by Elaine Yip,
Pharm.D., PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Resident, Kaiser Permanente Mid-Atlantic
John is a student in your class. He has several unexplained absences, is
unable to follow along during topic discussions, and has not turned in several
assignments. The end of the semester is
approaching. What should you do? Wait for John to approach you for help? Give
him a grade that is just enough to pass at the end of the year? Fail him?
Luckily, I have not
yet been confronted with this situation. However, as I engage in more teaching and
supervise students during advanced practice experiences, I know that, sooner or
later, I will be faced with this unfortunate and
uncomfortable situation. I am afraid
that when that moment comes, I will not be prepared to handle it appropriately and
will ultimately end up doing a great disservice to the student. I know that I
am not alone in this fear. In a survey of nursing student
preceptors, approximately 18% reported a lack of confidence when dealing with
and failing a student who was not performing well.1 I have often wondered, what
is the best course of action when it seems that a student is headed in the
wrong direction or faces a real danger of failing?
In order to appropriately address the situation, we must
differentiate between the types of failing students we may encounter. There are
“actively” failing students who usually attend class, take notes, complete
assignments, and participate in learning activities.2 Despite this,
they are still having a difficult time with the material. Thankfully, these are
the students you tend to proactively seek assistance. The story can be quite
different when dealing with “passively” failing students, like John. These are
the students who skip class, don’t turn in assignments, and are not engaged in
the learning process. Most often, these are
the more difficult students to work with as they may not be as receptive
towards efforts to help.
Once you have identified which category the student falls
into, it is important to understand the specifics about why that student is
struggling. Whether it may be poor study habits, difficulty juggling multiple
priorities, test anxiety, or other extenuating circumstances (such a learning
disability or a mental health problem), each student should be evaluated on a
case by case basis. In her study looking at nursing students who failed their
clinical experiences, Duffy identifies common reasons including poor
communication, lack of interest in the learning experience, persistent lateness,
and lack of insight into professional boundaries.3
What strategies may
be helpful in preventing students from falling into that danger zone in the
first place2,3,4? Course design, clarity of
communication, and including more active learning in a course seems to be
helpful. One study looking at failure rates in introductory science courses
showed that highly structured
course a that incorporated active learning activities had lower failure rates
when compared to a less structured course that was taught primarily by
lecturing.4 The failure rate dropped from 18.2% in
the low-structure course to 6.3% in the high-structure course. Here are some things you can do:
- Create a syllabus and set clear objectives: This conveys expectations and helps students understand exactly what they are held accountable for.
- Perform an audience analysis: Identify the needs of the students. Take into consideration how far along they are in their training. Is your level of expectations consistent with what they should reasonably be expected to do?
- Use the Socratic Method: Students are regularly engaged in answering questions and learn from the resulting discussion rather than simply being handed the information.
- Use ungraded, active learning exercises: Ungraded sample exam questions, case studies and in-class demonstrations can help students digest and discuss what they have just learned. It allows room for error and the discovery of weaknesses without the pressure of a grade.
- Use clicker/polling questions: These provide a helpful way to gauge audience understanding throughout the learning process. It enables the teacher to identify knowledge gaps early on that need extra review rather than wait until exam time.
- Implement a weekly class summary assignment: Have students write down what they think was the most important concept introduced that week and at least one question they have about the material.
- Provide frequent quizzes: This forces students to pace themselves and keep up with course content over the course of the semester rather than falling victim to procrastination. Start quizzing early to identify students who are struggling and at risk for failing.
- Talk to the student and do it early! Note your concerns and ask them if there is anything that can be done to help.
- Develop an action plan. Include the student’s input. The plan should include the instructor and the student’s roles to resolve the situation. Together, decide what reasonable and measurable outcomes would represent improvement.
- Schedule times for regular and constructive feedback. The “sandwich method” can be used to help deliver negative feedback by first highlighting something the student has done well, then moving on to areas of improvement, and then ending with more positive feedback. Feedback should not only occur when something is wrong. Positive feedback will improve the student’s confidence and encourage continuation of that specific behavior.
- Perform regular self-assessments. This can be done formally in writing or as a discussion. The student should be asked to evaluate themselves on their performance and progress.
- Document, document, document. Make note of all of these interactions with the student and efforts made so far to resolve the situation.
References:
1. Heaslip V, Scammell
JM. Failing
underperforming students: the role of grading in practice assessment. Nurse
Educ Pract. 2012 Mar;12(2):95-100.
2. Buskist, W., &
Howard, C. Helping
Failing Students: Part 1. Association for Psychological Science RSS. Accessed on January 24, 2014.
3. Duffy, K. Failing
students: a qualitative study of factors that influence the decisions regarding
assessment of students’ competence in practice. University of Ulster. Accessed
on January 24, 2014.
4. Freeman, S, Haak
D, Wenderoth M. Increased
Course Structure Improves Performance in Introductory Biology. CBE-Life
Sciences Education. 2001:10:175-186.
5. Buskist, W., &
Howard, C. Helping
Failing Students: Part 2. Association for Psychological Science RSS. Accessed on January 25, 2014.
6. Ideas When a Student Has Difficulty: Understanding the Failing or Weak Student. Philadelphia University. Accessed on January 24, 2014.
6. Ideas When a Student Has Difficulty: Understanding the Failing or Weak Student. Philadelphia University. Accessed on January 24, 2014.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for your comment to the Educational Theory and Practice blog. It will be submitted for review and approval. Only those comments that substantially enhance the value of the blog site will be released and posted.