We all know that barriers exist that prevent our students from achieving
the goals we set for them. For some students, the barriers most difficult
to overcome are attitudinal. Their experiences have not provided them
with the determination and motivation to do hard difficult work with less
than concrete rewards. They are not scared of failure or motivated by it.
They expect success without realizing that it does not come from planting
oneself in a chair for a certain number of minutes. In many cases,
schooling has been structured so that they can avoid real failure without
expending intellectual effort. Sometimes they are quite skilled at
assigning responsibility for failure to everyone but themselves.
What to do? I think you design your instruction to facilitate as much
meaningful learning as you can. You use standards such as the AMATYC
standards as a guide but you also look to your particular institution and
your particular student body because there are some things that are
bigger than you that you can't change by waving a document.
Your success will be limited by your
contact time with students and your support system for students such as
tutors, math labs, testing centers, etc. You make your expectations as
clear as possible and you communicate those expectations in multiple ways
and you repeat them. You also clearly communicate the consequences for
not meetng the expectations. You encourage your students as much as you
can but you don't make their problems your problem. And then you leave it
up to them. When they fail -- you encourage them to try again. You
revisit your instruction to see if you you can learn anything from these
failures. But you let them fail and you do not lower your standards.
Reform in itself is not going to eliminate failure. Failure in itself
will not reform students.
I think about 60% of my students will pass this semester; it seems to be
the best that they and I can manage.
--Laura
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Laura Petersen petersen@lcsc.edu
Division of Natural Sciences PHONE 208-799-2484
Lewis-Clark State College FAX 208-799-2064
500 8th Avenue
Lewiston ID 83501-2698 USA
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