I would also add, by asking for their explicit rationale, including a review of class outcome. I would follow their answer, by pointing to the specific outcome the assignments relates to.
Dwayne,
How do you use any feedback you get from the students about the course and its content? Or do you use it or ignore it?
Herbert Brown III
Paul ,
Good point, connect with the student to determine the issues but not in an aggresive manner that will make them feel uncomfortable and disconnect them from the course
Herbert Brown III
LaBoore,
So you would make a personal connection with the student - good. Would you examine what you are doing to see if there is anything on your end that might need to change?
Herbert Brown III
Michael,
Personal interaction and connections are great to address these behaviors. I like how you thought to make it even more personal by consider a phone converation early on.
Herbert Brown III
In this situation, the instructor has a series of responsibilities prior to contacting the learner. 1st, the instructor must decipher the students learning style, only by doing so can the instructor most effectively address the situation. Of course not all students fall into one category, however learner patterns in discussion board, and group projects should indicate what the student typically indicates as his/her learning style.
In this specific scenario, this learner is displaying attributes of a competitive, and dependent learning styles, Regardless of the learning style,the student is “reaching out†for what could be something as simple as a learner's need for personal interaction, anxiety in the classroom, even personal problems.
The instructor should follow up with the student based on the knowledge that instructor has gained through researching the students behavior and learning styles. At the very least I would expect a series of e-mails between the student and the instructor, however I feel this situation may be better suited for a telephone conversation.
Michael Maldonado
If I had a student who did not see the value of the DB assignments would get a call from me. I think that the interaction benefits the communication because the non verbal cues are even more important since I may add a bit of humor to take the student off guard. I try to get to know the student, find a commonality to sort of diffuse the encounter. Once I think that the edge is off, we then begin to talk about the assignment, my expectations about the course. I end the conversation by applying it to their job situation.
Before I respond to the student, I would check out his or her performance in our class. I would then respond to the student very politely and show him or her the factual rationles why the questions are very relavant to the assignment for the week or Unit. In some cases, some students may be very advanced than others and in some situations some students may be uncomfortable in answering the questions asked. Base one his performance I will which bucket to focus my responses to.
Do not respond in a manner that can make the student uncomfortable to express his or her thoughts in your class.
Charles,
The objectives and course information is very relevant, but the student is saying that the content is irrelevant. How might you address that specifically?
Herbert Brown III
Nicholas,
That is a good start, but they are really saying the content is irrelevant to them regardless of where it is located or how it is tied to the course, how might you handle this specifically?
Herbert Brown III
You first of all thank them for their feedback and comments. You then challenge them to add to the discussion by including these thoughts in the DB forum. What a great topic to discuss further. Also you encourage the student to complete the student survey at the end of the course. The bottom line is that you do not leave this student alone but engage and challenge them throughout.
Thank you,
Dwayne Roark
I will do my best to explain to the students, the terminal objectives of the course and the description of the course in the syllabus. I will explain what the assignment and discussion questions are covered in the course objective or learners outcome.
The answer to this question is the syllabus content and the terminal Course Objectives, I will explain it to the student.
Bennett,
So as I understand it, you would at least consider the argument and determine if there is any merit to the statement. I would agree that we need to listen. That is the sign of a reflective practitioner and we should be able to reflect on ourselves and the class. There might be some merit to it and maybe we need to change something.
Herbert Brown III
William,
Would you attempt to determine the particular issues the student has? Have you ever found that the feedback was very relevant and maybe there was a problem that needed to be addressed?
Herbert Brown III
Nizar,
So what might be the next step? Would you try to call the student or try some other form of communication to contact them?
Herbert Brown III
I typically reference the discussion to the reading material and also show them how it ties into the rest of the course.
Hi Jason,
Getting the student to articulate the objections is a very positive approach. However, it's been my experience that when this situation occurs and I email the student, there is no reply, even after a follow up email message.
Hi Herb,
This has happened in one of classes. Actually, it has been my personal experience that the learners who flare up or display discontent with the course, these are usually underperformin students. In any case, my response is always professional. I explain that I appreciate the feedback, and that I'm always looking for ways to improve on the course. I also ask for suggestions, as it's helpful to explore new ideas. With my particular student, he didn't respond back to my reply :) I followed up with another email and thanked him once again.
I would explain to the learner that the course has been designed to enhance all learning types. Although that particular student may not see the benefit of the exercises, I would explain that the exercises are built around the learning objectives of the course and sserve to enhance the skills of everyone involved.
Prior to responding, I would first review the student’s performance in class (previous submissions, emails, chat comments, grading comments, etc.) and try to better understand where the student may be coming from. For example, if the student submits “A†level work consistently, he/she may be “asking†me to push them harder. Conversely, if this student submits “D†level work, my perspective may be very different. The next step would be to ask the learner why they felt that way about the assignment. There may be a gap between what I expect from the assignment vs. what they expect from the assignment. If alignment between my expectations of the assignment and the learner understanding of the value of the assignment cannot be established, only then would I rely upon positional power to reinforce the value of the assignment to their overall learning experience.
