Action Plan - Improving Instructor-Student Communication

Online Teaching Action Plan

Rodney L. Alderman

Current Situation

Students in my developmental writing courses many times are taking their first college course. Many studies have shown that a student’s first college courses are critical in determining whether that student will be successful not only in that present courses, but future courses as well. Although I provide personal feedback on assignments to the greatest extent possible, I do not typically personally communicate with students through personal email correspondence or through social media.

Desired Change

It is my goal to personally communicate with each student at least three (3) times during the semester. For students who are performing well, this communication may simply be a “keep up the good work” type of encouragement correspondence. This activity is primarily targeted at those online students who quietly “drop out” and stop working. It is my hope that one email every five weeks may provide necessary encouragement and/or motivation for the student to continue to persevere in the course.

Plan Elements with Warrants

Elements	Warrants
Instructor will set up virtual office hours so that online students may chat or speak with an instructor to clarify any questions they may have.	Students benefit from immediate and personal contact with instructor when encountering problems (Cockerham et al., 2014).
Instructor will send each student at least three email messages throughout the semester, typically one every five weeks.	Personal correspondence from instructors will help motivate students to persevere in their studies (Huett et al., 2008).
Instructor will decrease email response time. For developmental writing students, instructor will attempt to answer emails within 8 hours whenever possible.	Timely and prompt email responses from instructors help students to be more successful in online courses (Kelly, 2012).
Instructor will experiment by setting up a Twitter account to be used by students in my developmental writing courses.	Social media can be an extremely effective tool in motivating students to communicate in online courses (Tess, 2013).

 

References    

Cochran, Justin; Campbell, Stacy; Baker, Hope; Leeds, Elke. “The Role of Student Characteristics in Predicting Retention in Online Courses.”  Research in Higher Education. Feb2014, Vol. 55 Issue 1, p27-48. 22p. 9 Charts. DOI: 10.1007/s11162-013-9305-8.

Huett, Jason Bond; Kalinowski, Kevin E.; Moller, Leslie; Huett, Kimberly Cleaves. “Improving the Motivation and Retention of Online Students Through the Use of ARCS-Based E-Mails.”  American Journal of Distance Education. Jul2008, Vol. 22 Issue 3, p159-176. 18p. 6 Charts. DOI: 10.1080/08923640802224451.

Kelly, Rob. “Instructor Strategies to Improve Online Student Retention.”   Online Classroom. Jun2012, Vol. 12 Issue 6, p1-8. 2p.

Tess, Paul A. “The role of social media in higher education classes (real and virtual).” Computers in Human Behavior. Sep2013, Vol. 29 Issue 5, pA60-A68. 0p. DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2012.12.032.