Helping At-Risk Students
As an instructor, I am genuinely concerned with helping my students succeed and attain their personal goals. However, there are often outside factors that distract students from online coursework.
Although I offer assistance wherever I can, my ability to influence their everyday choices or to make school a priority is limited. What methods have you used in the past to overcome this issue?
Nancy,
Very good procedure. Thank you for sharing your insights.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Hello,
In my classrooms I try to keep track of any student that has received more than one C- or has one or more missing assignment(s). Then within three days of the grades being posted, if I have not heard from the student, I send out an email letting them know that I am more than happy to take a resubmission and/or accept any missing work. To sweeten the deal I will often mention that I am willing to waive any late penalties. I also make it extra clear to the student I am more than happy to give them any assistance they may need or answer any questions they may have.
Thank you,
Nancy
Regina,
Public affirmation is a powerful motivator for many. Excellent suggestion!
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Tyra,
Those are definitely some of the best strategies online instructors can use to get students back on track. When ground campus representatives can make contact with the student, they can often act as a support tool. If I do not get responses from students, I often seek help from the ground campus.
Recently, I have also tried publically (homepage announcements) congratulating specific students who participate and have become active, successful members in the class. I ask their permission first via email because I don't want to embarrass anyone. I think that when students see other students rewarded and acknowledged for participation, they are encouraged to participate as well. It works with my kids, so maybe it will work in the online classroom :-)
I agree it is easier for on-line students to quietly disconnect from the course and feel like I have to be extra vigilent with tracking. I try to message, call or talk with their Student services coordinator to find out if there are extenuating circumstances that are hampering their sucess.
I look for a student who is a natural helper. Someone who is already helping his fellow students in lab or class. I have also found that it is an advantage if the mentor is slightly older than the student in need.
Thanks. I like your last name also. do you have any family in New Jersey? As for peer mentoring I have used it in the past. I have to have just the right student combination. Our courses involve live lab time and I have found that in a lab environment this works very well.
I couldn't agree more. I have had may students in the past the I spoke with thinking that he would never respond and phases later they became a real success story. I now encourage and mentor each student with the hope I can reach them all.
It is easy for students to forget why they are taking the classes in the first place, so I really like your idea of reminding them of their end goal. Thanks for sharing your thoughts Terry.
It is terrific when a student finally responds and appreciates your attempts to reach them. It is hard to know when that one last attempt will result in a response from a student, which is why continuing to try to reach a student is so important.
Thanks for your comments Andrew.
With online classes I am noticing much more that students have so many distractions that they can't always remember what their goals were. I try to get my students to talk to me through emails or phone calls or messaging services to help them be able to focus on why they started school and how they can organize their lives in order to attain their goals.
I work in a LRC as an academic assistant and I find there is a finite amount of times that you can try and get a student to commit to coursework, online or not. That being said it gives me great heart when just one of the students actually responds to the issue at hand.
I agree with what you stated in your post. Sometimes it is the student who you least think will respond to an outreach who ultimately does.
That is a terrific goal Patricia!
Continuing to reach out to the student has been effective for me on some occasions; however, it doesn't work all the time. Ultimately the student needs to take the initiative to respond, and if he/she doesn't, my options are very limited. However, you never know when that one contact will be the one that gets a response!
I haven't gotten there yet as an online instructor but in the future I will help them as much as needed and will engage them always.
