Student Responsibility

Setting the Context for Responsibility

It is important to set the stage about faculty responsibility in student success. There are people who believe that academic achievement is 100% the responsibility of students. While there are good arguments for the necessity of student effort and time, there are significant problems with assuming faculty have NO responsibility in a student's success or failure. Just assigning readings or lecturing in person or online works for some students, but there is much more that can be done to support learners, especially those most at risk for falling behind. Where you personally draw the line on the faculty/student responsibility continuum depends on many factors, but I hope you continue to develop success strategies that feel authentic and appropriate for you and your discipline, while at the same time adding to your toolbox of strategies that work for students. 

Working with the assumption that both faculty and students factor into the success equation, I wanted to share some ideas from the book and my own experience about what supporting students is and is not. 

Supporting students is NOT...

  • Dumbing down curriculum
  • Doing the work for students
  • Treating adult learners like children
  • Assuming that students are not capable
  • Investing more in their success than students do
  • Dragging them to the end of the course against their will

Rather, supporting students SHOULD BE...

  • Embedding support structures
  • Offering personalized support when required
  • Recognizing that learning something new can produce anxiety
  • Clearly articulating how the course and assignments work
  • Reassuring people that mild frustration and hard work are a normal part of the learning process
  • Emphasizing progress accomplished

 

Growth Mindset Limitations

Additionally, just telling students to work harder or change their mindset toward learning also has limitations. Carol Dweck's popular "growth mindset (Links to an external site.)" approach can be a powerful tool is reminding students that intelligence can be developed, that all learning takes work, and that they can improve their ability to learn any topic. 

At the same time, asking students to change from fixed to growth mindsets is not enough to increase learning in all students. It is possible that focusing on mindset exclusively puts all the responsibility for learning on students. Additionally, it can turn attention from systemic education problems and large-scale inequities. 

Dweck addressed this recently: 

“[E]ffort is key for students’ achievement, but it’s not the only thing. Students need new strategies and seek input from others when they’re stuck. They need this repertoire of approaches - not just sheer effort - to learn and improve” (Education Week, 2015)

Make sure that you consider how you communicate the concept of success to your students, and reflect on your approach to student success.

 

 

In Small Teaching Online, Darby shares four models (or strategies) for fostering student success and persistence.

Model #1: Nudge Targeted Students

“Nudges” are communications that attempt to gently direct students toward better decisions and outcomes.

Model #2: Assign a Goals Contract

Goals or Learning Contracts are collaborative documents that explicitly set up learning goals and the work/behaviors needed to achieve them. 

Model #3: Use Mastery Quizzes

Because baseline knowledge of key skills is necessary for success, set up quizzes that require basic comprehension of vocabulary or ideas before unlocking modules.

Model #4: Scaffold Assignments

Break down larger projects or assignments requiring multiple skills into smaller steps or stages that allow for improvement and focused feedback. 

For more details and examples of each of these approaches, please review this video. 

 

 

 

 

Resources

For more information on the topics suggested in this chapter of Small Teaching Online by Flower Darby, please see the following resources.

Also, you can check out a copy of Darby's Small Teaching Online at the TLC.