Challenges Faced By Our Students >JoAnn Funk

As an adjunct at Kaplan for five years now, I am still constantly amazed at the challenges faced by our learners. If anyone had to flee domestic violence, give a legal deposition about your grandchild having been burned in your house fire, or endure the death of a younger police officer you had mentored, could we write a good essay? These adult online learners have all made the decision to come to Kaplan and pursue a degree, but how long has it been since they last wrote a paper for any teacher? Just knowing that many of our students are at-risk is not adequate; we must move beyond the traditional roles of student/teacher and motivate them to be good writers. Knowing what the needs of our students are and establishing a relationship of trust are key components of retention of those learners and creation of emergent writers.

The needs of adult online learners are often hidden at the other end of the Internet connection. In communications courses, professors teach how to assess the needs of one’s clients. In composition courses, professors spend time discussing the needs of one’s audience, but do we professors think about the needs of our learners? In an ACT college retention report, Lotkowski, Robbins, and Noeth (2004) asserted that retention programs need to create "a socially inclusive and supportive academic environment that addresses the social, emotional, and academic needs of students" (p. viii). Obviously, any retention program should profile the needs of the learners and seek feedback from the faculty that interacts with them on a daily basis. The normal routine of a professor is interacting with students in live seminars, on discussion boards, and by evaluating student projects. The most personal reaching out might be the How is everybody doing? question asked at the start of a Kaplan live seminar. How much time does the average professor have to reach out to a student that may not be participating? In the few weeks of a quarter it is difficult to build a relationship of trust with students in the isolation that is inherent with online higher education. But trust can be fostered.

Most new students are naturally apprehensive and fear can block the feeling of trust that one’s professor is an advocate of theirs to help them seek new skills and knowledge. Students need to see, accept, and appreciate their strengths in order to increase their motivation, confidence, and efficacy, and thereby increase their achievement" (Schreiner & Anderson, 2004, p. 10). Professors need to mentor the over-extended at-risk learners and encourage them when they doubt themselves. If an at-risk learner can believe in a promising future with real opportunities, then society and our economy will benefit. The hope is that they will learn how to learn, develop a yearning for learning, and continually reach out and take advantage of new opportunities to learn new skills. If all institutions, faculty and learners increase awareness, communication, and mentoring, then the chances of successful completion of online higher education programs should also improve.

References
Lotkowski, V. A., Robbins, S. B., & Noeth, R. J. (2004). The role of academic and non-academic factors in improving college retention. ACT Policy Report. Retrieved January 1, 2006, from www.act.org/research/policy/index.html
Schreiner, L. A., PhD., & Anderson, E., PhD. (2004). Strengths-based advising. The Gallup Organization. Retrieved November 4, 2006, from https://www.strengthsquest.com/Content/?CI=25195

Did you know...

JoAnn has a hot air balloon pilot's license?

JoAnn is part-time faculty in the composition department in the School of Arts and Sciences.