Attrition
Because I now student attrition is most important in all school environments I retained some key things to encourge students participation.
Andrea;
Please share with us the "key things" you have adopted to encourage student participation.
Satrohan
Absolutely true. Attrition is very important for school. Hence the instructor needs to communicate with the students more frequently assuring them that they can talk to the instructor about their problems.
Keeping the lines of communication open is very important to helping online students stay engage in the learning process. Remember your school administration is there to assist you in helping your students stay in school.
I am always looking for ideas to help reduce attrition. This module gave us some very good ideas to help.
A personal interest with all students, early in the course is essential to set a tone of dedicatin and commitment to help them on their academic journey.
Also, because of competing responsibilities, if possible, allowing late assignment submissions can help keep students in the classroom.
I agree. When a student is behind the course work submision schedule, the instructor's help is critical for the student stay in the class. I had a student due to sickness, had three assignments behind the schedule. I gave him a special permission for late submission and some tips for finding relevan reference materials. Eventually he made up all the assignments with very good quality.
I have found throughout time that the main reason why students drop out is because they find the course work difficult or challenging hence they cease to turn in thier homework. Students actually complain that they are having to study too much!
While it is important to set deadlines and hold students accountable for those deadlines, it is also important to be flexible to allow for those out of the ordinary situations. Thanks for sharing your story.
Yes, flexibility is a prerequiste to succeed in dealing with the online student. I remember a faculty got fired for being inflexible in his due dates.
In addition to teaching, I worked at my school as the Student retention specialist. About half the students dropped out because of personal problems with family drama, jobs and scarce resources. But, the other half of students reported that they were disenfranchised by a professor who was particularly challenging. We have to set good limits and boundaries with students, yet walk the fine line of being compassionate and caring.
You are right Tracy but sometimes that is easier said than done. Based on your experiences as a student retention specialists, do you have any suggestions to share with us?
Yah. Call, Call, Call. Email, Email, Email. A certain percentage of students will eventually respond. Persistence pays off.
John and all, I find that the causes of student attrition are not always known. I teach about 100 (or more) students in a 5-week session, and it is a real challenge to "know" all of these students. Some students make themselves known because they email often or they regularly attend Live Chat. Other students are very quiet and virtually "invisible." Our university has counselors, but they tend to have huge caseloads (like 600 students), and they can't always provide frequent, personalized attention. Students leave university for many reasons--financial, health problems, trouble with the law, divorce/separation, losing a job, etc. Michael Reed
