Diana,
Yes, frequent status updates allow corrections and improvements in a timely manner. Waiting too long may not leave enogh time for correction to occur. Also, we can encourage and offer suggestions for improvement, and this tends to show the students their instructor cares about their success.
Barry Westling
Knowledge is power. IF they know where they stand they cannot come back later and say they didn't know. If they know where they stand, then they can adjust accordingly before it's too late.
LaToya,
Very important to share progress and status frequently. I think giving extra assignments that may help learning material is helpful and beneficial to students. Giving it as extra credit is not something I would not do. I do not give extra credit. I've had too many bad experiences (in 30+ years), so I just choose not to give it. Extra credit is unfair, difficult to grade (fairly), creates grade inflation, and diminishes the integrity of the grading system that good students in class abide by (and may take offense by). That said, I understand each instructor and institution has to decide what works best for them.
Barry Westling
I like to record grades acordingly so that the students can see where they are at in my class. This is important because if students know what their grades look like then they will know what to improve on. If they are not so well then I can provide extra credit upon their request.
ANTOINETTE,
At a minimimum, we need to give feedback for students to know accurately where the're at in a course. By sharing advice and suggestions, we can shed light on ways improvements can be made. Without a roadmap, how will the student know if they're headed in the right direction?
Barry Westling
Students often pace themselves according to how well they are doing. In other words, if they want to earn a final grade of "B," they need to ascertain their standing periodically so that they can be sure to work harder if they are only earning a "C+" by mid-term.
Andrea,
Yes, we can give our advice and suggestions. The students need to feel our care and concern for their successsfulness. If that is conveyed, they will responsive to our advice.
Barry Westling
David,
This sounds great! I think frequent chats with students work the best. These discussions don't have to be long, but when students hear our suggestions and advice, and if given in a kind and caring manner, the students will see that thier instructor cares about their successfulness in the course. This also helps build trust and respect.
Barry Westling
It helps them to feel a sense of accomplishment if they are doing good and it helps those who are doing poor focus on improving their efforts.
I keep students informed weekly on there overall grades and how well I feel they are developing there skills
Tammy,
Electronic grading and use of portals that provide student information arte great. Along with that, I think personal time to chat about grades and performance in addition to the information the students find on their own is worthwhile. It shows we care and helps build trust and respect.
Barry Westling
We have an online portal for students. They can see their current scores and their overall GPA as soon as it is posted. If the student needs to discuss their grade further we arrange a time to do so.
Marco,
Right on the mark. Student success depends, in part, on their knowledge of where their performance is at in relation to the course objectives and perhaps, the instructors expectations.
Barry Westling
This helps for a couple of reasons. One, it allows the instructor to focus on making sure the course is being understood by the students. And, two, it let's the students identify what they should be concentrating on if they happen to fall a little behind during the course.
Mike,
Perhaps so in some cases. From a practical standpoint, if we are interested in our students doing their best it is only natural we would provide feeback as to their progress, and also give them helpful suggestions for improvement. At the least, offering our support and encouragement is a reason to chat about the students progress.
Barry Westling
Legal and ethical reasons.
Roberto,
For me, I feel we have to inform students where they're at so they will know what progress has been made, what improvements may be needed, and how close to meeting the course objectives they are. Doing this frequently, in person, and early on gives the best chance to inform students of thier progress, so that there is enough time to get help or make improvemnets to have an impact on their grade and/or performance.
Barry Westling
Students need a feedback to know how they are making, that is going to help them a lot.
Leigh,
I agree one on one, early on, anf frequent chats do the most to help students know both where they're at, and suggestions and encouragement for improving their grade and learning. Like a journey, we need to give frequent enough feedback for students to know how close to their destination they've come.
Barry Westling
I hold this topic as a top priority in my classes (on ground and online). I even highlight it on day 1 when going over the syllabus. The college I work for has an electronic grade book that allows the student to view on a daily basis. I try diligently to keep the grades updated daily and then assess weekly. I then send out emails to students about their grades and weekly assessments; not just to the failing students. To students who are doing great (A %) I motivate them with additional resources or articles that they might be interested in. For students that are average I encourage them on upcoming assignments to help improve their grade or assess what they have done to learn from what they have already done. And of course for failing students I encourage students with very detailed assessment to show them were improvement needs to be made. I also take time mid-term to do a face to face status for each student. These methods assist the students in not only understanding their status but how they got their and what they need to do to get to a higher %.
