Help! Opening Avenues for Students to Seek Academic Support

[smccormack]

Creating an environment in which students will ask for help is a critical component of a productive classroom: a space from which each student can gather positive lessons to carry as they continue their academic journey. 

On the first day of spring semester I posed this question to my US History survey students: “What prevents you from asking for help when a class is not going well?” Without hesitation students offered the following: laziness, embarrassment, and fear of being “a burden.” 

Leading a classroom of learners provides us the opportunity to model what to do if things are not going well. Here are some of the practices I’ve adopted:

Acknowledge that students will likely need help

At our first class meeting I tell my students that I recognize that the majority of them will not be history majors. In fact, most students at the community college where I teach will only take one course in my discipline. As a result it is important for them to know that I do not expect them to be experts. We talk on the first day about some of the challenges they have had previously when studying history either in high school or in an unsuccessful attempt to complete their college history credits. Allowing the students to collectively address their anxiety on the first day of class opens up an avenue for a conversation about help.

Provide specific instructions about how to get help

Most colleges and universities have a tutoring center. Before the semester starts I schedule a visit to each of my in-person classes during the first two weeks from an academic support coach. I allot 15 minutes at the end of a class meeting for her to outline the kinds of help available and to show the students exactly how to schedule meetings. Each student leaves class that day with her contact information in hand. Some even schedule meetings with her immediately after class that day. Ask your students if they are aware of the campus tutoring center they will probably acknowledge its existence but express a reluctance to go there on their own. Bringing a representative into the classroom provides them with a direct connection and an endorsement from their professor that the help available at the center has been proven to work in that course. 

Encourage students to share their experiences

Oftentimes after a student takes advantage of tutoring or other kinds of academic extra help they will share their experiences with me privately. In those conversations I encourage them to tell their friends and classmates about their positive interactions with academic support. Earlier this year I told a class about my own son’s experiences with academic support at the college he attends. Later that day a student emailed me to thank me for the share. He said he had been wrestling with embarrassment over asking for a tutor and after listening to my anecdote about my son’s experiences he realized he was expending more energy by not asking for help. 

Finally, after that first visit by the academic support coach at the start of the semester, I continue to regularly remind the students that help is available in my weekly announcements and with emails/links through our class portal. In other words, I don’t expect them to remember how to get help, especially in the middle of the semester when they are feeling overwhelmed. In my experience, this little bit of academic hand-holding can go a long way in alleviating student stress and ultimately make the classroom environment more enjoyable for everyone who enters!