Students fear failure. It’s not just a failing grade that many students fear; it may be the fear of not receiving a perfect score each week on all required learning activities. I have worked with many PhD students who earn less than 100 points for their discussion posts in a previous week and believe they have failed. All they can focus on is losing points, even if it’s only six or eight points. The same applies to written assignments. A less than perfect grade in some way indicates failure because they “worked really hard,” “put a lot of effort into the assignment,” and “should get all the points.” Some students may believe that I have somehow been overly critical or picky with my comments, when they did not meet their expectations.
I try to change the narrative from a loss of points to a focus on what was achieved and pivot to what still needs to be completed. When possible, I have a conversation like this over the phone to convey empathy for my students online, and more importantly, to use this as a teachable moment and discuss the feedback provided. I understand the importance of a grade and what it means to feel that you have fallen short in some way, as I was also an online student and held myself to a very high standard, and pushed myself to produce what I thought was at that moment. I work above average. However, I also knew that in the end I was going to receive a degree and what I learned was the most important thing. For me, I tied my hard work directly to what I was accomplishing and then grades followed.
However, there have been times for me as a former student, as well as for my students now, when a less than perfect score is necessary. I tell my students that it would be very easy for me to recognize their effort, give them all perfect scores, and move them on to the next course. But then I would really be failing them as they would not be getting genuine or authentic feedback from me. They would never understand where there are areas of development to do, even if a six point loss is minor, simply because I didn’t want to take the time to go through their documents in depth or listen to the sound of their disappointment. after receiving your feedback.
What I have learned over time and practice is that students need to fail in order to learn and continue to grow. This failure can be anything from the perception of missing the mark or receiving a less than perfect score, to failing a class. When a student fails a course, it usually means that there is too much in her life to manage the required workload, or any number of other life-related possibilities. Regardless of the reason, a hard reset often helps prioritize activities and reset the reason you got your title. When students fail due to lack of motivation, despite an instructor’s best efforts to keep them engaged, they must determine if they are right for this environment and if they can re-engage once again.
Every time students fail, whether it’s due to losing points, unmet expectations, or the inability to complete a course, it provides them with an opportunity to learn more about themselves, provided they are willing to look beyond the letter grade and Develop a growth and development mindset. There are strategies an instructor can implement to help encourage their students to develop this type of failure set-up and be better prepared for the next attempt.
Teaching personal responsibility
I believe that accountability is an important aspect of teaching, no matter what setting you are teaching in. However, therein also lies the challenge because one of the basic tenets of andragogy or adult learning is the idea that adult learners are self-directed and want to be personally involved in their own learning. It would seem that students are responsible enough to sign up for their classes and understand the basic premise of what taking a class should entail.
However, why is it so difficult for instructors to get all students to accept that they are responsible for their own results? Why do some students choose to blame everyone but themselves for their achieved results? Those are questions that may never be fully answered. I can’t answer them from the perspective of teaching students online after 15 years and it may have to do with internal factors that are beyond the scope of anything I or any instructor can control. That does not depend on me to evaluate, since I can only evaluate what I observe inside the classroom.
What I do know is that I can hold students to a fair standard or expectation of how they will perform in class, and the higher the standard I hold, the more I expect of myself in return. In other words, if I expect my students to achieve the highest possible level of writing on the scoring guide, then I need to make sure that I provide instructional guidance, substantive feedback, and availability for students to talk with me about their feedback. and progress in class. Accountability begins when I set clear and fair expectations with students, and continues when I support them with each new attempt.
Strategies to foster growth and development
When I see students struggling or failing to reach their full potential, I am very aware that they have a perception that they have probably done enough to complete the task and expect to “get ahead” or “win the most.” points” for the effort put in. It seems that there are already few students who can easily accept a score below 100% without personally believing that they have failed in some way. Since I am aware of this mentality in advance, there are strategies I have been using to encourage and nurture a different mindset, one of growth and development.These are strategies that you can also use in your teaching practice.
Strategy: Academic Preparation
The topic of academic unpreparedness is something my colleagues and I discuss quite often, and I’m sure it may be an issue you’ve also addressed, especially if you’re an online educator. When students start an online program, they will have a huge gap between them in what skills they already have or need help with, regardless of what academic experience they may have.
From time management to writing and productivity skills, all students will need help in some area, and some may need ongoing support throughout their entire program of study. The art of academic writing can be difficult to master, especially something like APA formatting. What an instructor can do is help address some issues and refer students to the right resources. It is about encouraging students to make mistakes until they learn the correct methods.
Strategy: Management of results, not of expectations
As a PhD student, I remember receiving scores below 100% and how I felt, because I tended to be a perfectionist who set high standards for myself. However, my approach with my instructors was not to tell them that I was outraged that I had lost some points or that they had been unfair, I sought answers. He wanted to know how he could improve next time and the areas where he could improve. For my students today, I find myself facing expectations first, rather than questions about results.
The expectation is to receive perfect scores, which I did not address. What I am talking about is the loss of some points and how this is an indicator of something more to learn. I then spend time reviewing the document and/or discussion posts in detail, along with the provided scoring guide and comments. In other words, I manage the results. Once I am able to have a conversation with my students about the areas in which they excelled (the most points earned) and the areas of development (the few points lost), they often have a different view.
Strategy: Encourage students to try harder, even if they may fail
My last degree was awarded almost 10 years ago to date and the classes I remember the most were the ones where I received feedback that pushed me and challenged me to do better. I felt that I could try my best and test my ideas, thoughts and transform my work to the point where I could almost fail if necessary. That’s how supported I felt. Actually, he knew that he probably wouldn’t fail; however, it was such a safe and supportive environment that I felt I could try new ideas and approaches to projects. I was so motivated by those instructors, I wanted to teach at that school and now 10 years later here I am teaching at the same school.
Now, with my students, I want them to do their best too. They may not have the best writing skills, and yet I don’t want them to think that this should be a reason not to try to write an article or post a discussion reply. When I post your feedback video, I’ll let you know how I can understand what you’re putting across, as far as the overall message, and then after discussing the strengths of your work, I’ll address what you can continue. work in. If I can continue to support them, they will make another attempt, even if there is a possibility of failure. Even if a student completely fails the task, I always assure them that this is not the end of the game or the end point in time. They always have something more to learn and they can use this to create a much better next piece of writing.
Why students must fail to succeed
Consider a student who is enrolled in a class and receives a “good job” and a score of 100% on each written assignment and discussion requirement. What has this student learned? If the student learned anything, it was from her own studies and discussions. But from his involvement with the instructor, it was minimal. Now consider a different scenario where an instructor provides extensive feedback and scores vary from 88% to 100% over the term, and the student believes that many failures have occurred. What has this student learned? This student has been presented with a much greater opportunity to learn because outcomes, which are indicators of the need for continued development, have not been achieved. Will this student recognize the need for development? Only if the instructor has fostered a mindset and disposition that is open to continued growth. Every student needs this way of “failing” in order to succeed. It’s not about not meeting expectations or failing a class overall, it’s about receiving accurate and supportive feedback and learning where development is needed.
Does this help change the way you view your students’ failure? Are you providing substantive feedback and support to your students? When you can have a conversation with your students about results, rather than expectations, you can also transform their attitude about grades and feedback, and perhaps then you can teach them more about personal responsibility.