In the Midst of a Pandemic, Practical Possibilities
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The March 20 edition of The Chronicle on Higher Education, is entitled, “The Coronavirus Hits Campus.” Several articles talk about the impact on both students and staff, including a timely piece, “The Great Online Learning Experiment,” by Jonathan Zimmerman, an Education and History professor at the Univ. of Pennsylvania, who says now is the time to see if on-line learners learn as much (or as well?) as in-class learners, sometimes in the same courses.
One of his points, based on a 2014 Columbia University study, should get the attention of those of us focused on underrepresented, first generation and otherwise challenged students: The research “…found that all students performed worse in the online classes, but the drop-off was sharper for African Americans and for students with lower grade-point averages. In short, people with less academic opportunity and skill were likely to suffer more from online instruction.”
Whether that data point is still true six years later or not – I suspect it is – those of us trying to help such students (and all others) do better, during the Coronavirus challenge, need to get creative in our use of “retention practices” that work on campus. Such students may not have easy access to an online computer; or their home environment may not be conducive to sustained concentration, and thus to “learning, and for the time being, they not only do not go to their campus, they can’t even go to the library as far as I know, unless libraries get creative in providing “isolated” and “scrubbed/clean” work stations (not a bad idea).
So, how can we help our teachers and support staff provide on-line, text, or dare I say, on-phone assistance to more challenged students who are less able to take full advantage of online platforms?
First, there are some practical, “behavioral” measures to help challenged (or any) students survive:
1. Get regular hours of sleep (ideally 8 or more), including a nap.
2. Daily exercise – walking vigorously, and for many, jogging, are still free. Wave and smile at others, but keep your “social distance” (6 ft. plus). If your neighborhood is unsafe, drive to a popular park to do your “social distancing.”
3. Eat healthy food – chicken, fish and beef yes, but also lots of fruits and vegetables.
4. Drink lots of water, skip the high-sugar sodas, and minimize alcohol consumption by those of you who are 21 or older.
5. Find a good place to study. If your home is noisy, get some good earphones and a quiet corner, and maybe ask your family members for an hour of “quiet time,” especially if you are in on-line classes.
6. Minimize time on social media – practice putting your phone away for an hour.
7. Do something fun with your family and use Facetime with remote family and friends.
8. Read a good book, something that “takes you away.”
In addition, if we look at CHERE’s “Big 10” Retention Factors for guidance*, what could be done in these key areas long-distance via email, texting, phone calls, webinars? For example:
1) Bridge programs: Anything we do is a “bridge program” now. For just-graduated seniors, and even for some adult learners who have enrolled for the summer or fall of 2020, regular communications from the campus will be important and could include:
Email or text welcome from the President or other senior officer
Email or text welcome from a returning student (a possible peer mentor – see below)
Webinar on “what to expect”
Virtual campus tour
Follow-up text messages
Phone calls and/or Face Time from an adviser/counselor or peer mentor – more than one – the goal is to build connections.
2) New Approaches to developmental (remedial) education: For students who have already pre-tested (e.g., via the Accuplacer) and whose scores place them in non-credit “developmental” courses (e.g., in English or math) to be taken on-line:
See the behavioral suggestions above
Offer a webinar on how to approach these courses.
Offer phone chats with an adviser/counselor, or peer mentor, to be continued as they take the course.
3) Emergency funding: This need takes on a whole new meaning during the coronavirus challenge as families struggle to survive, perhaps without steady income; but lower-income students could be encouraged to keep up their higher education courses and plans with small grants to cover educational expenses (e.g., laptop computers, books).
4) Predictive analytics: More schools are developing data-rich ways to anticipate which incoming and continuing students need targeted support, based on analysis of well known “risk factors.” As the on-line framework gains traction, students thought to be at risk, based on those risk factors, will likely benefit from “intrusive advising.” As we’ve suggested before, buy a copy of “The Truth About Student Success,” from the Chronicle on Higher Education” – 30 profiles of best and promising practices, including several on individual campus approaches to predictive analytics.
5) Intrusive advising: This is a general term for the kinds of outreach suggested above – i.e., not waiting for challenged students (“at-risk,” based on predictive analytics) to seek help, which they often do not voluntarily. Individually targeted support needs to be planned, and during this period of on-line higher education, it will be more important than ever. (See nos. 1 and 2 above.)
6) Peer mentoring: During this difficult time, if a school has a peer mentoring program, recruit more peer mentors to help challenged students, both new and continuing, as identified through the school’s predictive analytics system. If you don’t have a formal program, ask some of the “successful” students you know to volunteer, as we think many such students want to know “how they can help.”
7) Embedded Support: “Supplemental instruction,” provided to challenged students outside regular class time, could be done on-line – i.e., tutoring and mentoring done in addition to the regular class time, but offered to the targeted students as “part of the course.” As with good students, many faculty might be eager to provide such support to staunch their “boredom.”
8) Guided pathways: It’s never too early to explore majors and career interests, to be done in depth once students can be on campus in regular classes; but having some discussion of these during this on-line period will help challenged students envision a direction, understand the courses required in a given direction, perhaps giving them a tangible goal to be pursued even before they get to campus.
9) Career exploration: this may or may not be the same as work on a “guided pathway” – never too early to think about a pathway to a career.
10) First day, first week, first month, first year: While “first impressions,” including that of feeling supported, does not have to await the return to a campus, the sooner an incoming student feels supported, even on-line and/or by text and phone calls, the more likely they are to be motivated to work hard before they set foot on campus where targeted support, including intrusive advising, should continue.
