By Ashley J. Holmes, Assoc. Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning, Oregon State University
What does it mean for “every student to graduate”—one of the stated goals of Prosperity Widely Shared (PWS): The Oregon State Plan? More a mindset than a metric, PWS reminds us that “we have the privilege and responsibility to keep open pathways to academic success and … to provide every student with the support necessary to succeed … without compromising our academic standards.” Some of the common metrics for calculating student success are rates of retention, persistence, time-to-degree, and DFW rate (i.e., the percentage of “Ds,” “Fs,” and “Withdrawals” in a course) (Mowreader, 2024; Pelletier, 2019). However, it can sometimes be challenging to see what instructors do in their everyday teaching online and in the classroom as meaningfully contributing to these broader goals to move the needle on something like university-wide retention … but effective teaching is essential to student success!
What can you do as an instructor and how can you get involved in the conversation at OSU?
Support students in preparing to learn through:
- Learner-Centered or “Warm” Syllabus: Use positive, welcoming, and inclusive language, rather than penalizing language (See CTL resource on warm syllabi.);
- Scaffolding: Breaking large assignments into smaller parts; and
- Transparency: Use the TiLT (Transparency in Learning and Teaching) framework: a student-centered approach to making assignment guidelines and descriptions as clear and transparent as possible (See TiLT Higher Ed resources.).
Support students during class / learning through:
- “Small Teaching”: Brief (5- to 15-minute) interventions into individual learning session, such as guided reading prompts; opening class with an image, story, or quote to capture attention; asking students to recall on the lesson from last class; presenting a case study or problem, asking students to predict outcome; before leaving class, listing students’ “muddiest point.” (Lang, 2016)
- Active Learning: Moving beyond just lecturing to require students to become actively involved in their own learning rather than passive listeners, including group work, class discussions, think-pair-share, minute papers, interactive polling, and experiential learning (See CTL active learning resources in “Instructional Methods”.);
- Inclusivity: Generate sense of belonging for students and invite students’ sociocultural identities to be incorporated into teaching and learning (See CTL Inclusive Teaching Resources).
Support student learning through assessments:
- Frequent Feedback: Students need a mix of informal, low stakes and formal, higher stakes assessments to gauge whether they are on track with learning; continuous feedback is essential to student success (Hommel & Rohrlich, 2022).
- Rubrics: Using rubrics can make grading more streamlined. They can also help students better understand expectations, especially as part of TiLT;
- Canvas Gradebook: Keeping your Canvas gradebook well-organized and up-to-date increases transparency, ensures accuracy, and gives students data to make informed decisions about how to stay the course or change strategies to succeed (Nemeroff, 2024).
Get Involved through the ESG Winter Engagement Sessions:
You can contribute to the conversation at OSU about how we can work towards “Every Student Graduates” (ESG). Please join us for an upcoming ESG Winter Engagement Session to help map current practices, contribute your ideas, and ideate with OSU colleagues. Each upcoming in-person session will each focus on a different dimension of student success:
- Wednesday, Feb. 19, 1 to 2:50 p.m.: Dimension 4 – Applied learning experiences
- Friday, Feb. 21, 9 to 10:50 p.m.: Dimension 5 – Timely completion of high-quality education
- Wednesday, Feb. 26, 1 to 2:50 p.m.: Dimension 2 – An intentional onboarding experience
Register in advance: https://beav.es/Ge5. Also, please save the date for the Student Success Summit on Tuesday, April 22, for interactive sessions on ESG!
“Every Student Graduates” reminds us that it shouldn’t be a secret for how students can succeed in your course. Everyone should be given the tools and supports to be able to equitably perform their best, and to work towards their goals.
References
Hommel, D., & Rohrlich, J. (2022, June 24). Why student success depends on continuous feedback. Harvard Business Publishing Education. https://hbsp.harvard.edu/inspiring-minds/why-student-success-depends-on-continuous-feedback
Lang, James M. (2016) Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons From the Science of Learning. Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Mowreader, A. (2024, June 3). 6 factors for mapping the future of student success. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/student-success/college-experience/2024/06/03/6-factors-mapping-future-student-success
Nemeroff, A. (2024, August 20). Enhancing student success through effective grading and feedback in the LMS. Quinnipiac Innovations in Learning and Teaching. https://qilt.qu.edu/knowledge-resources-learnings-posts/enhancing-student-success-through-effective-grading-and-feedback-in-the-lms
About the author: Ashley Holmes is Associate Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning in the Division of Academic Affairs and leads the OSU Center for Teaching and Learning. She recently published Learning on Location: Place-Based Approaches for Diverse Learners in Higher Education (Routledge, 2023) and co-edited Learning from the Mess: Method/ological Praxis in Rhetoric and Writing Studies (UP of Colorado, 2024).
Editor’s note: This is part of a 2024-25 series of Insights from the Center posts by staff of the OSU Center for Teaching and Learning.
Insights from the Center image generated with DALL-E 3.
Leave a Reply