I am having the same problem. All we can do is help as much as we can. I constantly remind students I am here to help. If they do not take the help or want  it that cannot be controlled. I have taught here for 10 years and this is the worst I have ever seen. Maybe it is due to Covid and stress put on students. When I call or leave messages for  students who are having issues and, offer help, a few follow up but I find that to be rare.

It seems strange regardless of the current situation, I know on-line classes can be challenging at times, but this seems like the best time to work at home on a degree program. I have had fewer distractions as a result of this pandemic.

I would agree but it having a profound effect on people.  I know many of my graduate students have been subjected to quarantine, hybrid learning for their little ones, love ones sick, and some colleagues dying. So it is hard.

Ralph Sporay 

I agree being home has let me participate in more professional development online and read more. I, too, have a son that is attending school at home 100% online. I have to support him, but I think some students may not have found a way to manage their time. When my son was younger, I studied at night. It was difficult and a sacrifice of sleep, but there is no way that I could ignore my infant/toddler during the day, so my doctoral work was left to weekends, nights, and early mornings. Students need to learn how to manage their time more efficiently. I have offered videos and tips on time management and weekend meal prep to focus more on their work or school during the day.

Mirta

Ralph,

I have seen an increase in what you speak of, and I work with graduate students. I offer guidance and directions, faculty requirements, videos, and examples of how to format a paper, write an outline, or create a PowerPoint presentation. I was unsure if it was the pandemic stressors or if all my graduate students suddenly forgot how to create a PowerPoint and read the directions and the rubric to see what the criteria are for each assignment. Due to flexibility, I give them a zero and ask them to redo any assignment that is not up to par. I've been with GCU for almost 4 years, and I can only think the current political and pandemic climate has contributed to the issue that seems more prevalent in adhering to the course requirements. I am trying to be flexible. However, I want to hold them to high expectations as well. 

Mirta

I've been having the same issue since I started 5 years ago. But then it was only 1 -2 students per class. Now it seems to be close to 30% of each class. In my courses they seem to put up a fight in the last week or so stating that it is unfair.

Rebecca Reynolds 

I agree. I had maybe 1 student per course. These issues have increased. I post my faculty requirements on the announcements, so there is no path for argument, but the university policies are clear. I have seen an increase in assignments from previous courses used for the course I teach. Some students use a lesson plan from the previous course or year. I've also had students submit a lesson plan template with the directions or the example template, but they have not addressed the questions nor addressed some of the assignments, or it is incomplete. LW flags that, so they have to start over and submit. I am not sure if students think faculty is not reading the work or are so frazzled that they do not complete their assignments before submitting it. If students have an incomplete or failed course, then it is allowed, but if it is a different course, they need to create a new assignment and adhere to the criteria. I agree the infractions have risen to about 30% to 35% more than I saw 4 years ago. Due to COVID, I do allow redos, but sometimes they don't bother to redo the responses. Luckily, most do. The other issue is when I offer feedback, examples on the announcements, examples on the forums, examples or feedback in students' emails, some students still respond or submit assignments the next week without any improvement. This is slightly more disappointing as my students are educators or future educators. I try to offer flexibility and empathy as I know educators are highly stressed currently. 

I am hoping by next fall, this subsides.

Mirta

Ralph: Thank you for posting your observations! I appreciate so much the replies too! I have observed and experienced the exact same things, especially during the last 6-8 weeks. At first, in the spring, the grad students on the class roster began our class in their traditional instructional setting and abruptly had to make a change with little or no notice! I braced for crisis management, however the graduate students in my classes at that time were resolute, organized, overwhelmed but resolute. A few students even echoed replies in this forum that working from home (and without a commute) gave them more time for their family and school work. 

I have wondered what the change has been though during the last 6-10 weeks because among an increasing number of students there has definitely been a decrease in coping skills, organizational skills, reading, assignment completion, and in increase in plagiarism, and bypassing DQ prompts to write (complain) about personal issues.

 In response, I've increased supports that mirror many of those that all have listed in this Forum. Seriously, thank you to everyone in this Forum who shared! I've also set up short Google Meets for small group chats, Q&A, clarifications, etc... Literally, these are called "Tuesday-20s" because I do not want to perpetuate complaining and negative dialogue, but rather a proactive, triage, check-in, supportive team huddle. 

While I am sad to read that it is happening to others here in this Forum, in a way, it helps to know that I am not the only one experiencing this situation. (Huge exhale!) Most of my graduate students are full-time teachers, and, if I tried to guess the catalyst for the recent downturn, it appears that the main stressors emanate from the teachers' school administrations who did not have a consistent plan, and/or weak supports, with lack of communication and pile-on of duties for teachers at the start of the school year, after a summer of inactivity. The foundational supports are weak/shaky/crumbling for teachers. 

In response I've re-written many course comms and CATS to reinforce intentionality, strength, faith over fear, teacher self-care, self-talk, cultivating energy reserves, monitoring inner dialogue, and getting out in nature.  So far, a few supports include: collectively we've built an app playlist of happy songs, a "fear-fighting superhero Avatar league," a Trust quilt Jamboard, and a "Go-To" Bible verse chain.  

Sorry that my post has become so long and winded- your post really spoke to me----Ralph, thank you again for writing this post!

~Helen Teague  :)

Thank you for all the responses.   

Hello my fellow Professors. i agree with all the comments in this forum. I have been teaching at GCU for 15 years. I know that being a teacher/student since the Covid mandates started has indeed change up the perimeters of student attendance and focus. On Wednesdays, when assignments are due at midnight, I check about 9:00 to seehow many students have turned in their assignments for the week. It is between  1/4 to 1/3 of the class. 

I sort of cringed at the quality of work I will get the next day. I am usually pretty disappointed. As professors, we work very hard. How can we pass students that hardly work with either little ambition of ability?

Of course there are our star pupils that keep us striving to care and try even more. We are often called to be merciful and go those extra miles for students. Again, our efforts are appreciated only by a small majority.

GCU gives students resources for success. With access to the Internet, students cannot say that help isn't our there. Success come from within one own ability and genuine effort to succeed.

God Bless all of you who strive so hard to see our students succeed.

Dr. Mary Lou Biel

I will echo the statements of others although I will say that I have always, in the 11+ years of teaching at GCU, had a small cohort of students who do not respond to feedback. I try to help them but some just fail to respond. For example, in every class, the first assignment I check and actually provide them with the correct formatting of their references and their citations. I give them very specific feedback in terms of where they need to improve on both the quality of their writing and meeting the assignment expectations. Yet, come the final assignments I still have a group of students who have made no efforts to correct their errors. Not sure how to overcome this as I can't make them want to improve but in some instances (late submissions, lack of formatting, not participating in the classroom) it will result in a failing grade.

Another issue I have is when their counselors tell them to "work with your instructor because they can provide exemptions to the policy". This drives me crazy. I have had students who do not submit a single assignment in an 8 week course and then, on day 7 of the final week they want to submit all assignments with no late points because they were "busy" when the assignments were due and their counselor told them to "work with the instructor because they can give exemptions to the late policy." Just venting a little on that topic.

I have several of the same experiences as reported here, and I am always looking for suggestions to help my online graduate students achieve their goals. Although I post helpful tips in the discussion forum, explanations of the rubrics, useful resources, assignment reminders, and other information students would benefit from, I find that my efforts are largely ignored. Many students wait until the last minute before the deadline or submit work late and the work is often subpar. I had one counselor try to convince me to accept a student' work after the course deadline and without the student's work going through LopesWrite. When I declined, the counselor replied with an unhappy face emoji. I have even had a student request that they be treated special from the other students and submit work whenever they want because they are busy with their job. I have had many students who have performed poorly or who have not fully participated in class send urgent requests for extra credit work during the last week of class to try to bring up their grades. I realize and appreciate that many students are sacrificing their family time and sleep to earn their degrees. I believe the classes I teach are quite do-able for the average online graduate student, but a lack of time management and commitment often seem to get in their way.  Just wondering, do the online nontraditional graduate students have any orientation to the online graduate program that instructs them about time requirements, quality of work, and other aspects of the online program?

I am experiencing much of the same that is being echoed in this forum.  I try to connect with each student, use examples from their shared work/industry to apply class concepts and offer CATS along with other reminders and making videos on how of example problems.  Some students are amazing and do a wonderful job and then some just seem to crash and burn with not a lot in the middle.  I use the early alerts so that students as well as their advisors now when a concern is present and at time, persistent. 

But I find myself wonder is this: Is it something bigger?  Is there a shift that is starting to take place and the pandemic was the trigger so to speak? I find myself looking at the ratios of those with bachelors or higher in degrees in Europe (10-15% lower than the US) and wonder if something is shifting here in the US.  Does anyone know if research in being done in this area?