Readers Respond on Evening Classes

One of the benefits of having the best readers ever is that they—you—share great ideas. Y’all came through again.

(I’m told that as a new Pittsburgher, I’m supposed to say “yinz” instead of “y’all.” Getting used to that may take a while.)

Now that online options are ubiquitous, how can we best use evening class time slots? Reader responses are below, along with some thoughts from me.

I think courses like mine that have an associated lab can be a natural fit for the hybrid-style approach of the one night a week meeting, rather than the more traditional multiple-evening course meetings. We have one course we currently structure as one-hour lecture/two-hour lab meeting one night per week.

I’m in my second year of running this, and I’m still thinking through issues and bugs, but it seems to work out well!

I’m currently teaching a short course in organic and biochemistry, primarily taken by dental hygienists but is open to students interested in nursing and more advanced chemistry courses and want an introduction.

Thanks to all the video lectures I made during COVID, I was able to adapt a structure using those videos as an introduction to the content and then use the one hour of classroom meeting per week to have a structured Q & A period. I also put together a group activity where the students will apply the concepts to a real-world issue.

The other two hours are spent doing hands-on lab activities, giving the students some good visual options to understand the content.

The one-hour-per-week class meeting also makes for an ideal time to proctor in-person exams, avoiding some of the pitfalls that can happen with online exams.

Compared to my online courses, I am able to develop a rapport with the students, particularly during lab time, as I’m able to have some of the small chitchat that’s so critical to building those connections.

I think this works due to the cohort of students that take this course. By the time they are enrolled, they are pretty far along in their program and have developed some of the key skills needed to be successful in college-level coursework.

The hybrid format has been a minor obsession of mine for years. It tends to generate the best learning outcomes, but in my experience, students consistently avoided it. When I’ve asked students why, they’ve typically responded either with “What’s that?” or a fear that two formats would mean twice as much work.

In this context, though, the appeal of a cohort may get around that objection. And yes, in-person testing can be a way around AI-driven cheating. The in-person sections can build rapport, while the online portions allow for flexibility. Color me impressed!

I assume that others of your wise and worldly readers have already mentioned cohort programs, which by their nature build in a support group for evening students. Southern Illinois University Carbondale runs at the University Center, an especially effective cohort model for adults seeking elementary education teaching licensure. It is a bachelor’s completion program, but (and I assume this remains true since my retirement) is often also taken by candidates who have degrees but want to leave their current employment field to become teachers.

It is a four-semester program that runs one night/week and a full day on Saturdays, so that students do not need to quit their current jobs until they reach their final semester, when they do student teaching. When I was the commencement speaker for one cohort, my notes include the fact that one graduate had been diagnosed with a brain tumor in the first semester and, despite two brain surgeries, chemo and 37 radiation treatments, graduated on time.

Building a tightly knit cohort program can get around many of the shortcomings of the evening and/or weekend format. I’ve seen weekend cohorts splinter quickly when they consisted of a greatest-hits smattering of gen ed classes. Some of that is due to varying transfer credits and some to life getting in the way. But some of it, I assume, comes from a lack of connective tissue. If there’s a sense of “we’re all in this together,” which may need to be cultivated consciously, then they’ll be more likely to stick with it.

In both of the first two examples, the students involved had significant college experience before taking the evening and weekend classes. That variable may matter. The third example, below, draws on a different student body.

I saw your column in IHE today. Your reference to a college program with childcare and a meal sounds like our pilot, The Learning Circle, which kicked off spring semester.

There’s a great need for education and workforce opportunities in the neighborhoods surrounding our campus in Jackson, Miss. It’s one of six Hinds Community College campuses in the region (we are the largest community college in Mississippi and second-largest higher ed institution). The poverty and unemployment rate are high in this part of the city, so we decided to offer those who otherwise couldn’t attend classes during the day because of childcare issues or work—or a multitude of other reasons—a streamlined approach to starting or finishing a credential.

On Tuesday nights, we offer 101 courses in science, math and English as well as CTE tracks, including culinary arts, logistics and welding technology. The classes are on a shorter academic calendar: Students complete two sections in one semester. The response has been great. We had 40 people sign up, and they are using the childcare—staffed by students and staff—and enjoying dinner prepared by one of our chefs. Most say without this kind of support they would not be able to attend college at this time. We plan to expand to other campuses in the future.

I like this a lot: It combines short courses—known to improve success rates, particularly for students with complicated lives—with childcare and food. For students who are parents, knowing that their kid is fed and taken care of can make it easier to focus on class. (The food issue is probably as much about time as about money; making dinner for kids every night is a major time commitment.) In terms of replicating the model, my first thought is liability around childcare, but there might be ways to handle that. I’ve seen gyms that will watch young kids for a couple of hours at a time; this may be similar. Not being a lawyer myself, I have to defer on this point. With 40 students spread over that many programs, I’d also be concerned about thin-slicing as students move through their programs.

Other than liability, though, it strikes me as a great idea. I’ll be curious to hear about retention rates over time. It sounds like the sort of thing that philanthropists might like to support, and it could be life-changing for some students.

Thanks to everyone who wrote in! Seeing innovative and constructive ways to address the new reality gives me hope. As always, if you’d like to add to the discussion, please write me at deandad (at) gmail (dot) com.