Students' organizational skills

[kaysixteen]

It's been dawning on me that many of my students have poor organizational skills, beyond just not yet knowing how to take a college course(i.e., keep the syllabus, refer to it before asking a question about course policies, grading, assignments, etc.).  Many don't write down either homework assignments or alterations to class policies, even when those alterations are explicitly and expressly designed to be in students' interests.  Now I have a whole plethora of solutions to approach these sorts of issues.... In a high school class.  But most all of these would be inappropriate if not downright verboten for a college one.  Any comments or suggestions as to how to foster development of such skills in students?

[polly_mer]

Any comments or suggestions as to how to foster development of such skills in students?

Since you're teaching a study skills class, I would go with the same methods that work in middle school.  This is not verboten for the kind of class you're teaching.

Explicitly teach how to keep a calendar with upcoming assignments and how to plan to get those assignments done.  Check everyone's calendar at least once per week and provide feedback.

Explicitly teach how to keep a binder/folder/notebook with the relevant materials and the page in front with the changes to the written materials.  Check everyone's binder once per week and provide feedback.

When you make a change, explicitly state, "Everyone take out your binder and write this down", and then pause until everyone is complying.

[downer]

When I taught a first year experience course, we would have various people come in to talk about library skills, stress and depression, binge drinking and drugs, and more. I used a textbook that covered a lot on metacognitive skills and we would spend time on study environments, study skills, procrastination, note taking, and planning ahead.

It is worth remembering that in most cases people have been going on to these students about this stuff for many years already. Don't expect your iteration to have much effect. But maybe it will have a little.

[Caracal]

Explicitly teach how to keep a calendar with upcoming assignments and how to plan to get those assignments done.  Check everyone's calendar at least once per week and provide feedback.

Explicitly teach how to keep a binder/folder/notebook with the relevant materials and the page in front with the changes to the written materials.  Check everyone's binder once per week and provide feedback.

As someone with ADHD, I would find this kind of think pretty frustrating and unhelpful. People tried to get me to do stuff like this all through secondary schooling and it just never worked. It still doesn't work. Give me a bunch of papers and a binder and it will be a giant disaster 2 hours later. I don't keep a filing cabinet, because I'll never be able to put stuff in the right place. As I understand it, it is basically a working memory problem. I'm just not capable of consistently putting things in the right places as I go about my day. Organized people tend to think the solution to this problem is more organization, but that's exactly wrong. I basically have to find different ways of making sure I don't forget or lose things.

Obviously, most of your students aren't like me, but the broader point is that what people need to do in college is figure out ways to do the things they need to do. The life skills they need are not learning how to organize their binder in a way that is acceptable to their professor. What they need to do is figure out ways to make sure they don't forget important deadlines. Being really prescriptive about organizational methods actually is going to actually keep them from acquiring those skills.

[polly_mer]

As someone with ADHD, I would find this kind of think pretty frustrating and unhelpful. People tried to get me to do stuff like this all through secondary schooling and it just never worked. It still doesn't work.

OK, then what other ideas can be presented as something that works for people beyond the explicit teaching of a calendar/binder?

The point of the feedback is not so the binder/calendar works for the professor so much as having people give the new system a real try and get feedback on something else to try.  I get a new organizational system about every six months, but I always have something because I can't keep everything in my head.

Being prescriptive means helping people trying something instead of failing again because they simply don't have the time/energy/motivation to figure out all by themselves with no help.  If these folks could do that, then they likely would not be in this particular class. 

Again, the point of explicitly teaching certain skills is so people who didn't magically pick them up the first time can see what works for others and try it out themselves.

Letting students flounder because no one system works for everyone seems much crueler than being prescriptive for one of the standard systems and then providing individual feedback based on observations of individuals.

[kaysixteen]

The middle schoolish skills idea is not awful, and these sorts of things were the sorts if things I was thinking of and have used k12, but 2 questions arise:
1,  in an environment where to date I've been unable to get kids off their phones and pass in weely journal entries, pass/fail easy peasy layups, would attempts to add these types of organizational requirements even work?
2. Has anyone here any real experience imposing such requirements in a college class?  What sort of student blowback might I expect?

[marshwiggle]

As someone with ADHD, I would find this kind of think pretty frustrating and unhelpful. People tried to get me to do stuff like this all through secondary schooling and it just never worked. It still doesn't work.

OK, then what other ideas can be presented as something that works for people beyond the explicit teaching of a calendar/binder?

The point of the feedback is not so the binder/calendar works for the professor so much as having people give the new system a real try and get feedback on something else to try.  I get a new organizational system about every six months, but I always have something because I can't keep everything in my head.

Being prescriptive means helping people trying something instead of failing again because they simply don't have the time/energy/motivation to figure out all by themselves with no help.  If these folks could do that, then they likely would not be in this particular class. 

Again, the point of explicitly teaching certain skills is so people who didn't magically pick them up the first time can see what works for others and try it out themselves.

Letting students flounder because no one system works for everyone seems much crueler than being prescriptive for one of the standard systems and then providing individual feedback based on observations of individuals.

Over the years, I've figured out how to "operationalize" processes for students that I had to figure out "by osmosis" on my own. For about 90% of the students it greatly improves their ability to accomplish what they need to. Once in a while, there's a really bright student, (who sometimes also had some sort of instruction in this area previously), who will come to me with their better way of doing things. It's often vastly beyond the average student, and sometimes is extremely context-specific, so not useful to teach students as a general technique. I typically acknowledge the validity of their approach, while explaining why it's less useful to describe to everyone.

Giving everyone a hatchet, and teaching them how to use it, even though they may have to cut different types of wood, is better than sending everyone into the forest letting them grab whatever tool they can find and figure it out for themselves, even though a few will have previous experience or better instincts and so will succeed on their own.

[Thursday's_Child]

<snip>
I basically have to find different ways of making sure I don't forget or lose things.
<snip>

Caracal, could you give some examples, please?  Having a broader range of workable options to suggest to struggling students would be very helpful.

[Parasaurolophus]

I never did a good job with this sort of stuff as a student. But I also never really needed to: my memory was reliable enough to juggle 5 courses at a time, especially because I'd get constant reminders about stuff in class, from classmates, and just by checking the syllabus every week to see what I had to read next. I would try periodically to keep a calendar or agenda, but it just wasn't really for me. I'd write stuff in, but not check back.

Now, while I use spreadsheets to keep track of large amounts of data (e.g. the hundred or so jobs I apply to each cycle), I still don't really need anything to keep track of my 2-4 courses a semester. Moodle does most of the work.

[downer]

I never did a good job with this sort of stuff as a student. But I also never really needed to: my memory was reliable enough to juggle 5 courses at a time, especially because I'd get constant reminders about stuff in class, from classmates, and just by checking the syllabus every week to see what I had to read next. I would try periodically to keep a calendar or agenda, but it just wasn't really for me. I'd write stuff in, but not check back.

Now, while I use spreadsheets to keep track of large amounts of data (e.g. the hundred or so jobs I apply to each cycle), I still don't really need anything to keep track of my 2-4 courses a semester. Moodle does most of the work.

Aren't you the one who decides when assignments are due, and so you have to decide on how to space them out during the semester so as to make sure you don't get everything at once? And don't you have to master the software, which is no easy feat? These are non-trivial tasks.

There are plenty of planning apps out there, I expect, which are available to students. (Here is one list.) But I wonder how many students would master such apps.

[marshwiggle]

I never did a good job with this sort of stuff as a student. But I also never really needed to: my memory was reliable enough to juggle 5 courses at a time, especially because I'd get constant reminders about stuff in class, from classmates, and just by checking the syllabus every week to see what I had to read next. I would try periodically to keep a calendar or agenda, but it just wasn't really for me. I'd write stuff in, but not check back.

Now, while I use spreadsheets to keep track of large amounts of data (e.g. the hundred or so jobs I apply to each cycle), I still don't really need anything to keep track of my 2-4 courses a semester. Moodle does most of the work.

Aren't you the one who decides when assignments are due, and so you have to decide on how to space them out during the semester so as to make sure you don't get everything at once? And don't you have to master the software, which is no easy feat? These are non-trivial tasks.

There are plenty of planning apps out there, I expect, which are available to students. (Here is one list.) But I wonder how many students would master such apps.

They'd only use them if you required them to as part of a course. (Well, a very small few might try them out otherwise.) Many (most?) faculty wouldn't be interested in devoting course time to "teaching" the use of some tool like that which isn't content-specific.

[Aster]

I spend large amounts of instructional time just on how to turn off one's smartphone and keep it away from you for more than 20 minutes.

[Thursday's_Child]

I spend large amounts of instructional time just on how to turn off one's smartphone and keep it away from you for more than 20 minutes.

This might prove useful...  https://www.xkcd.com/2223/

[downer]

I spend large amounts of instructional time just on how to turn off one's smartphone and keep it away from you for more than 20 minutes.

I spend about a minute on that. After that, it is up to them.

For students who are weak on organizational skills but who are hooked to their phones, maybe there is an app that will help them. Again, it is up to them to work that out. Or maybe there is a counselor on campus who can do it for them. Definitely not my job.

[Caracal]

<snip>
I basically have to find different ways of making sure I don't forget or lose things.
<snip>

Caracal, could you give some examples, please?  Having a broader range of workable options to suggest to struggling students would be very helpful.

Oh, it's a grab bag of stuff. I rely heavily on the CMS these days to remember things. If I just get everything up there at the beginning of the semester, I have one place I can go and quickly find everything. That should transfer pretty well to students. Really, the main skill is to know that if you have a class, you might have something due for it, and you should check.

Similarly, the more things you have set up at the beginning,  the less you have to remember as the semester goes on. I'm always amazed by how many students don't go to the bookstore at the very beginning of the semester and buy all of their books. That might be fine if you can organize stuff and know when you have to get a book, but if you're like me, you're going to look at the assignment the day before its due and realize you don't have the book you need.

I do use google calendar more lately to keep track of bigger things, but the trick is to not make it too crowded. If I put all of my assignments on there it would get overwhelming. I put the exam dates and the due dates of assignments so I don't forget to address them in class. If I just do that at the beginning of the semester, I have it up there for quick reference. What wouldn't work for me is trying to keep some sort of calendar that I was constantly updating. I'm bad at that.

The problem, though, is that all of these things rely on students having intrinsic motivation. I struggled with stuff like this a lot more in high school when it felt like I was being frog marched through a bunch of classes. In college I wanted to figure out how to get stuff done and I did. If you have good organizational skills I think it is easier to go through the motions in your classes without caring too much. Some form of ADD/ADHD combined with a lack of motivation is a really tough combination. That's why I don't think prescriptive organizational methods are a good idea. I think you have to try to give students skills, but those skills aren't going to help if they don't take ownership of the process.