2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Implementation of Instructor-Initiated Drop Policy after COVID Pandemic Period to Improve Student Learning and Success
Presented at Mechanical Engineering Division (MECH) Technical Session 3: Student Success
The easy access to solution manuals, on-line tutoring services, spending little time in reading the textbook materials, not studying the textbook example problems, not attending schedule classes, not solving homework problems, and grade inflation have all been the contributing factors to gradual decline in student learning. As a result, the passing rates in required upper-division undergraduate courses gradually decreased from 85-90% to 55-60 % in large classes. In 2016 the university established an “Instructor-initiated Drop policy”. The policy allows instructors to drop those students who exceeds the absence or missed assignment limits for the class described and specified in the course syllabus. The newly established “Instructor-initiated Drop policy” was adopted and enforced in three different courses taught from fall 2018 through fall 2019 semesters. The policy improved class attendance, completion of homework assignments, and student pass rates. During the COVID pandemic the university suspended the “Instructor-initiated Drop policy” and did not re-initiated it until fall 2022. In teaching upper division courses in fall 2021 and spring 2022, not only we noticed students’ lack of commitment in attending lectures or doing their homework assignments, but also observed that many students lacked the knowledge of prerequisite topics in courses they passed during COVID. As the result, in fall 2021 over 50% of students had an average grades of less than 70% in the first two mid-term exams in an undergraduate heat transfer course. In fall 2022, the “Instructor-initiated Drop policy” was implemented in two sections of the heat transfer course. The enforcement of this policy vastly improved students’ class attendance, completing the homework assignments, and performance in exams, resulting in an improved passing rate of 78%. This paper describes the implementation of “Instructor-initiated Drop policy” in fall 2022 semester, the level of student success, and lessons learned.
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Dr. Amir Karimi The University of Texas at San Antonio [biography]
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Dr. Randall D. Manteufel P.E.
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9829-2723
The University of Texas at San Antonio
[biography]
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