Motivating students online
I've found that one way to motivate students is to include examples at the beginning on how they can be successful in the classroom. Here are some tips I've used-
1) Outline the chapters from the text and take notes as if they were in a regular class room. This reinforces the material.
2) Do more than just the homework problems but attempt to do other problems in the text
3) Start early with the discussions and assignments so that way if they have questions they have time to ask them before they are due.
4) Try and do outside research on the topic. If the same material continues repeating itself, that is a good way of knowing they are on track with learning the material.
5) Reach out to the instructor and others early in case there is any problems so as to have one less thing to worry about.
What would be some other things to tell students how they can be successful in the classroom that you've used in the past?
Guerda,
You have a great plan. You are using multimedia to address students needs. You are reaching out in multiple ways multiple times. Keep up the good work!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Motivating the students is extremely important. I motivate mine students by doing the following:
Weekly Study Guides
Weekly educational quotes that will motivate them
Upload a video or an Audio teaching and reiterating weekly concepts.
Weekly Audio welcoming them to the current week.
Jodi,
What great strategies. Students will question work if they think it is busy work. When you demonstrate uses in the real world they understand the work. It is really just classic adult ed principles.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I have the pleasure of teaching a class, that I love, but that my supervisor referred to as "the class that everyone hates." In order to motivate both intrinsic and extrinsically motivated students, I work hard to demonstrate how each assignment has the potential to impact their future career. When I create real-life parallels, I see students work harder in their research and spend more time giving a critical analysis.
I also respect their experience and try to frame assignment question in a futuristic perspective,i.e., "When you reach your dream job, how would you handle this situation?"
Angela,
Sounds like you have a a strong strategy to help students. If students can learn better, it is important to recognize that your work pay off!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Robert,
You have several great motivators for students. One of the best ways I have found to motivate students is to provide opportunities to improve their grade. I teach coding, which can be very difficult, particularly online. When a student has an incorrect answer, I provide the correct answer, then give them the opportunity to receive 50% credit for the question, by providing a "pathway" to the correct answer. This requires they review the question and explain the process of getting the correct answer. This is more difficult that it sounds but it helps the student learn the correct process and is beneficial to their grade. It is a "win-win".
Ali ,
Both of you are using such great strategies. Students of all ages want to know how the information you are making them learn is relevant to them or their lives. You have to help them make that connection. I am one of those persons that learns math by connecting to the real world. I struggle in a traditional math course but make the numbers describe something . . . and I am pretty darn good!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Roberto,
Thank you for sharing your success tips for student motivation. The point you made about conducting research outside the topic is a really great way to engage and motivate your students on a particular topic. I also use this tactic and I find that this enriches the lecture and discussion on the topic. This approach seems to add just enough more to really get the students going and excited:o)
A tactic that I enjoy using and has proven to be quite engaging for students is to help students associate the subject material to their every day lives (personal and / or professional). By contextualizing the material to the students every day lives, then the information is much more exciting and taken as a valuable piece of information. In most cases this information is retained and the student actually enjoys learning the material. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED ;o)
Thanks again Roberto for sharing your success tips!
*Ali
Kenneth,
That is a great strategy. Students need to know that we as instructors are serious about our role online and they should be too.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Dr. Wilkinson,
You have summed up good point in one word.... simulate. Students are encouraged when they feel their instructors are excited about the concept/ discussion as well.
Kenneth
Online courses are a dramatic departure from traditional classes, as over the last decade, online distance education has become a common mode of study in most states in the USA. To help support the student’s decision about the online environment, I share with them the results of a research conducted by the Southern Region Education Board in 2009 which found, “online classes, whether completely online or hybrid, on average produce stronger student learning outcomes than those conducted solely in a traditional classroom environmentâ€.
This motivates students by reinforcing their decision that they made the right chose to complete or start their education via the online distance learning process.
Kenneth Terrell
Alaina,
I really like that! Many times what students think is A work is C work because it covers just the minimum. I also like your use of best practices.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Being an English instructor, I include average (C-grade) samples, including editing and comments, so that students see what "average students" submit along with how that can be improved in terms of what the assignment expects and what I am looking for.
Also, for each week, I use a best practices Q and A, going over mistakes that previous students have made with that week's assignments in the hopes of rectifying these problems for current students.
Leah,
What if you had them create a formula reference sheet in a app called padlet http://www.padlet.com. They could keep it in that format and add to it. Just a addition to the great idea you have.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I teach math classes online so I encourage students to start a formula reference sheet where they outline important formulas and what they are used for. They can then reference these throughout the term for a quick reminder as to some of the formulas they find important.
Beverly ,
Love these posts! Have you thought about "exit" interviews with students telling other students what they would differently if they had to do an online course. What worked what didn't work? I may do this next time. . . .
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Roberto,
You have some great ideas for engaging students. One technique my students seem to really appreciate is recording brief instructional chats that outline how to be successful in different aspects of my classroom. For example, my class is one of the first 2 classes that MED students take. Discussion boards, writing at the Master's level, and scholarly research are areas that many students seem to struggle with, so I record chats specific to these topics but within the framework of the assignments.
My first chat is always about how to be successful on the DB's. I review the minimum requirements as well as offer ideas for responses and examples of acceptable and not acceptable responses. Additionally, I can refer to it during grading if needed.
Great post!
Beverly Montgomery
Roberto,
I have used a simulated chat and a simulated discussion to help them use the technology and understand what is expected of them. I really LOVE your ideas. Thank you for sharing!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
