All timely student4/17/2023 ![]() It’s a reminder that there’s a person behind that grade, it’s not just a number.” It was an insight and really an awakening that there’s more going on with my students than just that grade in the moment. ![]() “It’s a reminder for me that my students are far more than just their grades. Terry says that this experience did truly change the way he looks at his students. It felt really nice being able to reach out and know that she was OK.” “Her grades were fine - I knew she was OK as a student - but I also knew looking at that shift from green to yellow - something had caused that to happen. Not only was he able to reassure Crista that her grade was all right, but he was able to reassure himself that she was all right. I got that ability to see into a troubled moment in her life, I got the chance to reach out, and I guess - maybe more importantly - I took that chance.” “For me, it did feel like that super power moment. Terry now likens his experience to a popular comic book trope. "It really did seem like a gushing appreciation that somebody seemed to care enough to make sure she was OK.” With great power. The ability to see the need to make an outreach really was empowering.”Ĭrista’s reaction to his reaching out to make a connection with her as a person - not just a student - drove that feeling home, and also made her see Terry as something more than just a teacher. “If I was looking at nothing but her grade, I never would’ve known anything was going on. That’s what triggered an “aha” moment for Terry. "Her correct on first try score dropped, the attempts it took her to get the correct answers rose, but her grade stayed solid.” It also became clear why the system had created an alert for Crista. Her husband had brought her laptop to the hospital, and she tried to keep up with her coursework while sitting anxiously beside her son’s bed. A surgery and complications had kept her there for several days. “She was almost in tears when I answered - she was really concerned.”Īfter reassuring her that her grade was just fine, he explained that there was an alert in Mastering telling him that something might be amiss.Ĭrista and her husband had been in the hospital the previous weekend with their son, who had broken his arm. I don’t think she was expecting to get a phone call from her professor,” said Terry. “Her reaction when I first reached out was a little bit of a startle. It felt like talking to her was probably the best idea.” The human connectionĬrista was a little shocked to receive Terry’s call. That’s what really triggered me to want to reach out. “Her Mastering grade didn’t really drop at all, but Early Alerts noticed something going on. Normally, you’d expect a noticeable drop in grade to trigger an alert, but this was something different. “She fell pretty quickly into the yellow (medium-risk) and even red (high-risk) category, and it felt like there must be something else going on.” “All of a sudden, kind of out of nowhere, she seemed to fall off a cliff,” said Terry. His dashboard showed her solidly in the green or “low-risk” category. Her first exam score was in the mid-90s and all her work in the course was great. ![]() Warning signsĭuring his Anatomy & Physiology class, Terry noticed something odd about one of his student’s Early Alerts reports within the Mastering ® A&P platform.Ĭrista had been doing well. Terry found out just how important these resources can be for him and students - and for a reason you might not expect. Terry Austin has been an instructor at Temple College in Temple, Texas for more than 15 years, during which time he’s championed the use of digital learning platforms in his biology and A&P classes. Understanding that your students are more than just a grade is one thing going the extra step to show them you care about them as people is another entirely.ĭr. Terry Austin, Pearson | in Higher Education View all blogs Terry’s story: A timely teacher-student connectionĭr. ![]()
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