Students Who Are Struggling Academically

About the session

It is not uncommon for our students to struggle academically – especially early in their higher education career as they adjust to college expectations and become more accountable for their own learning. This session will offer recommendations about how to proactively intervene when students experience challenges. We want our students to be aware of resources in place to help them succeed and to feel confident as they learn to better advocate for themselves.

Key takeaways and insights

• Student success is the highest priority across the AirPark Columbus College Campus and all faculty and staff work toward that goal in some manner or another.
• Attendance (non-attendance) is an early indicator of engagement.
• Using the Canvas photo roster is a clue as to whether students (IU specifically) have their CrimsonCard IDs (necessary for printing, etc.). Ivy Tech students are not required to have student IDs and thus do not appear on the photo roster.
• Advisors are generally considered less intimidating and viewed as “safe” since they do not assign grades. It may be viewed that they “work for the students” in a more direct fashion.
• The Student Engagement Roster is a way to reach out to students who do not submit homework and do not show any interaction with the course site. Faculty may send students a message on Canvas about their missing homework.
• Send the students an email letting them know they were “missed” in class.
• Use of/access to Canvas can be monitored to identify students who have not engaged with the course site. The Canvas engagement tool identifies students in quartiles based on activity.
• Our “adult children” are just learning to advocate for themselves and may have little idea about how to “adult”. They are often overscheduled with work and classes and seem to need/want to fill every minute of the day.
• Many of our students need money and are working nearly full-time. Many have complex home lives and family issues they are dealing with.
• All of our students (at least at first) are adjusting to college and learning the necessary time management skills to handle the workload of college-level courses.
• The best moments of learning (the ‘aha’ moments) often come when a student allows themselves to “be”.

Presented by

Leigh Britt is a Lecturer of Mathematics for Indiana University Columbus. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Virginia Tech in Mathematics Education and a Master of Science in Education degree in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on Secondary Mathematics.  Leigh teaches developmental algebra courses and 100 level mathematics courses for non-STEM majors including Finite and Mathematics for Elementary Teachers. Her specialty is college readiness following participation in the Lumina-funded Southeast Indiana Post-Secondary Regional Partnership (SEIPRP) from 2013 – 2017.

Rob Darringer retired after 23 years in the Unites States Army.  Upon retirement, he earned his master’s degree from Trine University in Leadership, with a concentration in Higher Education and Instructional Learning.  He held a couple positions before becoming a 4th grade teacher at a rural southeastern Indiana elementary school.  After two years, he decided that his skills were better matched with the 18 to 25-year-old demographic as that is where he spent most of his military career.  Rob became a part of the IU Columbus team last September and is the Academic Advisor primarily for the Division of Education. He also advises for the Accounting and Finance concentrations of the Division of Business. Rob has been married to his lovely wife, Stephanie, for nearly 30 years. Together they have raised three amazing kids and will be blessed with their first two grandchildren in July and November this year.

Shannan Norrell is an associate professor of student success and English at Ivy Tech Community College. Shannan earned a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Ball State University and a master’s degree in English from University of Indianapolis. In addition to teaching, Shannan is the chair for student success, ESOL, supplemental instruction, tutoring, and knowledge assessment for the Ivy Tech Community College Columbus region.