Tag: academic coach

Distance learning continues to be a dominant trend within higher education. Institutions are increasingly taking stock of student experience with distance learning and evaluating how satisfied students are with the process. 

It’s a valid and critical ask – distance learning can be difficult for some students, and even highly motivated students can quickly disengage when poorly conducted. More and more institutions are investigating how to increase student satisfaction with their distance learning, and some critical trends in student satisfaction deserve closer consideration. 

Responsiveness

No one likes to wait for an answer, whether in a class, on a helpline, or in a physical store. The same is true of non-traditional students in an online course. Students expect to see answers to simple questions about coursework, content, or industry-specific topics in a timely fashion. 

Unfortunately, this can be extremely difficult when instructors have 50-100 students in an online course. Higher education institutions can mitigate student dissatisfaction with distance learning by equipping instructors to respond to student queries promptly.

Timely Grading & Review

One of the main benefits of distance learning is that higher education institutions aren’t bound by the physical confines of a room. The upper size limit of a class is now much higher without the constraints of room size. Some non-traditional distance learning programs can see quite a few students enroll, and digital class sizes over 100 are not uncommon. 

However, this can make it extremely difficult for faculty members to grade, review, and post announcements. This is a natural consequence of the rising digital class size but significantly impacts student satisfaction. The ability to understand one’s progress on exams, coursework, and essays is a crucial piece of any distance learning program. Institutions of higher education that struggle to keep up to date with grading and student feedback will see corresponding dips in student satisfaction. 

Communication Through Self-Guided Learning

Another significant benefit of distance learning for non-traditional students is that their learning is often self-guided. Busy professionals attempting to balance work and family appreciate the ability to learn remotely. However, a downside of this learning style is that self-guided learning can be isolating. 

A solitary distance learning environment will lack the connection, collaboration, and discussion that in-person learning does, which can negatively impact student learning. 

How, then, can institutions of higher education confront this problem? Additional support can help faculty members improve student outcomes and give students clear direction and support as they navigate through online learning. Assistance with grading, approved announcements, and day-to-day tasks can help provide students with clear guidance. These clear channels of communication serve a couple of purposes. Primarily, students are given clear communication about course material and the opportunity to communicate with course instructors and other students. However, faculty members also benefit from additional support in these areas. Improved communication about the progression of the course gives students clear directions and feedback on the self-guided process and frees up faculty time to focus on developing the course.

Flexibility 

Any seasoned instructor can tell you that flexibility is critical when leading a digital classroom of over 100 students. Exams sometimes must be moved, power outages derail submissions, and emergencies occur. This is just a fact of life, even outside of the classroom. However, few faculty members can simultaneously respond to these challenges when instructing that many students. The ability to provide flexibility to every student can become a challenge. 

Faculty Mentorship

Distance learning is not merely coursework. Students will often have questions about their field of study, career prospects, and industry trends and may want to contact faculty members for their insight. While Academic Coaches don’t personally provide mentorship opportunities, higher education institutions offer mentorship, along with other student development services, to all students, including traditional, non-traditional, online, and in-person. Participation in these types of services causes an increase in student satisfaction and better student outcomes for all. 

How Academic Coaches Can Assist 

Faculty members understand what they must do to improve student outcomes and satisfaction. However, as with many things, the devil is in the details. Delivering a great course is hard enough in and of itself. Offering flexibility, timely grading, and clear communication to over 100 students is a big ask. That’s where an Instructional Connections Academic Coach can assist.

Keep in mind, though, that while  Academic Coaches are there to assist, they are only permitted to engage in such activities as directed by the faculty of record. At the direction of the faculty, Academic Coaches can help with everything from posting approved announcements to replying to emails and grading. However, grading is always completed as assigned and through the use of inter-rater reliability activities as prescribed by the faculty. 

Our Academic Coaches are highly qualified, experienced professionals in the appropriate academic discipline. Each has earned at least a Master’s or Doctoral degree from an accredited university. On average, IC Academic Coaches have 14 years of industry experience and a minimum of a Master’s degree. 

Each Virtual TA possesses the academic credentials and experience to become an immediate asset to the faculty and students. Our Virtual TAs are tremendous resources to students in their related fields. Additionally, we align with your goals completely, listening to your institutional priorities and following your leadership and the direction of faculty. 

Interested in exploring if an Academic Coach is right for your institution? Call now!

Higher education is a great opportunity. A positive higher education experience sets students up for a successful postgraduate experience, and studies routinely show that college graduates are more likely to be successful in terms of finance, mental health, and life satisfaction. 

However, not every student attending a class is automatically guaranteed success. Struggling students are not rare. A host of issues can negatively impact student outcomes. Everything from poor secondary education to trouble at home. Researchers have poured over how to improve student outcomes, and there is a lot of data about how to best intervene with a struggling student. Unfortunately, the larger, macro-cosmic forces like access to education and student background won’t be solved overnight. 

However, that doesn’t mean you can’t leverage Academic Coaches, Virtual Teaching Assistants, or virtual TAs to improve student outcomes in your online, asynchronous classroom! While various factors impact student outcomes, focusing on what you can control is a great way to improve the lives of your students. The good news is that there is a proven way to help! Academic Coaches are a great way to plan your online classes for success and create a solid learning environment! 

Read on to Learn More About How Academic Coaches Can Improve Student Outcomes

Academic Coach Benefit 1: Saving You Time

Let’s face it; faculty members have busy schedules and must juggle multiple competing priorities. This is just a fact of life, and most faculty members have learned to accept the fast pace of teaching. However, these intense schedules can still have negative consequences for students. When moving from task to task as a faculty member, you can’t stop and focus on students who might need additional help or referral to other resources at the university. Using an Academic Coach to free up more routine maintenance tasks allows you actually to dive deeper into student outcomes. 

Who needs more attention? Who isn’t getting challenged by the coursework? Who isn’t living up to their potential? Without an academic coach, important questions like this would be lost amid all of the hustle and bustle of teaching. However, by utilizing an academic coach, you are able to set aside time and focus on improving student outcomes, not just completing tasks. 

Academic Coach Benefit 2: Personalization

Your academic coach will likely spend more time on day-to-day tasks. They often can monitor discussion threads and grade assignments per a detailed rubric. As mentioned previously, this helps free up a good deal of time for you as a faculty member. However, an Academic Coach may also provide insight into how each student is faring. After all, the Academic Coach will see their coursework and interact with them. This isn’t to say that faculty members are incapable of personalization. 

Academic Coach Benefit 4:  Identifying Areas For Improvement 

A student who needs additional help or practice doesn’t just walk into class with a sticker on their back announcing it. A good faculty member can often spot the warning signs of a student struggling, but it is often easier said than done, especially in the online environment and if the class has a larger enrollment. An Academic Coach or Virtual TA usually handles the more immediate student coursework. This could vary from class to class depending on each faculty’s preference, but grading assignments per the rubrics, moderating online discussion threads as directed by the faculty, and responding to student questions are all common Virtual TA questions. These are also exactly the activities where potential areas for improvement first present themselves. A seasoned faculty member might notice that any given student needs more attention or practice after a few lectures or an exam. A virtual TA can probably tell within one or two assignments if one student needs extra help. And once you have identified areas for improvement, you can…

Academic Coach Benefit 5: Early Intervention

Knowing which students are lagging behind or at risk is helpful, but it can be difficult with a full course load to address as a faculty member. Virtual TAs and academic coaches don’t just give faculty members time back. The Academic Coach can report to the faculty any potential at-risk students during the weekly conference calls between the faculty and Academic Coaches.  This allows the faculty to get directly involved with the students, and identify potential interventions for the student.  This creates the team dynamic of teaching an online course; instead of the faculty having to be the sole support for students within the online course, there is an additional layer of support from the Academic Coach. 

Improve Student Outcomes With Instructional Connections

Your students may benefit greatly from an Academic Coach that can provide them with an additional layer of support within your online, asynchronous courses.  Turn to Instructional Connections for your our Academic Coach Model.

All of our Academic Coaches are…

• Master’s Degree prepared in Their Field/Subject Area
• Fully Vetted and Background Checked
• Entirely Remote, located across the US
• A Key Source of Term-Long Support for the assigned course

Fill Out the Contact Form Below to Get in Touch Today!