Table 1 Top Ten Conditions that Promote Student Buy-In |
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Importance of Student Buy-In
It is nearly impossible to create a quality learning environment without student buy-in (3.1.1 Overview of Quality Learning Environments). When students buy in, there is a commitment to excellence as well as a motivation to learn and grow on the part of both students and the instructor. It also creates an intellectual atmosphere in the classroom. Student buy-in allows for a much richer course both for the students and for the instructor. When students are committed, they begin to willingly ask probing questions, take risks, work with others, participate fully in class, accept increasing challenges, welcome new situations, and assess performance (Felder & Brent, 1996). Thus, student buy-in enables the instructor and the students to delve deeper into the material.
Student buy-in is a process (Millis & Cottell, 1998). To improve students’ motivation, attendance, expectations, class preparation, and critical thinking, instructors should plan to spend significant time and effort at the start of the course to obtain buy-in. For some students, buy-in seems automatic; for others, it may require more time and effort to achieve. But for everyone, certain conditions facilitate buy-in.
Conditions Necessary for Buy-In
Instructors can facilitate student buy-in by establishing a conducive class atmosphere.
Trust is one of the most critical components to achieving student buy-in because trust is crucial to promoting risk-taking behaviors. For example, trust allows students to feel comfortable asking questions. The instructor can build trust by using non-evaluative language and by showing respect for students’ questions and answers.
Another component for achieving buy-in is honoring different learning styles by approaching the same material from many different angles. Students are more apt to buy in if they trust the instructor’s teaching abilities.
Moreover, students will be better prepared to buy in if they can see the big picture. A key component for this task is to demonstrate and maintain the material’s relevance (Small & Lankes, 1996). Some students will not buy in unless they see the relevance of the subject matter. One effective approach to gaining student interest is to incorporate real-life examples to which the students can relate.
Another important precondition to obtaining student buy-in is to set clear, attainable objectives for the course and for each class session. Furthermore, students should know and understand these objectives. In some cases, the instructor may want to facilitate the development of some of the objectives by the class.
Student ownership is a vital condition for student buy-in. If students can take ownership of their own learning, then they must buy-in, at least to some extent. Student ownership can occur in many different ways. For example, students are more likely to take ownership of their own performance if instructors set high yet attainable expectations for the class as well as for individual performance, and hold students to these expectations.
A final key condition for student ownership is engagement with the material. It is difficult for students to be engaged and excited about learning if the instructor shows no enthusiasm for it. Therefore, a powerful way to get students excited about the material is for the instructor to model the appropriate behavior. Furthermore, instructors must walk a fine line while keeping everyone involved and interested because some students will understand the material more quickly and easily than others. Maintaining a balance between the material’s challenge and students’ cognitive skills promotes engagement in the learning process.
The course assessment and evaluation systems function most effectively when students buy in to the processes, when objectives are clearly understood, and when the level of challenge is appropriate. Buy-in is promoted through student involvement with assessment of their own performance, as well as that of their peers and the instructor. A fair, objective-based evaluation process also contributes to student buy-in. Grades should be readily accessible to students soon after an evaluation is made.
Characteristics of a Bought-In Student
When buy-in has occurred, students will exhibit certain attributes. They are willing to trust the faculty member and the classroom learning process. They are willing to take risks. Students show that they understand the course framework and want to take ownership of their learning. They are ready to perform and they welcome challenges. Students are engaged with the material and excited about learning. They see that the material is strongly relevant to their needs. Finally, students seek access to the available resources for help, i.e., office hours, supplemental instruction, workshops, etc. (3.4.1 Overview of Effective Learning Tools).
Resistance to Student Buy-In
Although many things can be done to promote student buy-in, it is also important to understand what may cause students not to buy in. Resistance to student buy-in can be explained by the attitudes and behaviors of the student, the teacher, or the institution (see Astin, 2001, for a detailed discussion). There are many possible behaviors in each category, but only three of the most important are listed for each.
Student Attitudes and Behaviors that Hinder Buy-In
Students may lack confidence in their abilities, not believe that they can grow, and/or have low self-esteem.
Students may have low expectations for their own performance, which may cause them to willingly accept merely a passing grade.
A student’s failure to attend class makes it impossible for a student to buy in; however, this problem can sometimes be altered with an attendance policy.
Faculty Behaviors that Hinder Buy-In
Faculty may not hold students accountable for their individual and/or group performance.
Faculty may violate students’ trust by making assumptions, being judgmental, and/or by using evaluative language.
Faculty may not communicate performance criteria clearly and consistently.
Institutional Behaviors that Hinder Buy-In
An institution may establish classes with very high enrollment. In large classes, it is sometimes hard to know all students and hold them accountable for their learning on a daily basis. Students feel that they can hide. It is important that the instructor does not allow this to happen by making sure all students feel that they are an important part of what is occurring in the classroom.
An institution may take control of the class composition away from the instructor. Students are affected by their peers. When there is a group of students who actively resist buy-in, it can be very challenging to achieve it. For example, having a class with many students who have low expectations for their performance makes it difficult, but not impossible to obtain buy-in. It is difficult to get students excited and motivated if their only goal is to pass the course. In such situations, it is important for the instructor to manage his or her own frustration.
Assigning classes to rooms that are not conducive to quality instruction. For example, the chairs may be bolted down in rows, making group work awkward. However, it is possible for the instructor to work around most of these difficulties (3.1.1 Overview of Quality Learning Environments).
Strategies for Obtaining Student Buy-In
It is important to remember that not all classes are alike. The strategies that are used to achieve buy-in with one class may not necessarily work well with another (Weimer, 2002). However, it is essential, in order to create a quality learning environment, to create an atmosphere where students do buy in and to do it early, within the first three weeks.
Obtaining student buy-in is especially difficult in required courses. The difficulty usually arises from the same key issues:
Students have no choice about taking the course.
Students may be passive toward the material.
Students view the course as a barrier toward graduation that they must suffer through.
Students may be apprehensive about not having the skill set that is required for the course.
Strategies have been developed to overcome these issues. The following three key strategies provide double coverage of the key issues faced by students:
Shift the ownership to the student immediately. (Addresses issues 1, 2, and 4.)
Provide a strong justification for why the course is important within the discipline. (Addresses issues 2 and 3.)
Reinforce how the extra benefits of having this course (both process and content) will be beneficial after the course is completed. (Addresses issues 1, 3 and 4.)
Just as classes vary, the mechanisms, tools, and techniques to implement the preceding strategies into a course also vary. To illustrate the possible mechanisms, tools, and techniques, we will use a statistics course since this is a commonly required course in many disciplines.
Strategy A—Shifting Ownership
Use project-oriented learning. For example, students create their own survey, input their data, and analyze their results using the tools and techniques used in class. This strategy will force students to engage with the material. Moreover, if they choose topics of personal interest for their projects, they will better internalize the material.
Students learn and apply a new statistical technique, possibly in teams. This strategy allows students to become “experts” with a particular technique. Letting student(s) teach the technique to the rest of the class further reinforces their ownership and understanding. Nothing else forces a student to completely understand something better than having to explain it to others.
The class determines the weights for the components of the course evaluation system. If the instructor feels uncomfortable, he or she can put a range around each component weight’s midpoint. By the way, students will almost always weight a component very close to the instructor’s desired weight. The added benefit of this buy-in strategy is that students cannot complain about their grades if they have set the criteria upon which their performance is to be evaluated.
Strategy B—Providing Justification
Describe your own personal use of the content in your professional life. Better yet, have a practitioner visit your class and discuss how the material is used in the field.
Discuss how statistical concepts and applications are embedded within other courses they will take. Discuss how statistics affects their lives outside the discipline. For example, when discussing descriptive statistics, such as bar or pie charts, have your students use a chart taken from a newspaper article.
Strategy C—Reinforcing Benefits
Let students know that they will learn a quantitative analysis tool, such as Excel™, Minitab™, SPSS™, etc. The instructor can tell students that they will be using this tool to develop their quantitative analysis skills all term, and that by the end of the term their skills will be proficient enough so that they will be able to include this tool on their resumes.
Display how the development of specific data analysis skills will be applicable to their professional or personal lives. The ability to understand simple descriptive statistics, such as tables, charts, or even means and standard deviations, will enable students to think critically about analytical issues, and to discuss issues quantitatively.
Concluding Thoughts
Achieving student buy-in is essential to developing the intellectual climate that will foster student learning and growth, but it is a very difficult endeavor. The first few times an instructor attempts to achieve buy-in, he or she may feel awkward and frequently question his or her competence in this endeavor, as well as the appropriateness of focusing on learning skills in a college classroom.
If possible, watch while an experienced facilitator conducts a buy-in session and ask him or her to observe and assess your effort. The benefits of teaching a course with students who have bought in far outweigh any awkwardness at the beginning of the process.
References
Astin, A. W. (2001). What matters in college? Four critical years revisited. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Felder, R. I., & Brent, R. (1996). Navigating the bumpy road to student-centered instruction. College Teaching, 44, 43-47.
Millis, B. J., & Cottell, P. G. (1998). Cooperative learning for higher education faculty. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press.
Small, R. V., & Lankes, R. D. (1996). Motivating students. In L. M. Lambert, S. L. Tice, & P. H. Featherstone (Eds.). University teaching: A guide for graduate students. NY: Syracuse University Press.
Weimer, M. (2002). Learner-centered teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.