Interventions for students who are struggling in online classes: Study

In a recent article for The Evolllution, Amy Finamore discusses the findings of a survey on the strategies faculty use to identify students who are struggling in online classes, the accuracy of their assessments, and the effectiveness of their interventions. Finamore surveyed faculty members at a US university and found that they used a variety of factors to identify students who were likely to struggle in class, such as missing assignments. In these situations, faculty often offered supports such as referrals to academic tutoring or help by email. However, the accuracy of faculty members’ prediction of which students would struggle was mixed: Faculty missed most of the students who would not be able to complete the term successfully, but two-thirds of those who they did identify faced challenges during the course. Finamore recommends that faculty members offer proactive supports for students who are struggling, listen to students’ concerns, and streamline the instructor outreach process to make it less time-consuming. The Evolllution Note: Archived stories may contain dead links or be missing source links.