1 Introduction to 4 Connections
A Brief Overview of the 4 Connections
The 4 Connections are simple practices that many faculty members already apply to build relationships with their students. Perhaps they are the least revolutionary student success intervention you will ever hear about – and that is awesome! The power of the 4 Connections comes from your commitment to practice them intentionally and to continuously improve how you apply each of the practices to your interactions with students.
Interact with Students by Name
Learn your students’ names and begin using them on the first day of class and throughout the quarter.
Check In Regularly
Pay attention to student behavior and track student progress. Empathize with students. When a student is struggling, intervene. Refer students to campus resources.
Schedule One-on-One Meetings
At the beginning of the quarter and throughout, schedule required one-on-one meetings with students.
Practice Paradox
Structure your course clearly. Communicate your expectations regularly. Then, be reasonably flexible when students come to you with concerns.
Background
The 4 Connections are based on Odessa College’s Drop Rate Improvement Program. Odessa generously shares their work at conferences, where LWTech folks originally heard about the framework. You can read more about their development of the framework in a white paper published by Achieving the Dream.
The Drop Rate Improvement Program at Odessa CollegeLinks to an external site.
Whitepaper from LWTech
The following whitepaper outlines the implementation and success of the 4 Connections at Lake Washington Institute of Technology. The paper is openly licensed and yours to use and modify with proper attribution (included at the end of the paper).
This chapter is from 4 Connections course by Boyoung Chae. It is licensed under “Creative Commons Attribution“.
