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David McDade Post 1

18 May 2020, 1:42 PM Edited by the author on 19 May 2020, 3:27 PM

Section 2, Activity 4

This thread is for section 2, activity 4

Case study Sticker time

A tutor has recently taken on a cohort of 20 students for a particular module. Most of the students in the cohort have studied with the OU. However, there are a few students that whilst having not studied for a number of years, they have also never studied with the OU. After a recent online tutorial combined with poor TMA results, the tutor has become concerned that these students are starting to disengage with their module.

Using the bullet points from section 2.6, what two steps do you think the tutor can take to get the students back on track with their studies? Also briefly describe one or two other methods that can perhaps be used in combination with the chosen steps.

Have a look at some other discussions. Do you agree with the other posts?

These are examples of the types of posts we might expect to see:

"Encouraging students - further individual engagement with students through email or perhaps phone in order to provide support."

"Feeding forward and determining mid to long-term goals – this could perhaps be carried out through feedback in the TMAs and, in particular, through summary feedback that is returned with each marked TMA, as well as through individual conversation. "

Use the "Reply" button below to contribute to this discussion.

(Image CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Flickr user Mooshme https://www.flickr.com/photos/Mooshme/)

Duncan Hall Post 2 (summarised) in reply to 1

4 June 2020, 2:34 PM
This is an interesting aspect of the tutor role and to my mind revolves in...
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Jenny Bakkali Post 3 (summarised) in reply to 2

4 June 2020, 2:43 PM
Hi Duncan, Welcome the course and the forum. Good to see your comments and...
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Brian Morton Post 12 (summarised) in reply to 2

8 June 2020, 9:03 PM
I agree with buddying but I know with remote learning this does not always...
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Cath Brown Post 20 (summarised) in reply to 12

13 June 2020, 7:53 PM
The best mark, or to enjoy it the most, or to learn the most? They aren’t...
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Anna Pietrzak Post 26 (summarised) in reply to 2

24 June 2020, 11:27 AM
I think the starting point to help the students in this case study is to a...
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Lucy Gillett Post 4 (summarised) in reply to 1

4 June 2020, 11:56 PM
'Encouraging students' and 'individualising the learning experience and...
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Tamara Lopez Post 6 (summarised) in reply to 4

7 June 2020, 9:32 PM
Hi Lucy, I agree that individualising the learning experience is a good first...
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Theresa Schrem Post 41 (summarised) in reply to 4

8 October 2020, 4:20 PM
I like your idea of chalboard walls / poster paper - I would imagine that is...
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David Sherlock Post 5 (summarised) in reply to 1

5 June 2020, 10:09 AM
I really like Lucy's answer above, about learning styles, it is really...
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Tamara Lopez Post 7 (summarised) in reply to 5

7 June 2020, 9:43 PM
Hi David, I also have not come across the term "Feeding forward" in the...
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David Sherlock Post 8 (summarised) in reply to 7

8 June 2020, 11:26 AM
Hi Tamara, That is interesting, I've just done a web search and found similar...
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Jenny Bakkali Post 9 (summarised) in reply to 8

8 June 2020, 12:06 PM
Hi all, this is how the OU uses feedback and feedforward in correspondence...
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David Sherlock Post 10 (summarised) in reply to 9

8 June 2020, 1:58 PM
Thanks, that makes perfect sense.
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Tamara Lopez Post 13 (summarised) in reply to 9

8 June 2020, 9:19 PM
Yes thank you for this information!
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Ian Cochrane

Ian Cochrane Post 33 (summarised) in reply to 5

17 July 2020, 3:42 PM
I have never heard of the term "feeding forward" but have used a similar...
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Heather Yorston Post 11 (summarised) in reply to 1

8 June 2020, 6:22 PM
I think contacting the student directly is important so they know that you...
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Ben Pike Post 14 (summarised) in reply to 1

9 June 2020, 3:29 PM
Being flexible and responsive to the needs of students - Discuss with those...
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Anna Pietrzak Post 27 (summarised) in reply to 14

24 June 2020, 11:31 AM
Yes, flexibility and understanding without any judgment is crucial in this case.
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Adrian Hehir Post 15 (summarised) in reply to 1

9 June 2020, 5:33 PM
Hi, I initially chose: Individualising the learning experience and making it...
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Pauline Hewgill Post 16 (summarised) in reply to 1

10 June 2020, 9:09 AM
Encouraging students – they may be feeling overwhelmed with developing study...
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Jerry Tomlinson Post 17 (summarised) in reply to 1

10 June 2020, 1:30 PM
Encouraging students Teaching students Facilitating the development of skills...
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Emmanuel Isibor Post 18 (summarised) in reply to 1

12 June 2020, 5:12 PM
The tutor could send an email to each of the students with feedback on their...
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Marcus Young Post 19 (summarised) in reply to 1

12 June 2020, 7:10 PM Edited by the author on 12 June 2020, 7:11 PM
I would contact the students to start with and ask them if there were any...
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Cath Brown Post 21 (summarised) in reply to 1

13 June 2020, 8:01 PM
I think restoring confidence is going to be one of the key things, and...
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Quentin McPhee Post 22 (summarised) in reply to 1

16 June 2020, 2:53 PM
Encouraging students and determining the mid to long-term goals of the...
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Kate Sim Post 23 (summarised) in reply to 22

17 June 2020, 3:05 PM
I like your idea of contacting the student on a one-to-one basis and that...
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Gaby Lama Post 24 (summarised) in reply to 1

19 June 2020, 1:45 AM
Agreeing with other colleague, I think encouraging students to assimilate the...
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Michael Liedl Post 25 (summarised) in reply to 1

23 June 2020, 6:27 PM
When I started OU, I was so overwhelmed with my new workload (fulltime job...
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Kate Blackham Post 62 (summarised) in reply to 25

7 August 2021, 6:00 PM
Michael raised some interesting points here. Students who are mature...
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Rachael Luck Post 28 (summarised) in reply to 1

4 July 2020, 2:28 PM

Activity 4 case study

 Need to encourage students to continue their studies,...
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Manoj Nanda Post 29 (summarised) in reply to 1

10 July 2020, 4:26 PM

S2A4 - back on track

 The students who have not studied for a few years, may...
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Rod Gliven Post 30 (summarised) in reply to 1

12 July 2020, 10:03 PM Edited by the author on 12 July 2020, 10:06 PM

Activity 4: Case Study

 Individualising the learning experience and making it...
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Kate Sim Post 31 (summarised) in reply to 30

13 July 2020, 7:13 AM
Hi Rod, As tutors, we have the option to request extra 1-to-1 sessions when a...
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Ganiat Kazeem Post 32 (summarised) in reply to 1

13 July 2020, 10:36 PM

Engage, Discuss, Strategise

 I would consider engaging the students at the...
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Ian Cochrane

Ian Cochrane Post 34 (summarised) in reply to 1

17 July 2020, 4:04 PM
I would suggest the main interventions would be: Evaluate strengths and...
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Jonathan Hopkins Post 35 (summarised) in reply to 1

27 July 2020, 8:51 PM
You could look at all of the strategies suggested and conclude that at some...
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Gail Ollis Post 36 (summarised) in reply to 1

9 August 2020, 2:51 PM
Individualising the learning experience and making it personal This would be...
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Coffee on Tyne

Bill Tarpy Post 37 (summarised) in reply to 1

26 August 2020, 11:21 AM
Actually out of the list of bullet points I would probably end up doing all...
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Brian Gordon Post 38 (summarised) in reply to 1

17 September 2020, 10:10 AM Edited by the author on 17 September 2020, 10:10 AM
From the list, two steps the tutor can take to get the students back on track...
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Jenny Bakkali Post 39 (summarised) in reply to 38

17 September 2020, 10:49 AM
Hi Brian Good to see you here on the forum. Hope you are finding the course...
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Petra Wolf Post 40 (summarised) in reply to 1

20 September 2020, 4:38 PM
I think the problem here is that the students have done badly in their TMA,...
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Silvia Varagnolo Post 43 (summarised) in reply to 40

16 October 2020, 12:44 PM
Hi Petra, I agree on you points about the importance of meeting the learning...
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Theresa Schrem Post 42 (summarised) in reply to 1

8 October 2020, 4:24 PM
I think that I would first try and talk to the students about their previous...
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Silvia Varagnolo Post 44 (summarised) in reply to 1

16 October 2020, 12:51 PM
I think I would contact the student to analyse the reasons for being...
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Kussar Khan Post 45 (summarised) in reply to 1

25 October 2020, 1:41 PM
If students haven't studied for a number of years but also haven't studied...
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Jenny Bakkali Post 46 (summarised) in reply to 45

26 October 2020, 2:32 PM
Hi Kussar, Welcome to the course - I hope you are finding it interesting....
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Dhouha Kbaier Post 47 (summarised) in reply to 46

25 November 2020, 11:45 AM
Keeping an eye on these students, trying to engage them, if they don't ask...
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Kevin Frost Post 48 (summarised) in reply to 1

20 December 2020, 11:23 PM
I think encouraging the students is one key thing although this may take...
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Tony Sheppard Post 49 (summarised) in reply to 1

7 May 2021, 2:57 PM
It is hard to respond without just repeating things that others have said...
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Kate Sim Post 50 (summarised) in reply to 49

7 May 2021, 3:05 PM
It is hard to respond without just repeating things that others have said...
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Sian Armstrong-Hollins Post 51 (summarised) in reply to 1

17 May 2021, 8:44 PM
I think that the tutor needs to fulfil two roles here to help the struggling...
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Jenny Bakkali Post 52 (summarised) in reply to 51

18 May 2021, 12:52 PM
Hi Sian, Welcome to the forum. Hope you are finding it useful. Please post a...
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Fiona Baxter Post 53 (summarised) in reply to 1

18 June 2021, 1:14 PM
Poor marks does not necessarily equate to disengagement, nor does it...
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Michael Coggins-Lunt Post 54 (summarised) in reply to 1

24 June 2021, 12:20 PM
Individualising the learning experience and making it personal Identifying...
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This is one of my latest pictures.

Elena Sanchez-Heras Post 55 (summarised) in reply to 1

4 July 2021, 6:34 PM
As a tutor, I would evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of these students...
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Charlotte Jukes Post 56 (summarised) in reply to 1

5 July 2021, 12:42 PM
Firstly, I would find out if there are any issues preventing the student from...
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John Dunning Post 57 (summarised) in reply to 1

7 July 2021, 11:12 AM
I would look at individualising the learning experience for those students...
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Ann Kretzschmar Post 58 (summarised) in reply to 1

7 July 2021, 11:23 PM
Get to know your students as individuals so that you have an understanding of...
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Me on the Golden Gate bridge in 2008

Stephen Butler Post 59 (summarised) in reply to 1

14 July 2021, 2:24 PM Edited by the author on 14 July 2021, 2:26 PM
From the list I would say the two steps to try and re-engage the students...
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Suzie Miller Post 60 (summarised) in reply to 1

3 August 2021, 2:56 AM
Individualising the learning experience and making it personal - So trying to...
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Ann Holmes Post 61 (summarised) in reply to 60

5 August 2021, 8:12 AM
This is a difficult question, because students may disengage for a variety of...
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Richard Collins Post 63 (summarised) in reply to 61

13 August 2021, 7:38 PM
I think it would be important to first understand why they have disengaged...
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Richard Collins Post 64 (summarised) in reply to 1

13 August 2021, 7:46 PM
I'm not sure what it would look like when a student is disengaging from a...
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Jenny Bakkali Post 66 (summarised) in reply to 64

14 August 2021, 8:14 PM
Hi Richard, You might recognise a student becoming disengaged from a module...
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Robert Stocks Post 65 (summarised) in reply to 1

13 August 2021, 7:51 PM
I think looking at the options they could all be utilised in their won right...
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Bob Moore Post 67 (summarised) in reply to 1

1 September 2021, 5:02 PM
My first thought would be get in touch with the individual students to get a...
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Andrea Davanzo Post 68 (summarised) in reply to 1

2 October 2021, 3:37 PM

Part 2 Activity 4

 I chose: Encouraging students because helps the student to...
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Ravi Rajani Post 69 (summarised) in reply to 1

17 May 2022, 9:17 AM
The two steps I would take are: - Encouraging students. Contacting the...
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This is one of my latest pictures.

Elena Sanchez-Heras Post 70 (summarised) in reply to 1

16 June 2022, 6:35 PM
This is a situation I would dread! I think that a first step would...
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Vincent Pelling Post 71 (summarised) in reply to 1

21 June 2022, 7:19 PM
My thoughts are that the student(s) will need individualised learning support...
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Avril Boyce Post 72 (summarised) in reply to 1

27 June 2022, 7:37 PM
I agree with all of the replies and I think 1:1 first to find out the...
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Jenny Bakkali Post 73 (summarised) in reply to 72

27 June 2022, 11:31 PM
Hi Avril Hope you are enjoying the course. Would be great if you could...
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Nicola Cousins Post 74 (summarised) in reply to 1

8 July 2022, 4:20 PM
My first steps would be to speak to the student and be encouraging, point out...
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Colin Scott Post 75 (summarised) in reply to 1

11 July 2022, 10:52 AM
For me, having been in this situation previously, the best way to approach...
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Raluca-Florenta Bogdan Post 76 (summarised) in reply to 1

31 October 2022, 4:11 AM
encouraging the students by email individualising the learning experience and...
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Adrian Osler Van Emmenis Post 77 (summarised) in reply to 1

1 March 2023, 4:23 PM
I guess the first step would be to talk to the students individually to try...
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Khadijat Abiola Olorunlambe Post 78 (summarised) in reply to 1

22 May 2023, 12:20 AM
This is an important aspect of the tutor role and the two steps that could be...
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Edward John Simmonds Post 79 (summarised) in reply to 1

31 July 2023, 6:26 PM
I guess one might argue that all of the steps are appropriate but encouraging...
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Joanne Nettleship Post 80 (summarised) in reply to 1

18 September 2023, 11:39 AM
This is interesting as I can think of more than two of the steps in order to...
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Sergejs Afanasjevs Post 81 (summarised) in reply to 1

19 September 2023, 2:36 PM
I think the following is best: Encouraging students Reach out to students...
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Andy Wood Post 82 (summarised) in reply to 1

28 September 2023, 2:27 PM
Thanks - an interesting case study and one I suspect is quite common. For me...
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My Picture

Muhammad Altaf Post 83 (summarised) in reply to 1

9 October 2023, 1:08 PM
This problem arises particularly when the students are from very different...
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Gareth Wilcox Post 84 (summarised) in reply to 1

11 October 2023, 4:05 PM
Encouragement is very important in such circumstances. Students who are...
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Matthew Lilley Post 85 (summarised) in reply to 1

28 December 2023, 5:13 PM Edited by the author on 28 December 2023, 5:14 PM
Selecting two from the list: Encouraging students Being flexible and...
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Discussion tags: section 2