I was surprised to find out that retention is not a major focus in most colleges. I feel we can work on being more proactive with student retention.
I've learned that the relationship among the staff is important for the students to witnessed as it shows a strong support system. Constant communication between the staff and the student increases the chance of them feeling they are a part of something bigger than them. It's also important for the student to feel welcomed by their peers, as this will build a support system within the classroom.
Learning about the importance of retention and working alliances.
These posts have been very insightful. Clearly, we, as online instructors, have our work cut out for us! I agree with the statements made that students will remember long after class how an instructor made them feel. This is a good take away. I also agree with the person who discussed how students, regardless of class, always seem to fall into three categories; high achievers, middle of the road students and those who are clearly going to need extra support / guidance. All three groups need to feel equally valued and appreciated. Through building relationships, we can improve retention and their successes.
Student retention is about relationships between the faculty and staff and the learner. It is about providing an adequate support network in which the student knows they are cared for and that employees of the institution genuinely care if they succeed or fail. It is not just the job of the faculty, but of every employee at the institution to perform their duties in a way that reinforce a positive professional relationship with the learners in their care.
I learned how important it is for all staff to be involved in communication with the Student. As an instructor I make myself availble to my students almost 24/7. Some students have no home support and need that extra TLC support system. I would like to see more of the staff involved in calling students that sre struggling, so that as a group we are a strong support system for students.
Although many factors influence student retention, the frequency and quality of interactions between students, faculty, and staff is one of the few variables institutions can control that has a significant and positive impact on student retention.
A working alliance is the professional relationship between students and institutional personnel, which involves the establishment of rapport, trust, and a mutual agreement about goals and action plans. Building strong working alliances with online students is fundamental to increasing positive student outcomes.
I learned how important is building the right relation with students as an institution where they feel appreciated will improve retention.
It is important to check in with students and make sure the understand what is expected of them. You need to be available for questions.
Having just lost a student because of institutional failures, I feel retention needs to be a multi-layered approach.
I have learned that there is a strong link between relationship and retention. I also learned when physical charateristics are absent from teaching one must rely on purely relational skills to help online students. For example: communicated back to students in a regular and timely mannner, and setting up one one one calls or virtual meetings.
The technical school where I work recently had to change to remote learning for a few months due to the Covid epidemic. Majority of the students who come to our school do so because a lot of what we teach is hands-on and this is how they learn best. You can imagine the struggles that we had keeping students engaged and motivated during that time. We found that finding ways to relate their material to what was going on in the community as well as doing weekly "touch points" with each individual student was helpful. Furthermore, students were more likely to follow through with assignments when discussion boards and open ended questions were asked of them.
There are different factors that effect retention. We need to develope a good working alliance with our students. Be open and genuine and not judgemental. Be responsive.
Student retention is enhanced by strong on-going communication and relationships involving the student, instructor , and the institution.
I think my new favorite quote, and the thing that will stick with me the most is: "Learning is not attained by chance; it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence" – Abigail Adams, First Lady to President John Adams
Students have to be shown how the information, projects, and hard work will pay off later. This will cause them to seek out new informaiton and even more expanded knowledge with a fervor that they didn't know they possessed. If you can get them to see how it is vital for them, they are more likely to be better students.
Retention is an institutional responsibilty. It is not up to just the education department to be responsible for retention. All employees, faculty, staff and administration all need to take an active role in retention.
Great retention involves establishing good relationships between the faculty and the students.
The best thing that I have learned is online students require a little communivation due to the fact that there isnt the normal on campus relationship with peers faculty and staff that facilitated communication regularly. Is also a good practice to be mindful of the perception in non verbal communication a student perceive as disinterest by faculty during lecture. This inturn will me modeled often by the student.
What we learned in this chapter and what I have experienced inthe last semester of online teaching went hand in hand. Although there is always a couple of students who tend to wait till the end to try to catch up, I also made a big discovery. most of these students seem to be eager to tell you their stories and intereact one on one. A couple of them would be the first to sign in and the last ones to check out. These stundents needed and wanted that one on one personal experience.
Students approach varies and therefore we, instructors, should approach them independently
