Helping Those Who Don't Help Themselves: Improving Consultation Attendance and Effectiveness in a Science Class

Abstract

Despite an abundance of extra-help slots scattered throughout our weekly schedule, I face a perennial problem: those students who most need help rarely seem to seek it voluntarily. The goal was to improve voluntary consultation period attendance while also improving the effectiveness of that time by boosting student-teacher rapport and physics understanding. The treatment involved reducing forced consultation visits – previously required for much poorly-done or missing work – instead offering extra credit for coming to consultation, then filling out a reflection form after each visit. Students were also shown their course grades more often, in hope of spurring them into greater action to boost those grades. The results of this treatment were favorable, with understanding increasing moderately, student-teacher rapport increasing substantially, and voluntary visits to consultation increasing dramatically. Notably, the biggest effects were seen among students who used consultation most. Students cited seeing their grade and earning extra credit for consultation attendance as primary motivators for changed behavior. I conclude that this treatment effectively improves consultation attendance among those who most need help. Additionally, I conclude the treatment to be the likely cause behind better use of consultation time as measured both by the increase in student-teacher rapport and in increased physics understanding.