Easy Student Retension
This may sound off to some, "Easy Student Retension", but if you think about it, really think about it, it should be easy. We have students sign up for classes that we teach. I have work in my profession many , many years and I still love what I do. Now I teach it and have been for 7+ years, so I'm a new teacher to many. I bring excitement, honesty, and field experience, to the playing field. We all have had some poor curiclum to work with, it is presentation skills, and relating it to the field the students will be in, and asking them what thier input is. Let students lead in demos and instead of correcting them as an instructor, ask the group what they think of the process that this group is presenting. Bring the students into the learning process, let the students take some responsibility for their education, let them be involved in what they have chosen as a class. They love this as they feel they are learning by being proactive in the process. Now of course we can't let the class run a muck, we need guidelines, guidance, structure and a formate to do this. Once you try this 2 or 3 times you find ways to keep it interesting, keep students involved and keeps them in the courses that they want.
Hi Mark,
Thanks for sharing this very good advice. Spoken like a veteran instructor even if it has only been 7 years you have been teaching. In the dog world each year a dog lives it equals 7 years in human time. I am convinced that for each year we teach it is equal to 7 years because of all the experiences we have. So you have been teaching 49 years so you have a lot to share with beginning instructors. You have good advice and many new instructors will benefit from your wisdom.
Gary
Getting students involved in online instruction can be challenging. At two of the schools I teach we do have a live lecture/interaction once or twice a week, I think this helps with retention and student involvement. It allows an online student to interact directly with the instructor and ask questions and get immediate answers rather than waiting from answers via email or a Discusssion Thread. I did teach on campus classes for several years and feel it is easier to achieve rapport with students when you can interact face to face.
Hi Kay,
Good strategies for engaging the students. This should result in some real lively discussions and exchanges.
Gary
