Fledgling Butterflies: Meeting the Social and Academic Needs of Beginning College Students in the Classroom

Essential Question: How can I provide academic and social support for my beginning college students without sacrificing academic rigor?

Characteristics of new college students At a point of ecological life change (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) ▫Separated from high school support groups ▫Entering new way of life Have the need to manage new relationships ▫Social ▫Academic May experience lack of fit between goals/needs and higher demands of university coursework

More characteristics... Like new-fledged butterflies ▫Fluttering about looking for support ▫Exploring their environment

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Students’ sense of belonging is crucial. Their sense of belonging in a course is related to their motivation for that course. Students who feel that they belong are ▫More confident in accomplishing academic goals ▫Perceive likely to perceive coursework as interesting and important ▫More interested in mastering course material Freeman, Anderman, & Jensen (2007)

How can we help students belong? 1.Encourage class participation and interaction. 2.Be enthusiastic, warm, friendly, and helpful. 3.Be well-organized and prepared for class. Freeman, Anderman, & Jensen (2007)

How can we encourage interaction? Establish peer relationships. ▫Get acquainted bingo. ▫Partner introductions. ▫Learn names and challenge students to learn each others’ names. Support peer relationships. ▫Provide daily partner/small group discussion opportunities. ▫Switch groups occasionally. ▫Establish blogs or discussion forums.  Reading response  Controversial question response  Peer support

Think/Pair/Share Read the paragraph silently. Think. ▫As you read, underline the instructor characteristics that are associated with a sense of belonging in a class. Share what you underlined with a partner. Pair. ▫Relate the information to your personal classroom experiences. Share with the whole group.

How can we support positive faculty/student relationships? Use a first day file card with basic information plus anything you would like to tell the instructor. Know your class: Preassess often. Greet students and converse before class. Express enthusiasm for each day’s activities. During work time, circulate and speak individually to each student. “How’s it going?” Use daily written personal student feedback.

A sense of belonging is related to academic motivation and self-efficacy. Fostered by effective, well-designed instruction

What is well-designed instruction? Direct Instruction Model ▫Anticipatory Set  Activate interest and prior knowledge ▫Essential Question  On board and clearly stated to students ▫Teacher Presentation ▫Model ▫Check for Understanding  Questioning ▫Guided Practice  Partners or groups ▫Individual Practice ▫Assessment

What instructional parts are most frequently omitted? Anticipatory set ▫Relate the learning to real life Essential Question Model ▫Think aloud through difficult work. ▫Show what the project, paper, or product looks like. ▫Write or produce a small part with the students. Assessment ▫1-2 question ungraded exit ticket  Content  Concerns  Feelings  Questions

Mastery Learning: Academic Rigor plus Support Approach to learning that provides safety net for student variability by allowing students to resubmit non-mastery assignments for full credit.

How to handle mastery learning Include checklists or rubrics in the syllabus. Post model work samples in Oncourse. For online submission, put your due date at midnight of the class day. ▫Allows for last-minute questions. Provide feedback through use of a checklist with additional comments. Write Resubmit and provide a due date. Record a zero in the Oncourse gradebook. Have the student rewrite till mastery is reached. Record the grade as if the work had been submitted correctly the first time.

Results of mastery learning Creates sense of academic self-efficacy Fosters personal interest in learning Discourages plagiarism and cheating Helps all students feel a sense of belonging in a challenging academic environment

Research with younger students Middle school students’ sense of belonging is enhanced by the perception that their classes are mastery-oriented and that their academic tasks are interesting, important, and useful. Anderman, 2003

What are the most important variables in helping new students succeed? Student sense of social acceptance ▫With faculty ▫With peers Faculty that is warm, caring, and enthusiastic. Effective instruction ▫Well-designed ▫Mastery-oriented ▫Useful and related to life ▫Delivered by a professor who is well-prepared

In closing... “I believe that every human soul is teaching something to someone nearly every minute here in mortality.” M. Russell Ballard

Exit Ticket 3/2/1 ▫List 3 things you always want to remember from this presentation. ▫2 things you would like to tell the presenter. ▫1 question or concern about implementing any of these strategies that you have at this point. Your name and university address if you would like a copy of this presentation or a personal response.