Cassandra,
Right on. Care and words of encouragement along with advice and suggestions for improvement will nearly always be received with gratefulness.
Barry Westling
Students feel better about their progress when we keep them informed. It lets them know where there is room for improvement. It helps instructors to gauge if the material was covered adequately or if additional time is needed on the subject matter.
Cassandra
Hossai,
Weekly performance sharing is awesome. When students know where they stand, they are able to make the needed adjustments in their studies in order to steer them in the correct direction for improved successfulness in the course.
Barry Westling
I give out student progress reports weekly so they know exactly where they stand if they are missing any test, homework, or attendance.It is very important to keep them updated weekly.
Lauren,
Good plan. Even more frequent (if only informal) discussions of performance can enhance the students awareness of their progress. Time is probably the biggest factor that prevents connecting with every student more frequently.
Barry Westling
In my courses, I will adress grades usually twice. Once at midterm grade advising and the other if at any time they score below a 70. This way students know exactly where they stand and how they can change their study habits.
Rodney,
Yes, information does provide better informed choices and clearer direction for students in their path to successfulness.
Barry Westling
I have learn that informing students of their progress helps them to focus on the next materials you are about to present. If they did well on a tests they are eager to do the next one. If they did poorly they usually want to focus and do well on the next assignment.
Maureen,
Our instructional path leaves a lot of opportunities for detours. So as you say, both instructor and student benefit from regular and frequent discussions as to performance in order to steer the student in the right path.
Barry Westling
William,
However you set up your grading, the thing I always emphasize is regardless of what system I use, I want to be sure I am being fair, and that true student learning is being measured.
Barry Westling
Giving students immediate or as-soon-as-humanly-possible feedback helps students know where they are in a class. Besides going over assignments and exams the next class, I give my students a midterm assessment. Unfortunately, I am still a "weighted grade" dinosaur but am working towards the total point assessment, something students find far easier to understand.
It is important to keep students informed of their status in the course for many reasons. One is students need to know if what they are doing is correct. Another thing is you need to know where the students are.
Richard,
Great approach to staying in touch with your students performance. I believe students just do better when they know where they stand. It also provides a forum for discussion if a student is having difficulty.
Barry Westling
In my classes the different categories of assignments are given different weights. Attendance and homework do not count as much as quizzes and exams. We also use an electronic grade book that allows the students to see their grades. If the grades are not up to date, then the students may have an erroneous impression of what their actual grade may be. The grade book also lets us know when students look at their status. When I notice that someone has not checked their status for a while, I will print their progress report and give it to them so they will know if they need to improve their efforts before it is too late.
Jorge,
I agree students appreciate efforts their instructor provides to encourage, support, give advice, offer suggestions, and basically, just convey that they care about their student's success. Sometimes I call this "steering the ship" to imply the student is generally going the right direction but needs some on course correction to be sure they arrive at their destination satisfactorily.
Barry Westling
Students who are informed of their current status are more likely to apply greater effort in the areas they need to improve upon. Also there are no surprises at the end of the cycle.
I keep a running dialog with those students who seem to be having a harder time with the course material and it seems that they are more likely to feel encouraged to improve their scores when they see that I believe that are capable of improving their performance.
Nancy,
Good point. Since, to our students, our courses probably seem to be infected with numerous grading events throughout a course, it only makes sense students would put emphasis on their performance on these graded measures of their performance. Sharing progress does contribute to better informed students, and that can help steer study efforts towards successful outcomes.
Barry Westling
Even very good students have anxiety after the test until they know their score. Keeping them posted throughout can lessen anxiety and boost confidence that they're doing well (hopefully).
Danielle,
Right. Without a plan of correction, some students are likely to continue their same bad habits and perhaps, even not complete the course successfully.
Barry Westling
John,
I also like the personal connection I receive by meeting with students individually on a regular basis. This takes time, but students usually feel my interest in their successfulness as a result of this effort.
Barry Westling
