Intervention begins before the student is through their first class(I have students for six months in one-month modules on a rotating basis). That first day in class I "interview" each new student and learn something about them by asking open-ended questions. I ask about their educational background, their work experience and why they selected this particular program. Additionally, I ask what makes them "tick" and what I can specifically do to help them succeed.
This process enables me to identify potential situations before they even become an issue. This is part of a pro-active approach that has worked well. If they make it through the first month, then they have better than a 90 per cent chance of completing the program.
This "pre-intervention" strategy enables me address issues when I see them or when they are brought to my attention by the student. The groudwork is already complete.
I strongly agree with that statement.The students really want to know their midturn grade an what they can do to improve it.However most often the student failing is the ones do not commit seriously to the course tho being givin the same book work, qizes an shop test as the other students.
Academic performance is monitored on a daily basis and attendance is promoted by scheduling important assignments and exams on certain days.
Pamela, when do these advisements occur? Who is responsible for doing them and following up?
If a student exhibits signs of acedemic erosion, often the instructor will attempt to identify whether the student is having concerns & difficulties with current course material or whether the problem stems from outlying sources. If the concern is from an outside influence, attempts are made to resolve the concern, either through discussion with the student or (in the more likely scenario) intervention with the Student Services department.
We have weekly meeting with students who do not meet our Satisfactory Academic Progress "SAP" requirements. We meet individually with the student, pull up each class, and go through each assignment. We ask questions about the classes and how they feel it is going so far and if they are having any issues. We reach out to instructors if needed and talk out any issues that might causing them to have stress. We set goals for what they want to strive for by the next time we meet.
One of the things that we have recently begun to do is having our students prepare a resume approximately half way through the course. This has always been done but it was done more towards the 90 percent completion range of the course. By moving it more towards the middle it helps to focus the students toward their end result and combating some of the stagnation. It also allows them to start to submit those resumes and tailor the end of the course to possible employment opportunities.
Our facility advisement time is at the end of the quarter. I like the idea of having them sooner. They're done by each Program Director. I meet with the students individually at mid-quarter to discuss grades and what, if any, improvements they/I/we can make for the remaining half of the quarter. I meet with my Program Director on a weekly basis at least to see if there is any feedback from them on ways I need to improve/change/deliver the course content more effectively.
We use counseling forms for varies reasons; attendance,grades,and/or behavior concerns. I find that if I sit with a student,explain my concerns and how I worry that it will affect their success in this class but also how it will affect their future jobs they tend to listen. I let my students know I am human, not perfect but I am more than willing to listen to their problems/concerns with repect to their confidentiality.When students feel they can trust you they are more likely to discuss their problems, and how those problems are affecting them at school.
The intervention strategies, in our school, starts with the instructors. If we, the instructors, think the situations are getting out of hand the program directors intervene. Most of the time, the instructors resolve the issues; otherwise, the director of education steps in to solve the issues.
We begin with having the student state in a small written report why they want to be there. Then as problems arise we refer back to this reason. We can ask the student if they feel that any problem they have has the reason for being there. Usually when they look at it from this perspective they see that thins really have not changed and the problem is not as great as they thought it was.
We use academic advising, that we recently bumped up to once every 5 weeks to help communication between students and program chair.
We have a one on one with each student every time something happens in class that they get a grade on. This way students are comepletely up to date on their progess. If a student is not doing well, we/I help them make a plan to bring their grade up. We also have free tutoring, and I can set them up with a tutor if necessary.
Darakshan, how do you know that the students have actually received the email about an overdue assignment? Students can be quite skillful in avoiding email from the campus address.
Loren Kroh
Patricia, what happens to the counseling forms? Does the student get a copy? If so, do you have them sign to acknowledge receipt? [If you don't I would recommend that you do in the future. It provides a paper trail if you should have to discipline the student for inadequate performance.] Does a copy go to their master file?
Loren Kroh
Who does this advising? Is always the same person for a student? What kind of paper trail is kept?
Loren Kroh
On campus, we meet with students to discuss their academic progress. These are especially important times for us to gauge the student experience and to find out if there are any underlying problems that contribute to the student's sliding grades.
We offer support services to our students and make sure to point them in the right direction when there are instances that we are not equipped to handle (e.g. counseling resources, childcare, housing).
As Insructors, we seem to have an idea when a student is not doing the greatest and when something is not right. I try not to pry but I do ask my student if there is anything I can help them with or anyone I can send them to talk to.
At my institution we have pieces in place to address both, but I will address "Academic Erosion": We encounter many students who go through this issue. We are in constant communication with our students' teachers and a lot of times we find out through the teacher that a student is experiencing this type of issue. We spend time talking to the student to see where they are having issues of Academic Erosion. A lot of times this is a perception a student may have and we have a few resources availible. 1: The managers and teacher spend time talking to the student and see what they are feeling. Once we can get to the bottom of this issue, we are able to better reassure the student or give them suggestions on how to intrinsically build their confidence. We have class activities that focus on the class as a whole feeling good about what they are learning. 2: We also have the student if applicable spend some time with a fellow student who is an identified Student Mentor at the Campus.....IF the student who is having issues is ok with this we set them up with a student who maybe has felt the same way before........
We also encourage students to remember that they are just starting out and skills build as they go through the program. We find other ways to make them feel important, like if they have great attendance or have been a great participant in class. We empower our students to find ways to feel success at school. We are very intune with our students and check in regularly. We have prevented a lot of DROPS this way, the key is to identify what that specific student needs and how we can communicate effectively with them!
At my institution it is required that all instructors reach out by phone to students who do not show up for class. We are also required to document any information that we may have as to why the student is absent.
