Instruction

What does this section include?

The instruction-related strategies in this section have a common focus on offering students more learning options inside and outside of the classroom, as well as a greater voice in determining how and what they learn.  The instruction-related strategies also emphasize using content from student’s lives (relevance) and engaging their emotions.

What is the connection between instruction and persistence?

Instruction that fully engages students is a critical component of the persistence “puzzle.” Instructors have the most contact with students and thus carry perhaps the greatest responsibility for meeting students’ academic needs that brought them to the program in the first place. It is also primarily in the classroom that students may feel the sense of community that supports learning and persistence, and where they can explore and negotiate learning that will meet their needs.

For a description of the instructional strategies investigated by programs, see page 40 of the New England Learner Persistence Project report.

:: Read more about specific strategies or take the program self-assessment.