WHAT I HAVE DONE IS TO HAVE TWO STUDENTS FROM EACH CLASS ACT AS CLASS REPS, SO THAT THESE GUYS CAN COME TO ME WITH ANY CONCERNS THAT THEY HAVE WITH COURSE WORK OR REALLY ANY PROBLEM A STUDENT HAS AS AN INDIVIDUAL OR AS AN ENTIRE CLASS, THIS ALLOWS THEM TO AIR THEIR CONCERNS OR EVEN JUST FOR THEM TO KNOW THAT WE LISTEN AND VALUE THEIR INPUT, WE HAVE FOUND THIS TO BE VERY PRODUCTIVE.
I have always found that my retention strategies can be developed by looking at how my employer retains me. Everything I desire in a job like challenge, reward, friends, etc...I desire in the classroom also.
Jim
Hello Mahmoud,
By having feedback from your students you can keep informed on how you are doing as an instructor in the class. Also, the feedback will help you with selecting projects and activities.
I like to have the students fill out 3x5 cards giving me feedback. They do not put their names on the cards so this way there is no pressure from me in terms of their grades. I find the students are very helpful and candid with their remarks. I use their comments to "adjust" what I am doing in the course. I can target the needs of the students as they emerge.
Gary
Also, asking student to give remarks on individual lecture (oral or written) will keep you inform of any problem in delivering the lecture or any activities you use. Accommodating their suggestions will gave them no excuse to blame you during and at the end of the course.
HI Josefer,
The reason for a student withdrawal is many times a tough one to really determine. So I don't have a real clear answer to why many of the leave, except to say that they feel overwhelmed with life. Their outside of school demands drift into the classroom and the problems start to occur with their school work.
Experience has shown me that through developing rapport with the students I can get a feel of where they are at and if they are struggling. I also poll my students on a regular basis so I can get a feel for the climate within which they are working.
I work very hard at keeping the students motivated so they want to come. With this motivation I have even encouraged students to step out of school for a period of time and then step back in. This approach gives them an out, but they know the door is always open to them. I know it sounds strange but it does work in certain cases. The reason I am very selective with this approach is the easiest thing to do is quit and the hardest is to come back. It is like a diet or exercise program the first day is ok but after that it is like work so people quit and find starting again almost impossible.
Another thing I do is to study student profiles so I can look for indicators. By charting these indicators I can get a picture of potential school leavers vs the career completers. I am constantly looking for trends to help me with retention. All of these methods have been helpful.
Gary
We regularly put together such a list. However, sometimes I wonder if the reason given is the real reason a student is leaving.
Sometimes I get suspicious when so many students suddenly discover they need jobs, have baby sitting problems, have transportation problems, etc. That's without taking into account all those students who just quit coming and the reason for leaving is "excessive absences."
Has anyone had a success getting a clearer picture of the real reasons students leave?
Josefer
Hi Arlene,
Good idea. Any feedback instructors can receive helps them to be better instructors if they take the evaluations as being an opportunity for growth.
Gary
Our school also gives instructor rating surveys at the middle of each quarter. This seems to be very effective. You have an opportunity to make changes that help the students you are currently instructing if needed.
Hi Sarah,
Good idea about how to keep your students engaged in the evaluation process. As educators we need to strive to improve and any feedback we can get to assist us should be appreciated.
Gary
That sounds like a good idea. I think I will definitely try that next term. Thanks for the advice.
Hi Kim,
Something else you might want to try in terms of instructional improvement is to have your students comment on the various assignments and activities that you present throughout the course. I use 3x5 cards and have the students write anonymous comments about the assignment or activity we just completed. This is really helpful to me when I introduce a new assignment or activity that I'm not sure about since I have never used it before. Two things occur by using this, it allows you to make changes and/or corrections immediately and it serves to validate that what you just did was a good thing. Granted this is not a total course evaluation, but it is constant and ongoing feedback I can use to help me do a better job while the students are still in the course.
Gary
Hi Ruth Ann,
As you mentioned retention is the key to not only student success but college success as well. These students need to remain enrolled and the college and instructors need to do whatever they can do keep them enrolled. The above statements are essential we know, the challenge is how to make them work.
I do have one suggestion that goes beyond what you are already doing. Depending on your class and the policy of your college you might be able to break out portions of the course in such a way that the students can see how they can learn that part of the content and then move on. With the short time span and the concentration this may be hard to do. We schedule support sessions and tutorials to help while students are working on activities within the class. Also, we use one on one supports with peer tutors or mentors. The key is to find something that will give students support and will work within the confines of your college/course setting. It is hard for me to give a specific answer without having the complete picture of your setting. Hopefully these ideas will get you to thinking about ways you can keep the students enrolled and engaged in the learning process.
Gary
We have a similar routine, it is called an instructor evaluation, and it is done by an administrator in the classroom with the students so that the instructors do not see the results. It gives feedback that we may not get otherwise. This quarter I gave out funsize candy bars with the survey form so that they wouldn't see doing the survey as "oh no, here we go again" - instead, they did it without complaint while eating chocolate.
We do the same thing at my institution. We have a series of 15 items that they rate us on from 1-5 and then there is a place for short responses. We have three categories: 1)What are the instructor's strengths? 2) What are the instructor's weaknesses? and 3)Are there any suggestions for improving the class.
Administration then gives us a compiled list of our scores for each item with the students' comments as well. They are typed, so we never know who wrote what. I find them to be very useful when the students give constructive feedback. Occasionally, we have people who simply make personal attacks, but usually we get good information about how we're doing.
Becoming aware of retention strategies is one reason I took this course and attend conferences and conventions so that I can talk to other educators. I am always looking for ways to improve retention. As a Program Director and Instructor I am always looking at how I can improve my class, the classes of my instructors, the course as a whole, the program as a whole. Most of my retention issues have to do with attendance. Our school has an attendance policy that if they miss so many days the student is then withdrawn. Our school is unique in that our classes are Five and ahalf to six weeks in length and our students take one class at a time. They can concentrate on what subject at a time but it is indepth and fast paced.
I have tried counseling students, calling them on the phone - many do not want to quit but feel that they have no option.
I would welcome any suggestions.
Hi Kimble,
Diversity of instruction is the key to quality instruction. Through diversity of delivery you can meet the wide range of learning needs that are represented in your class each and every day you meet with them. You have to have variety or you will find that you will start having difficulty in you classes as your students start to slow down and lock up in their learning growth.
Gary
i believe this works well to a degree because you get an over all veiw of the student needs to come up with strategies for the whole class and not just restricted to one or two methods.
Hi Andrew,
That could be a long list if we looked at reasons students leave because of poor instructors. I did a survey of students' perspectives of poor instructors and you would be amazed with what the students had experienced with instructors. Reasons gave included sleeping in class, not coming to class, not have materials for class, not being prepared for class, poor attitude about the class, etc. Sounds more like students that instructors doesn't it?
The sum of all of this is that poor instructors need to be removed or trained so they can improve. School administrators need to help instructors develop professional improvement plans so instruction will improve and students stay, if not they need to go.
Gary
Instructors are the keystone in retention and can drive a student in either direction. Most "good" instructors create good retention. What are the characteristics that students who leave cite most often for bad instructors.
Lily,
Communication is the key isn't it? By talking with students you have a continuous forum through which you can identify the emerging needs and issues that are facing your students. This way, in many cases you can head off an emerging problem before it becomes a big problem that leads to the student leaving school.
Observational skills are also a must. Instructors have to be observant in such things as class room dynamics, student interactions, changes in student behavior, etc. Many times students are sending signals of distress long before they surface. Early intervention can often help the students to resolve the issues and return their focus to your classroom.
Gary
