can be useful ways of helping students to tune in to the level of your programme.

Consider giving them a pre-learning package: Although this may take some time for you to put together, it can serve a valuable role in years to come. It can help to provide you with an identified starting level for the whole group. A useful package will be a mixture of information, references, tasks and activities, with particular attention being given to designing printed responses to the tasks and activities, so that students working alone through the pre-course package have the benefit of feedback on their attempts.

Give them a pre-programmer checklist: For example, provide students with a list of ‘useful things to do before starting this programme’. Some of these things could involve brushing up on relevant past learning. Other elements could include ideas and thoughts to collect together, and perhaps suggestions for a preliminary experimentation or fieldwork.

Advise them on what to bring to the first sessions on the programme: Such advice is always welcomed by students. However, they need something better than a list of the recommended reading. They need a ‘user-friendly’ guide to what will be really useful in the first days of the programme. It can be useful to enlist the help of some students who have finished the programme (successfully) to put together a ‘what to get beforehand’ checklist.

Get last year’s students to help this year’s students to find their feet: Try getting past students to draft a letter to new students, which can be a valuable way of breaking the ice with the new students. This is particularly relevant when your contribution is at the very start of an entire programme. Such letters can be accompanied by up-to-date information – for example, the times and places of the first few components of your part of their programme.

It’s never too early to point students towards the study skills they will need to develop: It can be useful to recommend one or two useful sources of study skills advice that are directly relevant to your programme or module (or better still, write some key suggestions yourself).

Don’t send too much information: When sending out ideas for pre-programme preparation, ensure that students won’t feel snowed under by a mass of paperwork. If it all looks too daunting, they’ll probably do none of it – and maybe they won’t arrive at all. A ‘front sheet’ summarising the bits and pieces in your ‘pre-programme’ pack – and with several marked ‘optional’ – can help students take a balanced view of it all.