This past week in class we discussed student engagement. I am particularly interested in engagement of students at community colleges and then as they transfer to a 4-year college or university. While working at a community college, I saw the lack of student involvement outside of the classroom. I worked in the Student Development and College Activities Office as a Student Events Assistant. I planned and facilitated events on-campus for students. At a community college of nearly 15,000 students, our highest attendance for events was 300 and only when there was free food. This broke my heart. My students and I spent so much time planning these events to help students learn outside of the classroom. I knew then that engagement and involvement was important, but I did not realize how important it truly is.
Although I worked at a community college in 2008-2009, I still keep in touch with some of my former students. Many of these students have transferred and are still disengaged in class and uninvolved in campus activities. Subsequently, many of these students are not excelling and/or want to return home.
I hope to work at a community college and promote engagement and involvement. With my new knowledge, I hope to be able to host workshops on how to engage in class and how to develop student-faculty relationships.
No comments:
Post a Comment