In the first year at Aston University Electronic Engineering students are
not closely monitored. There are few coursework marks available before late
in the year and what do exist are not used to identify weak or unmotivated
students; staff started taking attendance data this year but have yet to
decide what to do with them; tutorial sessions with academics are available
weekly, but most students choose not to attend. The general ethos is that
staff make available learning and support opportunities but if students
don't take advantage of them there is little come back (until exam time).
In the past this might have been OK but there is now strong anecdotal
evidence of falling attendance at lectures and labs, and staff have found
quite a high drop-out rate come exam time.
I am working with a colleague in Electronic Engineering who is considering
trying to persuade colleagues that it is worth spending effort to encourage
student participation, using both carrots and sticks. Possible changes he
is considering are:
* require work to be handed in, marked and fed back at tutorials to give
them a focus; make tutorials compulsory
* introduce an exam around Xmas time in order to encourage steady work
through Autumn term and facilitate progress monitoring and identification
of students with problems
* centrally monitor continuous assessment performance and attendance at
labs/tutorials/lectures feeding back data to tutors
* students of poor diligence identified in this way to be encouraged to try
harder (perhaps invoking some kind of learning contract) persistent
defaulters to be ultimately asked to withdraw (following appropriate
warnings etc&)
What I am looking for is evidence that such techniques can improve student
performance so that I can demonstrate that any additional effort on his
behalf will be rewarded by improved student performance and learning 'pay-off'.
I'd be really grateful for any positive suggestions on this. Many thanks in
anticipation.
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