Becoming aware of retention strategies...
Talking with students during and at the end of programs to find out there concerns and come up with good remmidies if possible.
In my classes I do end up engaging students in finding out whether or not they have needs or issues that we need to resolve. One of the most important things I find, when aiming to keep students in class, is engaging them in content that challenges them and still boosts their ability to see into their future career will encourage retention. If the student can believe or have a sense of understanding that what they're learning is valuable and includes skills that they cannot move forward without, than more often than not they'll end up staying in the class.
Frequent positive feedback, using their names when expanding on points they made during discussion/ lecture, and keeping the class upbeat and fun.
All students, especially adult stones will respond to recognition for the work that they do. I use not only smiley faces on the papers that they turn in for grading but also at the beginning of the class. I always put a smiley face, whiteboard. Being constantly aware of the classroom environment and what is transpiring within it can be a difficult task. Another successful technique which I use is applying monetary value to the questions which I pose. I use the money that can be purchased in the dollar stores as a reward to the student successfully answers questions. I am really impressed at how the students covet this money and over a period of the semester amass as much as they can. At the end of the term I take the time for them to spend this money in a sort of garage sale environment where they get to purchase goods that I have acquired when attending trade shows (giveaways). I have seen, some students who prefer to hang onto the money as a memory of the good experiences that they've had in the class.
Instructors can dissucus methods with other instructors. Bouncing ideas off another instructor is a great way to find new ideas, also a way to find out what may not work out well. One always needs to be aware of the type of student they are dealing with.
Getting to know their students and what their life situations are and giving timely feedback. Asking the students for feedback is very helpful.
Hi Kenneth,
Thank you for this great response. You did a wonderful job of laying out the retention situation for all instructors. As you say it is very simple. A good relationship with students. If you have rapport and they respect you for what you are doing then they are going to stay in their program. We need to stay simple and focused in making the effort to show our students we care about their success and their future.
Gary
Good question. This is a HUGE problem in our college (although, according to our statistics, we do better than most). In some ways, there is little we can do with a lot of the circumstances as to why our students drop out prematurely. Since our student population consists primarily of nontraditional students, many of them have life problems that simply interfere with their ability to finish their programs. Illnesses (and with the swine flu running rampant) in themselves or their children forces many of them to fall behind and eventually drop out, employment committments, childcare problems, car problems, money problems, the list can be endless. Then compound that with simple irresponsibility (unfortunately, we see a lot of this), failure to adjust to the demands of a college workload, lack of discipline, and discouragement over not doing well, our students drop out. We try to provide a very supportive atmosphere at the college I work at, and I'm sure that is why we have higher retention numbers when compared to similar colleges, but we simply cannot avoid students dropping out. This is something we, unfortunately, must accept.
But to answer your question, there are a number of things we can do as instructors to improve strategies for retention. Taking this course is one method. Talking to fellow instructors to glean what they do is another. Looking at schools that are successful at retention to see what they do is another.
But I believe things can be simpler than that. In my limited experience, I believe the key to retention is developing a connection with your students: developing good rapport with them, encouraging them, being fair and honest in your assessments, being open and available, developing both formal and informal relationships, simply enjoy interacting with them and being around them, and being willing to share your knowledge base, are the key "strategies" to retention.
This is not rocket science. I have observed that those students that have developed some kind of connection with the college, either through activities, clubs, peer friendships, and especially good relationships with their instructors and other college staff, they stay. Those that do not, drop out. So in some respects, and in my humble opinion, the key retention stratgy when it comes to students is developing good relationships with them. And I'm sure many of my fellow instructors will agree.
The best way to becoming aware of retention strategies is to know your audience. Instructors need to realize the age groups in the classroom as well as the common issues their students are facing. Using this knowledge, the instructor can assist students to face and meet the issues as well as develop lesson plans that match their needs. Retention starts and ends in the classroom!
How can instructors become aware of effective retention strategies for use in their classes?
I try to give some ownership to the students by asking them to explain to the class when they hit upon an idea that works for them.
Get to know each student and find out what thier learning style is and work with them. They will sucessed in your class and want to be there.
And that point about developing problem-solving skills is a good one, also.
In my writing classes, one of the early points I make - as in, Day 1 or Day 2! - is get them to stop asking that kneejerk "Can you do that" question about writing. For instance - "Can you have a one-sentence paragraph? Can you use first-person in an essay?" I tell them that the answer to those "Can you do that" questions is always yes. The better question is, "Should I...?". Instead of looking for an across-the-board rule, ask yourself, "Should I do a one-sentence paragraph here?" or "What effect does it create if I have a one-sentence paragraph here?"
That gets them to examine for themselves the risks and benefits of the decisions they make - and, as another early lesson, writing is all about making those decisions. As you said, I won't be there to give them blanket rules about what decision to make. They'll have to work through that problem themselves, and at the college level, that as much as anything is what my writing courses are about: not learning blanket rules that you mindlessly follow like a flowchart, but rather, understanding how to evaluate and select from your range of options the best and most effective way to communicate whatever you need to communicate.
Hi Richard,
You make a very good point about retention. Everyone comes to school for a personal reason. By reflecting on that personal reason at different times throughout their course work when times are tough they can retain and/or refresh the vision they had for coming to school in the first place. For some students with outside influences that could lead them to quit the refreshing needs to happen often.
Gary
Hi Eric,
This has been my experience as well. Plus I have found that having students select their own projects they are required to think about the total project rather than just what the course requirement is. Some students want to have every detail spelled out so they can make sure they don't miss a point on the final scoring. I give them clear directions and details about the structure of the project but they have to come up with it on their own. I let them know that once they graduate no one is going to be there spelling out every detail so they have to start developing their problem solving skills if they are going to be successful in their careers.
Gary
Hi Robert,
This is a great approach because I have found the same situation as you in terms of students giving me feedback based upon the last thing they did rather than the big picture. Instructional improvement and growth is based upon global input build upon a time frame of several weeks or months.
Gary
An instructor should continue to develop a sensitivity to new methods of keeping students motivated to continue studying to completion of the goal.
My favorite way is to see what has worked for other instructors. Another good way is training such as this. Just being remined of what role we, as instructors, play in retention is important. Sarah Foslien
So much of retention is common sense and the rest is out of your control. If you provide a caring and safe environment for learning, students will stay. One strategy a dean had that I used to work for was to have new students write down why they were coming back to school. Some responses were real tearjerkers. When a student wavered, she would bring out the card and show it to the student reminding them of why they were here. Sometimes students just need to be reminded of what is important.
I agree, Chef, about allowing students (where practical) to choose their own projects or topics within the confines of the actual assignment. I never assign topics for the major projects in my classes. I give the basic confines - a Restaurant Review, or a Documented Argument essay - but never the specific topics. As you say, students are always more motivated and interested when they feel invested in their own projects. If they're just assigned a topic, or picking one off a list, even if they ARE interested in it, it's still in some ways MY topic and not their own.
Just today, by coincidence, I was talking to a student who at the last moment decided to switch a major essay topic from that which we had discussed earlier in the course when it was assigned. He said that he was struggling with the earlier topic (which he had also picked), but once he changed, he was able to churn out paragraphs and pages with little difficulty. I told him that I notice that all the time - especially in a writing class, when a student siezes on the right topic, they HAVE to write. The pages appear almost magically. That's how you KNOW you have the right topic. And that flexibility, and that reward, can be the retention factor that we're looking for. Getting students to produce their best work is sometimes just as easy as allowing them to produce the work they want to produce (providing, of course, that it still meets your guidelines). After all, they came to us (as a school) for a reason. If we're constantly trying to redirect their energies to subject matters that WE care about but they don't, it should come as no surprise when they fade away mid-course or mid-curriculum. Our job is to use their own natural enthusiasms as well as our own to teach the material that they need to learn. But for any particular assignment, I don't think that "our lesson" has to equal "our topic."
