2: Monitoring Progress

Checking in regularly and monitoring student progress is key, and this is another one of the 4 Connections that faculty often use intuitively. When a student is struggling, intervene. When a student is excelling, provide kudos.

Here are some connected strategies that could help support students:

Communicate

Students need to hear from you! Whether face-to-face or online, your feedback and comments are vital to student success. I have heard that the largest number of student concerns/complaints are about lack of timely responses to messages and questions. Prioritize responding to students, especially in online courses.

Try Canvas's "Message Students Who..." Feature

Canvas makes it really easy to reach out to individual students who are struggling. Through the Canvas gradebook, you can send messages to students who didn't submit or who scored below a certain grade. Here's a link to the directions Links to an external site.. This allows you to really easily check in with the people who are not doing well. You can send a reminder to just those who haven't yet submitted an assignment the day before it's due, or just to people who are missing the work. If you accept late work, sending a quick, encouraging note, inviting students to turn in late assignments can really help them get back on track. And, students might respond with additional information about learning barriers or life circumstances that help you connect them with resources.

Early Alert

When you check in with students, you sometimes hear about needs that go beyond the classroom. Students who are experiencing financial stress, a mental-health crisis, or other problems may benefit from the many resources available. While you are encouraged to share resources with students, not all people will follow up if left on their own. Please consider referring students to resources using the Early Alert system. You can fill out the form from the SCC Employee Portal Links to an external site. site. There are two options on the list, and SCC's link is titled: "Early Alert Links to an external site. (formerly Accudemia, Student Support Referral for SCC)," and it takes you the Accumdemia page. (If you are off campus, you will have to login.) Select the "Class Attendance" pull down menu from the top, select "Referrals" and then the blue "+Referral" button. You will see more detailed instructions at the start of each quarter, and if you have any trouble, reach out to Shannon Ketcham and/or Carmen Green directly.

Structure Your Course to Include Early-Quarter Assessments

If you don't have any learning assessments - quizzes, exams, papers, reflections, etc. - before mid-term, your students don't have a way of confirming that they are doing the work well. Waiting till very late in the quarter to assign grades makes it very difficult for students to adjust their studying and learning habits to meet course expectations. In 33 Simple Strategies for First Generation, First Year Students, author Lisa Nunn suggests running a "mini-midterm" during week 2. Letting students put into practice their reading and study habits gives them feedback on whether or not they are doing a good job. Of course, you won't have a lot of material to test them on during week 2, but that is the point... Make this a low-stakes assessment that gives them formative feedback (either a good or a bad grade), predicative information about how well their current study habits will work on future exams, as well as a preview about how you tend to assess student learning. This also allows you to check in and see if there are big gaps between your expectations and current class performance - it also might allow you to know where they need the most help and instruction as a group.

Campus Resources

The SCC Campus Resources tab is available on every Canvas course. Please highlight it with students! Many are unaware of the resources available, and you can make the connection for them. Even better, walk them to the services, introduce them by name, and help them connect with someone there.

From Lake Washington:

Formative Assessment

Peg Balachowski, from Everett Community College, summarizes formative assessment this way:

A check-in used to potentially modify teaching and learning activities - Improve instruction and incorporate student feedback
Typically involves qualitative feedback
Administered throughout a unit or course
Assessment FOR learning - Students use the results to self-monitor their understanding and learning process. Instructors use the results to check for understanding and adjust teaching to better support student learning.

Example Minute Paper: After a class session or a reading assignment, students submit the main ideas that stood out to them and the questions they still have.

CATS! Read more to find out why exclaiming that here and now is not crazy. Formative Assessment and CATs Download Formative Assessment and CATs

A Simple Question

During the first week of class, ask students, "What do you wish (more) instructors knew about you as a person or as a student?" This works better as a written submission, in person or via Canvas. Thank you to Tish Lopez from South Seattle College for sharing this idea.

Class Meeting Greeting

This idea is borrowed from our K-12 colleagues. Each day, especially for the first few class meetings, stand at the door and greet each student as they come into the classroom. Use their name and share a greeting like, “Glad you are here today,” or “Thanks for your post to the discussion in Canvas.”