I try and quiz my students in regard to things that they might not be open to talking to someone in a higher authority position. Usually I can draw them out and open up and find out things that bother them and present that to management to better address it.
At the end of each three week course there is a student survey. Certain issues have been resolved as a result of the surveys.
Sorry for the late response Loren. We have a Class Coordinator (Service Manager), Shop Foreman, Parts Manager, and Tool Manager and they can always be "voted off the island" They hold the position for the 27 weeks. The candidates will announce themselves and we will interview them and then let the class interview them for the vote. Some leaders stand out form the start and the class recognizes this and overwhemingly vote them in.
On the education side, we have great support for the students. We have systems in place to help them with their attendance when they have some personal issues that prevent them from attending class. We also have peer tutoring during lunch & breaks.
We have never surveyed in week 12 but I am sure if there were still concerns in week 8 they would be addressed before the end of the term. The surveys focus more on the Institution than on the course. The participation level is every student in class the day the Director decides to do them. After the week 4 survey the Director will sit down with each department supervisor and go over them, he will only survey later in the term if he feels something in the department needs to change. We realize it's impossible to make every student 100% happy but if there are multiple students unhappy with the same issue it is addressed ASAP. These anonomous surveys do work well.
I am not involved with the student retension prossess, but as an instructor I introduce the course and the ask the student what they expect from the course and me.
With this information I will taylor the presentation prosses and course information to fit most of the students expectations.
If thier are any missconceptions about what is offered in the course I will clairfy the what is offered and how we are going to go about it.
By doing this at the beginning of the class we have an agreement as to what is going to happen during the course and I do every thing possible to fulfil and exceed the students expectations.
THEY HAVE AN ORIENTATION BEFORE THE STUDENTS STARTS CLASSES.IN THERE FIRST CLASS THEY SET ASIDE TWO DAYS OF FURTHER INFORMATIVE PRESENTATIONS.THESE ARE REINFORCED THROUGH OUT THIER FURTHER CLASSES.
Our campus has a student in jeopardy every three weeks. This gives the instructor the ability to go refer a student to a manager if grades, attendance or attitude has changed. We can request this at any time but the instructors are required to do a complete evaluation at this time.
At our Institution the students are asked to fill out a course evaluation at the end of their three week courses. They rate the course, instructor and the school on many catigories. The evaluations are read by the managing staff and appropriate responces are supposed to followed through back to the student. All levels of staff and management observe an open door policy for students. Ipersonally try to address any concerns that I may become aware of, either by the student or rumor.... And sometime you just have to ask them.
Sounds like a great program, Jack!
Do you - or the class - ever have to "fire" a coordinator or foreman? Do they have different responsibilities? If so, what are they? Do students "run" for election"? Do they hold the position for the full 27 weeks?
Staff and faculty are encouraged to talk with management if they are dissatisfied too, but how often does that happen. We all want the authority figures to know when we're unhappy and automatically fix issues without a confrontation.
Students have to be very angry or feel very comfortable for them to initiate a complaint.
At the school I am at, the classes last three weeks unless it is a night class(4 weeks). With each start, I go through an introduction process so the students get to know me and I them. On that first day I outline the course and let the students know what is expected of them in the class and lab. At the end of the class we have surveys for the students to fill out. I tell my students if there is something they feel would improve their classroom experience, or something that would improve their overall school experience, they should include this on the survey.
How are the Student Services surveys distributed? Do you get a good response rate? Does the department publish the results?
The "shut down" student is quite a conundrum. Are these students who came to the Institution in this state or do they "work" their way into it? Is this an internal issue or a question of starting with damaged goods?
Any thoughts on how to deal with them?
Do you survey them again in week 12, with a focus specifically on the courses just completed? What is the participation level? Is it different at week 4 vs. week 8? Do the survey results indicate satisfaction with the action that the school has taken to remedy problems identified in the first survey?
Seems like a really good idea that could be a very effective way to demonstrate you commitment to student satisfaction.
I think your shop foreman is a great idea. I also feel a student might feel more comfortable going to an elected pier than to an instructor.
Our school operates on 12 week terms, at week number four we do student surveys. The student surveys cover everything from instructor evaluation to rest room cleanliness. The surveys are anonomous so students can be brutally honest. There is a comment section where we encourage students to not only vent if there is a specific complaint but to also let us know if we are exceding their expectations. If there are complaints we address them and survey that class again around week 8 to make sure their concerns have been addressed.
The Institution promotes an ongoing theme of trying to provide student satisfaction. This is stressed at all levels of student interaction in class, lab, and office functions. Though measuring this can be tough, because some students will simply not say anything about their experience unless they are directly asked. I try to make sure that I spend a bit of time with each student talking to them as a person to guage how they are feel about the class i teach, the instruction, and myself overall as an instructor. This is just to see if they are getting what they expect from the class and allows me to sometimes modify whats going on if there is an issue that must be dealt with. The biggest problem I think we can face is a student that is already shut down when they first come to class, because of some previous experience or some preconcieved notion they may have...especially unrealistic ones that may have come from a variety of different sources.
Our student services department will issue a "how are we doing" survey twice a year to the student body and class/instructor/training aids/resource center evaluations are filled out every three weeks by all of the students.
In our program we have a Class Coordinator and Shop Foreman. The Students apply to us for the positions and we interview them. After that the class interviews them and then there is a vote for those positions. The class trusts them and looks to them for answers and to solve problems. It is a great team building excercise. We monitor not only the class but meet with the class as a whole and with the 2 class managers by themselves on a regular basis to discuss class positives and negatives and make changes where needed. We have these Students for 27 weeks so you can really get a feel for the class as a whole in that amount of time. To make a long story short sometimes a class member might not be comfortable coming to us but he will go to one of the class managers with a concern and that manager will bring it to our attention. Once taken care of and if it is proper to do so feedback or a resolution is offered back to all parties involved.
