For educators at colleges and universities, seeing students through the curriculum isn't everything. There's also a need to keep students fully engaged with their work. This means helping them get involved, as well as get good grades. One source of information for this is the National Survey for Student Engagement, which has used data from more than 1,600 institutions since it was founded.
The 2016 edition of this survey specifically listed some of the "High-Impact Practices" that can be good for students. Many ofthese are a standard part of degree programs, but could also be considered meaningful and even life-changing, such as service learning, studying abroad and a "culminating senior experience" that feels fulfilling as a final project.
"Universities need to reach out to students through different methods."
Crucially, the survey also detected a belief among students in the importance of schoolwork. A sub-survey including both freshman and senior students found that 39 percent of respondents believed working harder at school could help them become more intelligent. The majority also agreed they could always change their intelligence level, although the amount was 6 percent lower than the previous amount.
What universities need to do is dedicate themselves to reaching out to students through different means. This extends to improving the communication between students and faculty. Campus Technology spoke about the ways feedback can improve the approach that instructors take in different settings.
The use of instructional scaffolding can help faculties set up the means for encouraging students, just as students can gain a way of engaging with their teachers. Measuring out feedback can be difficult without the right methods of communication. An SMS service fits in this space well as a way to send out reminders, set schedules and perform other essential tasks for the school as a whole.
