Developing a good rapport with all of the students is one of the most effective strategies I have used in the past. I have the opportunity to instruct students from several European countries and it is a part of their culture to shake hands with everyone at the beginning of class and usually on departure if you will not see them for a couple of days.
This process allows those of us instructing to greet and speak with each student prior to class beginning. It is an excellent opportunity to read each person’s body language and see how things are going for them. If we are meeting back together after a weekend I take the time to ask how the weekend was and how their families are doing.
If I happen to notice something is not going well for an individual, I may not expect as much from them in the very beginning of class and allow them a little time to get back into education mode.
Student rapport is the most important thing to get accomplished, so talk to your students with confidence.
Always be willing to evaluate your classroom environment, delivery methods, and student rapport. Ask your colleagues to share methods that have proven successful for them and be willing to accept their suggestions for ways to improve. The best professional trait an instructor can have is to be teachable.
I am replying to this thread while only considering ONLINE classes. These classes seem to present a more difficult task when it comes to retention. About all we can do is send an email, a mailer card, or make a phone call. Of the three, the preferred method is to call the student. It helps the student connect with the instructor as humans rather than as data presented on a cold computer monitor. A little friendly conversation goes a long way toward retaining a student!
Also, I never hang up until I get a promise from the student to do whatever it is they need to be doing; an assignment, checking in online, turning in a quiz, writing discussion notes to me. Rarely has a student promised me he/she would do something and NOT come through.
I think they can become aware by making it personal. Taking each students "failure" as a personal failure can help. Paying attention and making adjustments to course/instructor surveys is a start.
Talking with other faculty and reading articles on effective classroom management have helped me along the way. For example, I just read an article about giving feedback on writing assignments. The author suggested placing summary feedback at the beginning of the document rather than at the end (where I have been placing it). The reason being some students feel so discouraged by the corrections/suggestions they see throughout the document that they don't even bother to read all of the feedback. Therefore, they may miss the overall positive comments at the end.
When teaching in the online classroom, I build rapport through voice messages e-mailed to students, active participation in the discussion forums, including a picture on my IM profile and instructor profile, etc. Basically anything to demonstrate to the students that there really is a live, caring person at the other end of the internet connection. I'm always open to and looking for new ways of accomplishing this!
Mid-term evaluations are very helpful to me. I take each students comments seriously and think about how I can tweak my courses based on input from the students.
Find out as much about your students as you can, get to know them, earn thier trust, and they will open up. Once you know thier background and goals, then it is much easier to make the course material seem relevant to them. I also like to bring current events type articles and websites to the class that tell what is happening in career fields they are interested in. That makes it real.
Hi Carol,
Thanks for sharing this good news with me. Even though it may be a long road progress is being made. I try to always remember that when I have a challenging student that person didn't get to be like that in one day so I'm not going to be able to correct the problem in one day either. I am going to take progress in inches and hope for miles of progress later. I wish both you and she the best in the coming weeks. Please keep me posted.
Gary
Thank you for the feed back. We did not exactly make a list, but we did talk about both her expectations and mine for the class, and how we could both work together to accomplish what needed to be done. I have started to see some improvement in both her attitude and performance. I continue to give her as much encouragement as possible, while still letting her know when she is failing to meet expectations. I can see it may be a long road, but she is still her, so that is a good sign.
Carol Kravitz
Great assignment. I think this same strategy could be applied in lots of classes in both formal assignments or simple break-out discussions.
Gordon
Becoming aware of effective retention strategies requires insight into the nature of the student. Each university or college or learning environment attracts students for a reason. Find out what that reason is and examine that reason relative to the types of students in the class. Additionally, take time to talk to each student and by simply talking with that student the instructor can find out what issues are being faced and clues to retention surface.
I think there is a lot of research also going on in the advancement of online education and non-traditional education. ACTE provides a great resource for finding strategies that are useful in improving and sustaining retention.
Gordon
Hi Kelly,
You are right. By developing rapport with the students and being available to them you are sending them a very powerful signal that you care about their success. Keep up the good work.
Gary
I am here on campus full-time, and I find the best retention strategy is to be available. Being available for help with all different types of problems shows students that you care about their success. Whether it is a problem with homework, or suggesting carpooling tips it seems to show them that you care about them as individuals.
To become aware of effective retention strategies, I think we need to be knowledgeable of the resources available to the students. Understand what career services and student services have to offer so that you can best advise students when they need it.
Within the first week of class and letting your students know that you are available and letting them know you care for them as your student and a person.
Hi Beatrice,
You make a good point about professionalism. It is sad that these students don't see how the impact of their dress and attitude can have on their career success. They need to "get it" and understand that attitude and professionalism help to determine whether they will successful in the years to come.
Gary
Hi Patricia,
What a great professional development plan you have. By having in-services, and doing your personal reading you are moving into the instructional delivery expertise area at a quick pace. Keep up the good work.
Gary
I think we as instructors can become aware of student retention strategies by looking at their personal appearance each and every class. Are they neat and clean? Do they appear refreshed and ready to learn or are they playing around with their cell phone, wanting to leave early, etc. With a lot of other things on their minds, I sometimes think they should not have bothered to come to school. I wish society would let us tell them to go home as many times I think they affect the retention of other students with their distractions.
I am fortunate to work at a school that has regular teacher in-servies so that we can discuss the issues we may be having or possibly a student that might be having issues in all classes. I think reading instucors materials, magazines by instructor orgainzations or searching for web assistance is also helpful. Training such as this max knowledge is also very invaluable.
Hi Sabrina,
You are showing your students that you care about their success and that you are there for them. That is what teaching is all about. By doing so you will be able to encourage them to keep on working hard as they develop the skills needed to be able to the professionals in design that they want to be.
Gary
