With all the tools available to a modern instructor, I wonder if anyone has plotted out patterns of engagement by successful students. (Too little time to do the research, but a moment to reflect.) By that I mean, is there a pattern to how students begin a course (slowly with intervals of neglect, quick bursts of energy that can't be sustained, or ... pick your preferred pattern). And when things go well in a class, do the engagement patterns of categories of students synchronize; do we encourage each other to rise to the occasion? or when things don't go well, do we take cues from each other and leave at the same time? Google can track when feeds see activity, but as far as I know, there is record-keeping, but no plotting of participation in CMSs.
And what could you do about it anyway? Would more instructor posts encourage more student posts?
As I hear the whoosh of approaching deadlines, I am persuading myself that much of how (well) we learn is about time ... and attention.
I don't know about patterns of engagement with "typical" or most students. All I know is I have to reorganize each and every course I take to make sense of it for my own learning experience. Certainly, some more than others or I would have given up a long time ago.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I do pay attention to grades, my main focus is on learning the material in order to apply it in the future.
With some instructors I feel like I am "dancing backwards in high heels", which is something I never did well.