Instructor's with 100% retention!
Some would say that this is your best Instructor and if we had more like him/her we wouldn't have a retention problem!
I say that there is a 98% chance that he/she is the root of your retention problem.
I'm not saying that we don't have GREAT instructors in the business but I would bet if you really dig into the numbers you will find out that this instructor has a high grade average as well. If this is the case, then this instructor is doing you more harm then good.
What happens is that this instructor falsely builds students self-esteem in believing that they can pass hard courses without studying or showing up to class and sets them up for failure in the near future.
I welcome discussion to my opinion
I would say your are correct in that this instructors is the root of all problems. It comes down to one word for me, Consistency. If you have one instructor bringing the level of instruction down it cause many gaps in the bridge of success.
This is true also for the instructor who has a 100% pass rate, but only 50% of the instructor's students can pass a national exam.
We have to stay consistant with our instruction.
John
In this scenario, the important metric is the grade average - not the retention rate. Perhaps even more critical is the question of mastery of core competencies.
It is critical that students master skills - particularly for foundation courses. One way to address the question of consistency and mastery is the adoption of a common syllabus and a common final for all sections. By extension, it is possible to chart the educational objectives/competencies for each course within a program to assure that all important skills are being presented in an orderly way. Armed with this information, it is relatively simple to develop exams that test for subject mastery.
Do any of you have experience using a common final exam?
We must have WONDERFUL instructors because we certainly don't have 100% retention. Actually, we DO have great instructors, but some classes are just difficult because they are skills-based as opposed to reading and memory work. Keyboarding and 10-key demand a certain amount of flexibilty and persistence. Missing a few days of lessons in calculators, 10-key, or keyboarding can easily create an overwhelmed and desparate attitude. For this reason, we strongly encourage attendance at tutorials or attendance at night classes to spend more time in practice or to hear a lecture the second time. It is MUCH more difficult, of course, for the night students to make up missed hours since they normally can't attend day classes anyway. But our students know that their grades are based on their production--the results of their efforts--very like REAL life.
I think our biggest problem with retention is pregnancies and students who simply don't realize what a fast-track program demands in the first place. Maybe we could incorporate a pregnancy test before students begin classes? Or not...
Please send a tape of the meeting where you inform admissions about the new pre-enrollment testing procedures. That would be great theatre!
Do you do any type of pre-admissions testing? Have you found any assessments that are useful in identifying personality types that struggle with the pressure of your vocations?
Do you have a course that deals with social/personal issues where you can discuss things like pregnancy?
In my opinion, it really depends on the individual instructor and the culture of the school. Every quarter I sit down with my Chairs and Deans and we go over attrition, retention, persistance and grade distributions to identify possible issues like the one you indicated and to address the issue so that it does not happen. In addition, we conduct at least 2 faculty observations per quarter (per instructor).
What is the context of the discussions about attrition, retention, persistance and grade distributions? Do the Chairs and Deans see the issues as student issues or financial ones? How do you avoid them feeling that it's all about the money?
I think this issue of falsely building up students self-esteem starts when the students are young. Many times I've seen this happening with grade school kids. The idea that everyone gets a trophy even if you come in last place starts students off with a false sense of self esteem.
Is this a generation issue?
I feel that the 100% instructor has fallen into the popular concept being used at public schools of "Leave no-one behind." Works great in the military, not in the educational field. The students are given "study sheets that give them all the material they may see on an upcoming test. They are used to this and expect it. This is an easy out for a lot of instructors that either don't want to work any harder than necessary or that really don't fully understand the material they are teaching in the first place. That may be a rather harsh statement, but the longer someone teaches a class, the harder it is for them to admit they don't quite understand and ask for help or clarification.
Rather than do that, I'd like to see an open book test concept with time limits for taking the test. What do we do in the field when we don't know how to do something? We go to books and computers. Any one that expects their techs to know everything about the cars is being completly foolish. How is a classroom any different? The time limit would be required to prevent students from looking thrugh the book for all answers simply because they did not study the material or pay attention during class. Book access would also allow us to ask more specific and technical questions that would benifit the students with thier diagnostic skills.
Do you use the open book format now? Are students allowed to use additional resources for lab evaluations?
Ultimately it is the instructors responsibility to engage the students and keep them engaged in the course. There will always be the times when the instructor or the school cannot retain a student due to unforseen circumstances. it is the foreseeable events that we need to look for and try to be proactive rather than reactive. I have had the pleasure of teaching several courses that are both very challenging and a bit easier. Not to say the course was easy, just not a brain wrecker for the students. We must keep them engaged by: providing extra tasks, letting them know of the expectations of their future employers, creating some excitement in our field. If we can dangle a carrot in front of the horse to keep it moving, then we need to find a "carrot" for each of our students so they want to come back tomorrow for class or lab. Do not give them the grade they expect, but the grade they have earned with explanation. Get with the student 2-3 times during the course and review the areas that he/she is doing well in and the areas that they are having challenges with. Provide suggestions for improvement with short and long term goals for the studnet to strive for and recognize them for achieving them.
The student came to school with a long term goal (dream) in mind, help them keep that dream alive.
I like the open book method of testing infact we use it in our elective program ,but along with that we have raised the pass rate to a min. of 80% along wit ha hands on test that must be 100%, Even with the open book after several days of lecture and labs we have failures, This doesn't result in a retention problem as much because they are close to the end of there tenure here which keeps them going . I think some of our retention problems come from the amount of hours a day we try to keep them in class and motivated, At our school our classes are 6 hours with a half hour lunch . When you couple this with a student trying to hold down a full time job and coping with the first time on their own , it can be overwhelming .
Do the open book tests use text books or technical manuals? For many technicians, the mastery of the manuals is a critical skill.
In my eyes the 95% and up group are more focused on numbers, than quality of the end product. The students we are training are the work force of the future. Students need to be prepared to face difficult situations, tough times, and understand that hard work and focused effort pays off. Retention rates are important. That being said,...What is the true cost of 100% retention? Is it like the little league team that gives a trophy to every team player that signed up, even though they came in last place, and put forth little effort?
You have touched an area that I totally agree with - Mastery of Core Competencies. Having a knowledge base of the how's and the why's are great, but mastery of competency skills is critical. It is this time that both your academically inclined and academically challenged students performed at almost the same level or even reversed, where the C students are performing as well if not better than the A students.
I also agree that planning a road map where important skills are being presented in a logical manner similar to building a house starting with building a strong foundation is very important. Paying more attention to the progress that individual students are making as they move from course to course is also critical.
I have seen a class with high retention rate with 80-90% of students getting A's but very few pass the final exam with an A and even fewer pass the certification exam. Then a second class with lesser retention and only 10-25% of students getting A's, and the same 10-25% group also getting an A or B on the finals, and an even higher percentage of the class pass the certification exam. So instructors have to be fair when calculating grades and make sure that every student earns the grade that they get.
Positive reinforcement such as, "you are doing a great job" doesn’t always mean you get a trophy. Most of this generation does seem to expect a trophy for last place, great point!!!
