Mayo’s Clinic: Retaining Students in Our Classes
01 May 2014
The challenge of college includes managing multiple demands and a complex schedule, often for the first time as an adult. Something as simple as taking attendance in class can motivate students to not only stay in the course and program, but thrive.
By Dr. Fred Mayo, CHE, CHT
For the last two months, we have discussed ways to encourage student curiosity. This month, we turn to the challenge of keeping students in our classes and in our programs. There are several ways—noticing them, giving them feedback, encouraging friendships and taking attendance—to keep students engaged. I hope one or more will be useful to you.
Being Noticed Counts
The primary way to keep students engaged is to provide them with comments on their participation, their work and their involvement. Showing them that you notice what they are doing and appreciate it—most especially the effort involved—makes a big difference in their attitude toward being in class, learning the material and incorporating culinary skills into their repertoire.
Just a thank-you to someone who stayed to help clean up, a compliment about something being done well, or a word of encouragement during a tough day (or week) can help students feel good about their studies and their progress in school. They look up to us as faculty members, and showing that we notice what they are doing makes a difference in their lives.
Feedback Can Transform Students
One of our major roles as teachers involves providing students with comments about their performance and suggestions for how they can improve. Most of us honor the principle that a student who is in danger of failing a course should be told as soon as it is clear that it might happen so that he or she has a chance to improve and pass the course.
Most chef-instructors and hospitality faculty members also operate on the principle that students benefit from feedback about all aspects of their school work and behavior in kitchens, dining rooms and other classrooms. We even require and comment on uniforms! The critical aspect of providing feedback is to offer it in a timely manner, with useful suggestions, in an individually focused setting, and with some sensitivity. Feedback that is a week or more old does not help a student improve; the more prompt and detailed the better so long as we share it in a caring manner with some sense of what the student can hear and absorb. It needs to be useful—something that the student can apply or do differently—or it is of no benefit.
Group feedback does not typically make a difference to most students; specific comments about one’s individual work are easier to hear and show greater attention on your part. It also helps the student to incorporate the feedback. Most often, group feedback has little lasting impact.
Friends Count
A number of studies on persistence have found that one of the most important factors keeping students in a college program is the presence of close friends and allies. Knowing someone well enough to share the trials and tribulations of college life makes it easier to overcome them and focus on the effort necessary to accomplish all of the tasks involved in succeeding.
As many of us know, the challenge of college often includes managing multiple demands and a complex schedule, often for the first time as an adult. Having someone to talk to about your studies, someone to study with, and someone who wants your success contributes significantly to a student’s ability to stay, and interest in staying, in college. One thing that we can do as faculty members is to check on the presence of friends in our students’ lives, and encourage them to make close friends if they have not done so yet.
Recording Attendance Makes a Difference
Each year that I have taught, I take attendance. It does not count for a grade since I do not include participation as one of the elements of the grading mix. However, I tell students that I want them to come to class and I take attendance at the beginning of each class session. Most often, students who arrive late to class come up after class or during a break to make sure that I have recorded their attendance.
The experience has shown me how important it is to recognize the presence of students in the classroom, even if they do not participate actively or contribute a great deal to discussions. So consider how you take attendance as a way of motivating students to stay in the course and in the program.
Summary
Thank you for reading this column about retaining students in our classes and our programs. If you have suggestions for other topics or teaching practices you want to share, send them to me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.and I will include them in future “Mayo’s Clinics.”
Dr. Fred Mayo, CHE, CHT, was most recently a clinical professor at New York University. Principal of Mayo Consulting Services, he continues to teach around the globe, and is a frequent presenter at CAFÉ events nationwide. His latest book, Planning an Applied Research Project in Hospitality, Tourism, and Sports (Wiley, 2013), debuted last autumn.