Connections Overview

Meet the Connections

When Odessa College (see the next page for more info on Odessa) gathered the information from their observations and interviews of faculty with the highest student retention rates, they found a "common thread of connectivity" between faculty and students. This connectivity lead the college to implementing these four practices:

1. 1.  Interacting with students by name during the first week of the new term.
   2.  Monitoring student behavior and progress and intervening when an issue arises. 
   3. Meeting with students one-on-one and communicating routinely about their course performance. 
   4. Becoming a "master of paradox" (i.e., maintaining a structured course while allowing for some flexibility)

Most likely, you are already using some of these approaches in your classroom - they are not surprising or unusual. But, it is really easy to use these practices in limited circumstances or with a limited number of students.

The real impact of the 4 connections is when faculty move from intuitive to intentional practices. 

Odessa College 

The 4 Connections comes from the work of Odessa College's Drop Rate Improvement Program (DRIP).

 

Here's the link to the short article that summarizes the college's approach: ATDTechCaseStudy_Odessa-Zogotech (4).pdf Download ATDTechCaseStudy_Odessa-Zogotech (4).pdf

Lake Washington Institute of Technology

Additionally, the Lake Washington Institute of Technology has also researched the impact of implementing the connections on their campus. They have recently published a white paper on their research, and you can read the full paper here Download here

.  Some of the highlights of the program included the 24-member cohort of faculty who implemented the connections seeing an increase in course pass rates from 89% to 92.5%, comparing two years prior to two years after implementing the 4 Connections. This increase represents approximately 250 more students who successfully passed their classes.

Pass Rates by Race/Ethnicity

Race/Ethnicity	2014-2016 (Before)	n (duplicated)	2016-2018 (After)	n (duplicated)
African American	71.17%	319	88%	329
Alaska Native, American Indian, Pacific Islander	79.00%	117	94.67%	148
Asian	92.17%	941	94.33%	1168
Latinx	86.33%	388	91.67%	411
White	90.67%	3764	93.34%	3817

Data in this table includes all students enrolled in courses taught by 24 faculty participants in the 4 Connections pilot. Fall, winter, and spring quarters are included.

LWTech is currently in the process of analyzing retention and completion data of the students enrolled in the 24 faculty members’ courses in fall 2016 compared with students not enrolled in those courses. The initial results are as follows:

Fall-to-Fall Retention

• • Students not enrolled in classes with the 24 pilot faculty members: 48%
  • Students enrolled in classes with the 24 pilot faculty members: 54%
  • Students of color not enrolled in classes with the 24 pilot faculty members: 40%
  • Students of color enrolled in classes with the 24 pilot faculty members: 54%
  • White students not enrolled in classes with the 24 pilot faculty members: 49%
  • White students enrolled in classes with the 24 pilot faculty members: 55%

Completion

• • Students not enrolled in classes with the 24 pilot faculty members: 26%
  • Students enrolled in classes with the 24 pilot faculty members: 43%
  • Students of color not enrolled in classes with the 24 pilot faculty members: 23%
  • Students of color enrolled in classes with the 24 pilot faculty members: 40%
  • White students not enrolled in classes with the 24 pilot faculty members: 31%
  • White students enrolled in classes with the 24 pilot faculty members: 47%

Lake Washington White Paper References:

Kistner, N.A., & Henderson, C.E. (2014). The drop rate improvement program at Odessa College. Achieving the Dream’s Technology Solutions: Case Study Series. Retrieved from http://achievingthedream.org/resource/13784/the-drop-rate-improvement-program-at-odessa-college Links to an external site.

"The 4 Connections: Moving from Intuitive to Intentional Relationship-Building to Improve Success and Reduce Equity Gaps" by Sally Heilstedt and Suzanne Ames,

The 4 Connections Links to an external site., Lake Washington Institute of Technology Links to an external site. is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 Links to an external site.

 

Additional Research

The 4 Connections research is both grounded in and supported by more general research on a student's sense of belonging.  Additionally, you might provide students resources to do what they can to build relationships. Articles like "Establishing Good Relationships with Instructors Links to an external site." from the Community College Review blog. Encourage students to build these kinds of productive relationships with all their teachers - not just you. 

The article "Fostering Student Connectedness: Building Relationships in the Classroom Links to an external site." by Melissa McInnis Brown and Teresa Starrett on the Faculty Focus blog (April 2017) review the research that supports the importance of student-faculty relationships. Increased engagement, persistence, effort, grades, and even academic self-confidence are measured effects. This is not just a "be a nice person" issue - this is a student success issue. Students work harder and achieve more when they believe that instructors want them to succeed. 

There is also robust research on the effects of belonging to positive student outcomes. For a good overview of the research, see Mindset Kit's summary, "What We Know about Belonging from Scientific Research Links to an external site.," by Carissa Romero.