Topic 1: Proactive Intervention & Retention

Driving Question: What processes and strategies can we create to identify and proactively reach out to at-risk students and help them succeed?

Overview

As educators, our goals all aim toward helping students succeed.  However, not all students grasp concepts and information correctly the first time.  The sooner we can identify those students and apply intervention techniques, the higher the rate of success will be.  We need to make a conscious decision to include some of these interventions in our course. This will help us to be aware of all students from the beginning, not just as an afterthought when it may be too late to help.

Supplemental Questions

• How can we build in opportunities for teachers to proactively identify and mentor at-risk students early enough in the semester to make a difference?
• How can we structure courses/assignments and encourage teachers to proactively reach out to at-risk students and help them succeed academically?
• What opportunities are we giving students to experience failure and overcome failure?  How will students who initially fail be led to success?
• How can we build in more incentives and resources to help students learn concepts they don’t initially master?
• How can the course be designed for students and faculty to build connections and community? 
• What do we need to do to make the course ADA-compliant? 
• How can we identify gaps in student knowledge as they enter the course?
• What procedures and processes are in place to identify at-risk students? 
• How can we create more mentoring opportunities for instructors of the course? 
• How can we identify missing foundational skills and knowledge and have strategies for intervention?

Topic 2: Assignment Structure

Driving Questions:

1. How can we structure assignments and assessments in a way that:
   1. ...Helps students learn concepts they don't initially master?
   2. ...Interleaves and reinforces concepts and ideals throughout the semester?
   3. ...Promotes student mastery and retention of essential concepts?

Overview

Assignment structure should be laid out in a way that student learning is reinforced. Resources should be used that align with assessments and outcomes and help students learn the material and fulfill the various assignments. Innovation and differentiation can help provide unique outlooks on the material and accommodate students of varying backgrounds and skill sets. Consider a variety of techniques including team, project, and decision-based learning models to give your students an experience that will most closely resemble what they will encounter once they leave the classroom.  

Supplemental Questions

• How can we build in opportunities for students to receive more meaningful formative and timely feedback? 
• How can we improve the quality of student time in and out of class?  The time with their peers? The time students have with the teacher?  
• How can we design assignments so that the feedback given inspires students to improve learning by faith, persevere, and grow? (become lifelong learners) 
• What opportunities will we give for students to safely make mistakes, and receive coaching and mentoring for those mistakes? 

Topic 3: Additional Interventions (Choose your own)

Overview

 As educators, we know that students do not all learn in the same ways.  One instructional method or one intervention strategy will not reach all students.  The purpose of this section is to help you investigate and decide upon another strategy that would help students learn course content and find success in your subject area.

Choose and explore 1 or 2 Interventions or strategies below

• Building a Classroom Community
• Classroom Engagement
• Active Learning & Movement
• Peer-to-Peer Interactions
• Classroom Norms
• Physical Interactions
• Teacher-Student Interactions
• Communicating with Students
• At-Risk Students
• Student Motivation
• Retrieval / Recall
• Interleaving
• Collaboration:
• Affordable, Accessible Materials
• Student Choice
• Mentoring Students
• Student Mindset and Perseverance
• Teaching Students How to Learn
• Mental Health
• International Students