A webinar we recently provided for faculty addressed the issue
of dealing with students who are not well-prepared for a course or college work
in general. Here are a few of the better ideas gleaned from the webinar:
Identify at-risk
students with a survey. Consider a survey at the beginning of your course
that helps identify students who are “at risk.” This would be a discipline
specific set of questions based on your experience with your course. “How
confident are you that you know how to solve basic algebraic formulas?” “Are you able to
read a chapter of a textbook and remember most of the major principles” “How
well did you do in your last science course?” etc. Or this could also be a pre-test to measure their current abilities. Identifying students who are
likely to do poorly in the class at the beginning gives you the opportunity to
intervene right at the beginning by offering extra resources, tutoring
referrals, or just counseling with them individually about how to succeed in
the course.
Give consequences.
Students respond better to choices when there are clear, meaningful
consequences. Our students have a lot of personal and social issues that
interfere with academic work, so it is sometimes hard to be firm with
consequences. But these presenters argued that without them, too many students
simply will not get work done on time. If you are known for being very
flexible, the word gets around, and you can expect more late or unfinished
work. They also suggested that you consider providing incentives, as well as consequences, such
as providing a couple of extra points for work turned in early.
Students must buy into
your course from the beginning. They need to know why the subject matter is
important to them—either in future academic courses or in some way meaningful
in their own lives. Without seeing the relevance of the course or particular
topics within your course, they are less likely to be motivated enough to
succeed.
Provide “non-examples”
as well as examples. This is a major, basic pedagogical technique that is
often overlooked. Don’t just describe a correct example of something to students.
Show them examples that are close to correct, but are not correct, so they
learn to tell the difference. It is not enough to just tell some students what
is; you should also show them what isn’t. Distinguishing between the two can
really firm-up understanding of the concept especially for students with poor academic skills.