COMensarations
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
PA 101: The Teaching-Student Connection
CSU-P, in fact, most colleges and universities in the country, are experiencing low “retention rates.” Here’s a primer on how to fix it.
Colleges and universities across the country, includng CSU-P, are experiencing low graduation rates. In other words, a lot of students drop out without completing their degrees. There are probably many reasons for this. CSU-P reports that a large percentage of it’s incoming freshmen are not prepared academically to do college level work, so they get frustrated and quit.
Pop quiz question: In order to ensure high graduation rates, institutions of higher education should:
a) not admit students who probably won’t succeed
b) insist that secondary schools do a better job of preparing students for college
c) design curricula and employ teaching methods to bring students up to speed
d) provide an environment with an emphasis on learning e) all of the above.
The correct answer is e) all of the above and the best answer is c) design curricula and employ teaching methods that start where the student is. A) is the least satisfactory answer. It’s not that tough to make a silk purse out of a silk dress. It’s a lot harder to make one out of a sow’s ear. But excellent teachers can do it.
So, method a) is cheating. Method b) is a chicken and egg thing: the colleges and universities have to turn out primary and secondary teachers and administrators who are capable of getting their students ready to do college level work. However, colleges and universities need to make it clear what will be expected of students in college.
Method c) requires that colleges and universities actually teach. It has always puzzled me that extensive coursework in teaching and a certificate is required of lower level teachers, but colleges only require that their faculties have masters’ or doctorates. If you can’t certify a high school graduate to teach high school, then you can’t certify a college graduate to teach college just because they managed to endure. So, the first step in implementing c) is to hire faculty who have demonstrated ability in teaching, not research or publishing. And demonstrated ability means that they can take C level students and get them to do A level work. It will mean rewarding faculty members who can do this.
Then you’ve got to design the curricula so that it starts where the students are. This means pre-testing and post-testing to judge progress and effectiveness of the curricula. It will mean more frequent tests during the term to make sure students are keeping up. It means that every freshman may have to take a class on learning, study habits and managing stress. Some of them may have to go through non-credit pre-requisite classes before starting on their major coursework. (On-line instruction may be good for this.) And the students need to be able to see that the coursework is relevant to what they will do when they graduate.
It will also mean that faculty will be asked to increase their student contact office hours so they can help those who are having trouble. It will mean making more advanced students available as tutors.
It will mean reducing class size, especially in the lower levels. When I was in college, admittedly 30 years ago, it was not unusual for the freshman level classes to consist of a hundred or so students in a lecture hall. Basic composition classes had 30 or 35. For these critical beginning classes you have to reduce class size so that the student can get individual attention.
As far d) environment goes, provide plenty of study areas around the campus that are sancrosanct: no partying. Make sure the atmosphere on campus is focused on learning, not sports, partying, political activism, or whatever. (It amazes me how many people think that college students, most of whom have to work part-time, have all kinds of free time to volunteer for this, that, or the other cause, and make them feel guilty if they don’t.) Provide counseling and other services to make sure that students aren’t doing poorly because they’re trying to hold down three jobs, can’t find child care or are distracted by personal or family problems.
Yes, this will cost money. But if the results are there, people won’t mind.
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