Career College
Our college offers programs that are self-paced, and thus it is harder to raise retention. Is it okay to charge a fee if you take longer than a certain period of time, or will that do more harm than good?
Our classes meet weekly, we have lots of group activities in our cirriculum because IT is a project oriented industry. Bothe methods are effective.
In your experience, are weekly assignments adequate to keep students involved? Do you use group assignments to encourage group participation? If so, has this been effective?
I could not give my students daily assignments, but I used to give them weekly.
What is the basis for the additional fees, Rachel? Are these for additional services, more time?
One answer is daily graded assignments. Anyone have other suggestions?
Yes and we do actually charge fees on some of our courses. Each course is given an initial 6 months to complete.
I'd have to agree with Loren K. I've had some experiences with a self paced learning envrironment. Students don't seem to stay involved without some type of intervention and motivation. I'm interested in knowing how you keep students focused on outcomes on a daily basis.
Your regulatory/accrediting/licensing agencies will have to answer the question about charging an extra fee, but there are those who would argue that offering self-paced programs is an advantage. Students are able to pause, deal with immediate problems and then resume their studies.
The challenge with self paced studies is the constant need to keep students engaged. Each lesson represents a personal decision point to continue or withdraw. The curriculum and instruction must be on point or the student may decide that it's not worth the effort or money.
When a student's progress slows, it is an indication of problems or waining interest. Either circumstance is a call to action. How do you monitor each student's progress and what do you do about it, Elizabeth?
