Activities That Students Can Use to Enhance Retention
April 2008
UW-Stout Teaching and Learning Center

What learning attitudes and activities might affect student retention (or 'persistence') at UW-Stout? Essentially all good learning positively affects retention. The key concept is to develop relationships. Here is what the research shows.

In General

• Get involved. Students should be involved in shared learning experiences with their peers and with their teacher.
• Do your part. Students feel safe in class if they feel supported, respected, and encouraged to learn by their instructors, and by other students. Help out with the "safety quotient" in your class.
• Work on the relationship aspect of your course. Get to know other students; get to know their names; and be willing to interact with them and with the teacher in class. Develop relationships by demonstrating respect and trust. (teacher student, student-student, student instructor)
  Demonstrate to teachers that you respect them. Insist on it from yourself and your student colleagues.
• Create a "safe" classroom environment—react carefully to other students so that they feel that they can speak out and can ask questions.
• Affect the "engagement quotient" in your class. Be are willing to exhibit passion for the material, your learning and others' learning.

You as a Learner

• Be clear that you believe in yourself as a learner and that you want to learn.
• Become an active learner. That means think about the process. Learning starts when you are struck by curiosity or by a problem. Then you investigate and manipulate content, relate to what you already know, and reflect on what you have learned and how you did it.
• Take as much control of your learning as you can. Become an active participant in the learning process, especially in class if the teacher uses active learning strategies.
• Figure out how course content relates to your personal future. If you aren't sure, ask the instructor or your advisor.
• Ask questions. The classroom should be a comfortable place to ask questions and volunteer information.
• Set high but reasonable standards for yourself.
• Reflect on your learning. Keep a journal or a blog. Or just think about it carefully. Verbalize what you learned, the process by which you did it, and connections you see to other topics. Research shows that reflection is a key part of the process of "really learning."
• Find a method that allows you to leap from hearing information to analyzing what you hear. If you don't know how to do that, ask your classmates or your instructor.

You in Class

• Insist on attending. Show that you care by coming to class.
• Learn other students' names, and your instructor's name.
• Tell classmates and the instructor what you prefer to be called.
• Find and think about the course's learning objectives.
• Give appropriate feedback. If the teacher is doing well, or poorly, offer some advice, in a nice way.
• If your teacher uses facilitator or "guide on the side" strategies, get involved with them.
• Research shows that classes run in this fashion help you learn more.
• If you have opportunities for "hands on" experiences, make the most of them.
• If the teacher uses "interactive lectures," get involved with the actions he or she proposes during interruptions in the lecture. This is a common strategy that instructors use to help students grasp the material in more manageable chunks.