Why is that, and what can be done about it? Those were the key questions tackled by our panelists: Sarah Rose Cavanagh, a psychologist, professor and senior associate director for teaching and learning at Simmons University; Jonikka Charlton, associate provost for student success and dean of the University College at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley; and Deborah Sims, an associate professor of writing at the University of Southern California.
If you’d like to watch the session, follow this link. I’ll also highlight some key discussion points here.
We’re seeing more variation this semester. I’ll say up front that everything here is anecdotal. But panelists and audience members reported some common patterns in their classrooms. Some students are doing fine. They’ve bounced back and are ready to participate again. But those who are struggling seem to have more challenges than ever.
An audience poll found that about 35 percent felt that engagement and attendance this semester was better than last year. About 33 percent felt it was the same. And about 30 percent thought it was worse.
Students are coming to class and staying connected to their professors, said Charlton. But they’re not always completing their work. A lot of that, she believes, is connected to mental-health challenges. While there’s more willingness among students to talk about these issues, she said, “the challenges they’re facing are more extreme.”
Cavanagh said students at Simmons are also showing up and engaging, but they have more problems managing all the stresses and struggles of college life. They are telling their professors that they are having mental-health troubles. Sims noted that some students at USC are saying they don’t feel as productive, motivated, and excited about college and about life as they thought they would.
Being engaged requires students to find meaning, value, and connection in their classes. “When students don’t see the social connection and the value of what they’re learning, they’re going to have trouble engaging,” Cavanagh said. She noted that a student in her course on emotion and motivation polled the class to ask, how many of you are at college because you want to learn more about the world? Out of 30 students, only one raised a hand. Then the student asked, how many of you are here to get a better job, to have a better lifestyle? Everyone raised their hand.
“There was this moment of, Oh, is this really what we’re here for?” Cavanaugh recalled. While it’s natural to attend college so that you can get a good job, she said, “We need to help students reconnect to the broader purpose and value of learning.”
Sims talked about how she required students in her writing course to get together regularly outside of class and, through structured work, develop their conversational skills and later reflect on what they learned. That fostered a sense of joy, she said, and deepened connection among her students.
Charlton talked about how her campus built student support into courses that historically have had high failure rates. Students would meet in small groups, for example, with a peer leader. Professors found that those strategies normalized the social dimension of learning, and increased engagement and success in those courses. “One of the things we’ve learned,” Charlton said, “is that if something is important, it should not be optional.”
Maintaining flexibility while holding students accountable is an ongoing discussion. Charlton called this a “central question” coming out of the pandemic. She is a proponent of continued flexibility. “I just worry that we are going to lose students from higher ed in huge numbers if we don’t rethink what we do.” That means that in courses where it’s important to stay on track, professors should think about the different ways to build in flexibility.
Sims said that she and her colleagues are doing more with contract grading. It lays out exactly what students need to do to get a B. And those who want to do more are told how they can earn an A. “It’s essentially our response to this call for flexibility,” she said. Stress is lowered, but students are still held accountable to a certain degree.
Students want more online and hybrid course options, but that may not be in their best interest. Colleges are debating what mode to deliver many of their courses in, given that students are saying they like a mix of in-person, online, and hybrid courses.
“Student preferences don’t always line up with how students learn the best,” Cavanagh said. It’s an open question as to whether their preferred modes lead to better learning, she said, or are just more compatible with a busy life. HyFlex courses are also “extraordinarily taxing” for faculty members, Cavanagh said, and risks diluting teaching quality.
Charlton echoed those concerns.
“We’re really struggling with it,” she said. “Students aren’t always making choices that align with their success at our institution. If they’re going to put work first and dial into class and that’s why they’re asking for an online modality, they’re not getting much out of their courses.”
“What we lack as institutions is a tool or mechanism to help students make those choices in an informed way,” she noted. “Right now, we just say, ‘Vote with your feet. Go choose the classes you want.’”
The discussion covered a lot more ground than that, so be sure to check it out.
And if you have a few minutes, please write and tell me what you’re experiencing so far in your classes and on your campus this fall.
Are students showing up to class, engaging with each other, and doing the work? Or do they seem to have difficulty connecting and finding purpose in being at college? How do mental health or other factors play into this equation? Write to me a beth.mcmurtrie@chronicle.com and your story may become part of future reporting I do on this topic.
ICYMI
- Too often the demand for novel solutions to higher education’s woes disregards existing work and those doing it, writes Kevin Gannon in this Chronicle advice piece.
- Inside Higher Ed reports on two new studies that show how bias against women in student ratings operates over time.
- In our annual, virtual Chronicle Festival, Beckie interviewed teaching experts Cathy Davidson and Christina Katopodis. Register here to watch it on demand.
Study up on race in college admissions
For years Americans have debated, litigated, legislated, and voted on affirmative action and race-conscious admissions (not the same thing). Now the U.S. Supreme Court is weighing two cases that may seal the practices’ fate. Meanwhile, our new, free newsletter, Race in Admissions, will walk you through the history of this issue.
This newsletter isn’t like others, including the one you’re reading. It’s a limited-run series. For four weeks, every Tuesday and Thursday, you’ll get an email digging into The Chronicle’s archive to explain how this debate has evolved. By looking back, you’ll be better prepared for the present moment.
Don’t miss out. Sign up here.
Thanks for reading Teaching. If you have suggestions or ideas, please feel free to email us at beckie.supiano@chronicle.com or beth.mcmurtrie@chronicle.com.
— Beth
Learn more about our Teaching newsletter, including how to contact us, at the Teaching newsletter archive page.
