Low student achievement is a fact of academic life, as I argued in an earlier column. But some students will respond to a timely nudge. I have a stock intervention speech that often does the trick. I offer it here, not because it includes any magic words (there aren’t any) but because the hard part of an intervention can be awkwardness over what to say.
Results will certainly vary, but students have thanked me for clarifying my expectations as well as the stakes. To hear them tell it, few professors do that. Every student of mine with a D or an F on my first exam gets some version of the following.
Think of the dentist. When you go to the dentist, what’s the first thing he says? “So, have you been brushing?” And what do you say? “Oh yeah, couple times a day, on average.” The “on average” part is the key, right? Because some days you’re better about it than others. And why do you say that? Because you want the dentist to think you’re a good person, you can be responsible and take care of yourself.
But what happens as soon as he looks in your mouth? If you’ve got a cavity, he’s going to see it. Does it matter then what you told him? Does he say you’re a terrible person? No, he says you’ve got a problem and it can be fixed. He can also tell you what you’re not doing right. Maybe you don’t brush the gumline, or maybe you’re brushing just fine but you need to floss. If you listen, and follow the advice, you can prevent future cavities. Then you’ve actually learned something.
The reason you’re here in my office now is because you’ve got something like a cavity. Don’t tell me you’re doing everything right, because I’m not buying it. People who do everything right don’t end up with a score like yours on my exam. (Sometimes I have to repeat that particular point several times, after a series of lame excuses or bogus protestations.) So let’s figure out what you’re not doing right.
I like you. Really. I’ve got nothing against you. You seem like a nice enough kid. (Full disclosure: Sometimes I fib.) This is no judgment about your worth as a person. It’s just about how you did on the last test. And you really stunk it up. But you can do better. I know you can. The fact that you’re at this college means you can. (Sometimes that, too, is a fib. No matter. Positive thinking may be new for them.) So let’s talk about how to do better.
Diagnostics and best practices. Just looking at your Scantron, we can see where you weren’t prepared. It’s roughly 10 questions for each chapter. You did OK here, see, but look, this whole section’s a mess. You didn’t read this, right? You missed some classes around then, too. That’s not working for you.
You have to read this stuff. You have the time. You just have to make up your mind to do it. It’s not hard; it’s just work. There is no success without it.
When you read, don’t skip the headings. They tell you where you are in the chapter and what’s going on. And hold a pen or a pencil while you read. Research shows you’ll retain more of the information if there’s something to write with in your hand. Underline stuff, circle key words, and put notes in the margin. Those notes will help you go back over the material before the exam.
When you see a word you don’t know, what do you do? Do you skip over it? Do you think, “if it’s important someone will tell me what it means”? Well, grade school is over. You have the Internet. It takes 10 seconds to look up a word. No excuses for not knowing the words in the book.
Do you ever read out loud? Hearing the book being read can boost your comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary, even if you’re the one reading aloud. And doing so will tell you right away what words you don’t know.
Teach it to a fifth grader. The best way to make yourself learn something is to teach it to someone else. After reading each section under a subheading in the book, stop and explain what it just said, as if you were talking to a 10-year-old. Write it down if that helps.
Who or what is this section about? What are they doing and how do they do it? Why are they doing that? How does it tie in to the point of the chapter? Make some basic connections, and everything I say in the lecture is going to make a lot more sense.
Horseshoes and hand grenades. So with your score on the last test, you found out where the floor is, right? You made little effort, and you see what it got you. What you don’t know yet is how hard it’s going to be to get grades as good as you want. If you want a C, you have to average this F with an A [or this D with a B]. If you want to finish above a C, you need even higher scores to pull up your overall grade.
I keep track of grades on an Excel spreadsheet. If you keep doing what you’re doing, we know what your final average will be, right? But here’s what happens if we plug in an 85 for the rest of the grades this term. See this number? I’m telling you that could be your final average, if you put in the work to make it happen.
Small changes won’t get you there. If you won’t make some big changes, then you’re wasting my time and yours in this course.
Outside distractions. Have you got something else on your mind that’s interfering with your schoolwork? Some family situation, boyfriend or girlfriend? (Often the answer is no. When there is something on a student’s mind, usually it’s minor. For something major, I get the retention office to connect the student with the services we offer. Recent major issues included a sibling deployed overseas and a parent with cancer.)
If you’re going to graduate, you have to control what you can, and accept what you can’t. How your grade ends up in this course is still within your control, for now. Blow it off much longer and it won’t be anymore.
A five-year plan. Where do you want to be in five years? “I don’t know” is not an answer. If I were to twist your arm and not let go until you told me your plan, what would you say? OK, how are you going to do that without a college degree? You’re not (in most cases). And how are you going to get the degree without passing your classes? So every test, every course, is just a step in your plan. The plan may change, but you’ll only get there by completing the steps.
How are you going to beat the competition for jobs? There are a lot of people looking for work right now. Many will go out of their way to eat your lunch. How are you going convince an employer that you can take on extra work if they need you to?
So you’ve got some things to prove, don’t you? Let’s start by proving something this semester. Please tell me it’s going to take more than this class to keep you from reaching your goal. (Now it’s the student’s turn to talk.)
Awright, I’m gonna hold you to that. I don’t want to see you back in here after the next exam.
That’s it. Send in the next student.
