Teaching to Retain Students Teaching to Retain Students

Teaching to Retain Students

Teaching to Retain Students Only 69% of first year students return for the second year (MSU 72%-2009 data) 47% of first year students graduate in five years (MSU 39%-2009 data) American College Testing, Inc. 2006. National Collegiate Retention and Persistence to Degree Rates. http: //www. act. org/path/policy/pdf/retain_2006. pdf. http: //www. montana. edu/opa/facts/Frosh. Rates. All. html

Teaching to Retain Students Vincent Tinto Guru of retention Author of Leaving College: Rethinking the Causes and Cures of Student Retention “Taking Student Retention Seriously” Tinto, V. (2005, November 11). Building campus communities for student success. Symposium sponsored by New Mexico State University, Department of Intercollegiate Athletics and the Office of the Provost, Las Cruces, New Mexico.

5 Ways to Teach for Retention 1. Set high expectations. 2. Advise effectively. 3. Provide academic, social and personal support. 4. Engage in frequent and high quality contact with students. 5. Involve students with their learning.

1. Set high expectations Maintaining standards does not lead to low retention. Learning is highly correlated with retention.

Hold students accountable daily • “Unfortunately, too many institutions do not expect enough of their students, demand too little as regards student learning. ” Tinto 2005 • Students report studying 24 minutes per class per day (Hutchins, P. , T. Marchese, and B. Wright. 1991. Using Assessment to Strengthen General Education. American Association for Higher Education. )

Never fail… to Hold Students Accountable Daily Doubles learning Menges, 1988

Never fail… to Hold Students Accountable Daily Quiz daily. Use “clickers” or “colored cards” Call on a student every 2 -3 minutes.

Quiz daily Quiz Changes tone of class One ? Problem/ Short answer

Use “clickers” or “colored cards” “Clickers” • Wireless response technology • Classroom performance system (CPS) • Like TV remote controls except students are tested on M. C. questions • Graphs show answers • If disagreement • Discuss in pairs • Test again • No grading!

Use “clickers” or “colored cards” “Colored cards” • Anonymous • Simultaneous A T B F C D

Call on a student every 2– 3 minutes • “Deck of Cards” • Call on 20 students per fifty minute period • Call on 2 -3 students per question • Frequently shuffle the cards • Modern Languages • A story Student Name Major? Pic?

2. Advise effectively Provide effective advising • programs of study and future career goals. • institutional requirements. Richard Light, Making the Most Out of College • Time Logs • Revise a professor’s paper together • Get to know a different professor each term

3. Provide academic, social, and personal support 25% of the undergraduates surveyed said no professors took an interest in their academic lives 40% said no professors took an interest in their personal lives. 50% said they felt most students at their college are treated like “numbers in a book. ” (Boyer, Ernest. 1987. College: The Undergraduate Experience in America. New York: Harper & Row. )

3. Provide academic, social, and personal support Intrusive advising Early warning systems Summer bridge programs Mentoring programs Student clubs

4. Engage in frequent and high quality contact with students Learn names Take attendance—it makes a statistically significant difference in learning Stanca, Luca. (2006). The effects of attendance on academic performance: Panel data evidence for introductory microeconomics. Journal of Economic Education, 37(16), p. 251. Require students to visit you Come to class early and stay late

5. Involve Students

Involve Students Your Heart’s Reaction to Lectures (Bligh, D. A. [2000]. What’s the use of lectures? San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. )

Involve Students Medical Students Retention from Lectures (Stuart, J. & Rutherford, R. J. (1978. ) Medical student concentration during medical lectures. Lancet 2: 514 -516. )

Involve students • Banker-Teacher Model • How much do teachers talk? • 85% of class time • When teachers are challenged… Fischer & Grant, 1983; Lewis, 1982; Nunn, 1996; Smith, 1983

Involve students The fable of the pitcher and the glass

Involve students What’s the moral of the story for learning?

Involve students What is learning? It’s not what’s poured from the pitcher, but what lands in the glass.

Involve students • Pause procedure • One-minute papers • Think-Pair-Share

Use the pause procedure • Pause for 2 minutes, three times in a 50 -minute period • Allow students to work in pairs to rework notes with no interaction with teacher • Experimentals did better by up to 17 percent on tests Ruhl, Hughes & Schloss, 1987, Teacher Education and Special Education, 10(1): 14– 18

Assign one-minute papers Asks students to write for one minute on questions such as: • What was the most important thing you learned during this class? • What important question remains unanswered? • What was the muddiest point? Usually done at the end of the hour.

Assign one-minute papers Next class period (or immediately afterwards), close the feedback loop: • Respond to the papers • Tell how your class was changed as a result Daily use increases knowledge significantly (Chizmar and Ostrosky 1998).

Use Think-Pair-Share Ask a question or make a statement THINK: Students think (or write) PAIR: Discuss in pairs SHARE: Discuss with teacher

Use Think-Pair-Share Let’s try it: What’s one thing you could do differently to better engage students in class? THINK: Students think (or write) PAIR: Discuss in pairs SHARE: Discuss with teacher

Other Events Engaging Students • 12: 05 -1: 20 today, SUB 235 Build it and They Will Come: What Worked at NMSU’s Teaching Academy • 4 -5 today, Procrastinator Theatre • 9 -10: 30 tomorrow, SUB 120 Publish & Flourish: Become a Prolific Scholar • 1: 30 -2: 30 tomorrow, SUB 235

Teaching to Retain Students