Tips for Getting Students in Seats for Non-Mandatory Activities
Students not showing up to non-mandatory activities Heading link
One issue that is not unique to UICOM is that the majority of students do not attend non-mandatory classroom sessions. Faculty put in a lot of time and effort to create compelling content and they end up disappointed and disillusioned when students do not show up. At the same time, if they do show up, they clearly did not do the prep work to be able to participate in discussions. What can be done to encourage students to complete the prep work and to show up to non-mandatory activities?
- Be more clear in the activity template as to why they should complete the prep work. For example, if you have a video and an article for them to read as prep, why should they do both? Does one augment the other? If you don’t tell students what they should be getting out of the prep work, they are less likely to do it. Include a statement in the prep work like: ‘Read the text first and then watch the video. The video fills in some of the gaps from the text. Be prepared to discuss how these information gaps were filled in.’
- Annotate the prep work more clearly. Rather than just provide a list of videos to watch, how will these videos be used in a live setting? Is there information in those videos that will be expanded on in class, or is it just for their edification? The clearer you can be with the why, the better.
It is unlikely that we will ever have 100% attendance for any non-mandatory activities. Students prefer the freedom of choice in determining how they will study material.
In an article by White et al., (2014) called “Why are medical students ‘checking out’ of active learning in a new curriculum,” the authors determined that students are reluctant to attend an active learning session if it’s not really that active. For example, the low hanging fruit of an active learning session might be to throw in a few Poll Everywhere questions. This is probably not enough to warrant it labeled as ‘active.’ Students in this study expect active learning to enhance their learning through collaboration with peers. Another reason they may be reluctant is their schooling history did not include much active learning teaching, so they may feel uncomfortable in that type of environment. A big challenge for faculty includes helping students understand their role in self-directed learning. Here is the full citation if you want to read it:
White, C., Bradley, E., Martindale, J., Roy, P., Patel, K., Yoon, M., & Worden, M-K. (2014). Why are medical students ‘checking out’ of active learning in a new curriculum? Medical Education, 48, 315-324. doi: 10.1111/medu.12356