Many of my students underestimate the time required to complete assignments thus being prone to procrastination. During our first meeting I conduct a brief review of all assignments for the course and point out those which require a lot of time and advance preparation.
Waiting until the last minute to complete assignments is just a recipe for failure. Being cognizant of the time and effort required to complete assignments can enable the students to have a successful online experience.
I think the number one pitfall my online students fall into is underestimating the time it takes to do the work. So many students wait until the last minute or last day to do all of their homework and then it shows the lack of effort. I do try to help them by emailing them, encourage them when I am giving feedback to allow the time to do the work correctly and give tips for having a better handle on getting the work done in a timely fashion.
Hello Dr. Crew,
It is challenging for students to be motivated and engaged with his/her studies when outside distractions starts creep in. The pressure of school, work, kids and other activities can cause a student to simply give up. If procrastination is an issue I will send an email requesting one-on-one meeting to address any areas of concerns. I informed the student that I am concern about his/her grades, as I hope they are concern as well. I provide positive feedback and follow-ups.
Marie Osuna
Hello Christopher,
I agree with you; waiting until the last minute to complete an assignment is a bad idea. I believe that many students think just because they don't have an instructor watching over them similar to a F2F environment; it is okay to slack off. Many of them underestimate how long it takes to prepare for an assignment or test.
Marie Osuna
The pitfalls that I consistently watch students struggle with are
*Underestimating the amount of time they need to complete their assignments or procrastinating. Since we allow students to submit work after a deadline, students seem very passe about submitting their work because they know they will get some credit, which is always better than none.
*Lack of drive or motivation. It almost seems like students are too scared to try things and be wrong and learn from their mistakes, so they don't open their minds to learning. They copy from their books rather than applying the materials and forming their own opinions.
It's terribly frustrating because I find that students are only regurgitating information rather than demonstrating what they have learned. That just does not work! I try to remind them of their ultimate goals and their reasons for returning to school to "spark" their interests again, but many of them are so consumed by their GPAs they won't dare to step out on their own and form (and discuss) their own ideals about our materials.
MARIE,
I have actually set up an assignment as a project management assignment and they have to divide the assignment into manageable parts and set due dates for all of them. It teaches them time management skills. (At least that is the goal.)
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
MARIE,
Great post. Yes, you have to keep them engaged and your method will work!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Tonia,
I have used a writing contract with a timeline to help them break the assignment into parts and set the parts in a timeline. It does get them thinking about the project holistically.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Amy,
Wow, this is with nontraditional students? I too have found that this attitude that "they are working the course into their life" gets in the way of their learning. Hang in there, you are doing what's right.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Nichoe,
You are wise in doing that. I am trying to use calendaring as a way for them to manage their "online" life. I will report back after the summer is over with the results. . . .
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Christopher,
How do you work with students to teach them those skills?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Ann,
Great post. I think you are doing the right things to help your student combat time management problems. I have found that we have to teach them skills as they are not learning them.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Mia,
You are so right! Many students have great skills, they just don't use them. They take the easy way out. It sometimes helps to place the learning in a workplace context to help make it "real". Doesn't always work . . .
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
The students I've had online tend to believe that they will be able to keep up with their work on the weekends and need to spend minimal time during the week on assignments. In order to offset this (by the only way some understand and adhere to) is by announcing that penalties will be applied if a certain amount of work is not submitted by mid-week. Even though the work may be shallow, it does get them thinking about assignments before the end of the week.
I wholly agree with this sentiment. The college, teacher, and support staff can only provide so much for a student. At a certain point the student must be able to rely on their own support system to succeed.
Johnnie,
Good suggestions. Yes, I call it the Scarlet O'Hara mentality. "I will think about it tomorrow . . . tomorrow is another day". Tomorrow never comes!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Jenifer,
Yes, and this should be the policy regardless of the delivery mode!!! Students are not consumers.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Sometimes what happens to my students is that they underestimate the amount of time required for each week and they get distracted so that next thing you know, they're weeks behind. In accelerated courses like those at AIU, falling behind is the sure fire way to fail the class. The classes move quickly and it's too hard to catch up when you're weeks behind. To help them, I start out each class with a list of expectations. I encourage them to read these so that they know what they need to do each week. Setting expectations is critical for success in online classes.
Flora,
Great post! I am working with my daughter with time management as she is behind in an online course. It is too easy to for students to slip away.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
