Support Strategies
To Consider: Digital Nudges
Data Informed advice and support
Giving students access to information about their own engagement and performance is a useful way to “nudge” them to increase their time on task. Digital nudges are not instructions. They are subtle reminders to help students who might be at risk.
Advisors
The combination of students data with technology should reduce advisors’ administrative workload and give them extra tools to help students choose majors and careers, find support in times of need, and graduate in a timely manner with a plan for the future.
Many are beginning to think about how ICT can be leveraged to offer better support for students. When ICT is used in conjunction with student data, then analytics tools may be utilised to strategically target particular students who requires specific assistance.
Technology is not very good with assisting students make complex decisions. Nor is it very good and building students’ metacognitive skills. Effective advisors are holistic and can address academic (writing skills, career planning) and non academic (tutoring, mental health) issues. Such student support requires that technology and advisors work in tandem to identify and pursue academic and life goals. The acronym given by the community college research centre for this kind of support is is SSiPP.
- Sustained - support is ongoing, rather than using an “inoculation” approach.
- Strategic - Services are differentiated to maximize capacity.
- Integrated - Services are not viewed as stand-alone interventions.
- Proactive - Services are an integral part of all students’ experiences.
- Personalized Students receive the support they need when they need it, from an individual who knows them well.
Lecturers
Data-driven educational decisionmaking
assist lecturers to move from a
“gut instinct” to a systematic approach
towards teaching and learning.
Lecturers may consider various options
available:
- The data generated by student input into audience response systems (clickers) within a classroom provides immediate feedback to lecturers on students’ understanding of a piece of work and allows the lecturer to instantly address wrong conceptions.
- If objective question types are used on the LMS, it is possible to generate an analysis of each question and distractors, this may assist in creating better assessment questions.
- The use of student marks to analyse the questions where students struggled. This information is then used to inform subject topics that should be to addressed differently or that need additional remedial material.
- Displaying students’ marks within the LMS keeps them up to date with their progress, even if a “progress mark” is not used.
- The online mark book / grade center provides a central space where all lecturers within the same module can manage the marks of the students and send emails to students to “nudge” them to better performance. Lecturers might congratulate students on good performance. This quick way of communication motivates students as they feel less “like a number” in the large groups.
- Dashboards and Learning Analytics provide a central interface where lecturers can monitor the students’ access, interaction and submissions in their courses.
- The Retention Center allows lecturers to set up alerts for students who missed deadlines, do not interact, perform poorly, or do not access the course regularly.