A great way to discourage teachers

DMS General
#1

Today my class had six of a maximum seven registered. None of these showed up except one person that came in an hour late and apologized for being detained at work. Another had cancelled at 5:30pm.

For the last year I have been sending out an email two days before class to remind and ask students to cancel early if they will not be able to come. It has generally worked out very well.

The good news is that I did have four walk-ins so I made the honorarium cut but it is disgusting. I really like offering free classes but this is not encouraging. I just noticed that I had an email from another at 4:15pm that they could not make it.

Text of the email:

Thanks for signing up for the* Arduino: Blynk into the Internet of Things class Thursday evening. I hope to see you there.*

If for any reason you are unable to attend, please cancel as early as possible.

No shows and late cancellations are causing lots of problems that are not well understood outside the teacher community.

https://talk.dallasmakerspace.org/t/five-no-shows-a-late-cancellation-and-no-honorarium/28055

All you need to bring is a notebook computer with a USB port and a smart phone or tablet.k

Thanks,

Brady

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#2

sorry man, its happened to me. A family of 2 with same last name no-showed 3 of my classes in a row once. I understand how frustrating it is. You are a valuable teacher and helping people get skills that can create amazing things or even get a good job please dont give up on makerspace.

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#3

While it doesn’t apply to free classes, one of the advantages of using Eventbrite, is that students pay up front. It’s only my opinion, but I’ve taken your classes and they’re worth paying for. For me, except for the few required courses I teach, I will use that method.

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#4

I’m really sorry that happened to you! I have had the same issue with free classes, and not only at DMS. People don’t value what they don’t pay for (in time, money, reputation, etc.)

I think it’s very reasonable to charge a small fee for your time. For me, $10 is the magic number. It’s the smallest two-digit number there is - only the cost of a movie ticket, and I am delivering at least 90 mins of pro-quality material - but it’s just enough so people don’t blow it off too readily.

However, if you are really hesitant to close the door on anyone who is truly hard-pressed, one option is to use Eventbrite or similar to charge a deposit instead. A student pays $10 when they sign up for the class. Then they show up to class and get their $10 back. No show, no refund. It’s like putting a quarter in to get a shopping cart at Aldi - just a little extra bit of accountability goes a long way.

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#5

As one who’s not used Eventbrite, is this a “feature”, or is it more of a manual workaround? What happens to the Eventbrite fees?

Whilst seeking this info for myself (not yet found) I did find what looks like an interesting discussion (not yet read completely through) on this very topic…

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#6

Here are some previous comments on no-shows at DMS …

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#7

I’m sorry, Brady. This same thing happened to me when I taught the one and only class I led at DMS. As I’ve told you, your classes were the inspiration, if not the boilerplate, for the class I designed. As a prideful perfectionist, I invested tens of hours in developing content, slides, materials, and examples/programs for instruction. I even followed your reminder email guidance. On the night of my class, only one of the five registered students actually showed. Walk-ins (including Brady) bumped me to three attendees, qualifying for honorarium.

I’d be dishonest if I said I wasn’t disappointed, dejected, and robbed of all inspiration. That night, as I was unloading all my materials back at home, I decided that I would simply resort to learning via YouTube and asking the occasional question individually or in a Talk post. I had decided that I wanted to learn more about a topic, and the best way to learn something is to teach it. I don’t need the $50 (now $25). But it was acknowledgement of the effort and cost I invested in trying to develop something of value. The actual value placed on my effort was demonstrated by those who chose to no-show.

The deposit idea would help to defray the cost portion of that equation. But it’s hard to shake the bad taste of the blatant disregard shown. It will likely be a while before I decide to invest in sharing my learning journey with others in a classroom setting, if at all. I have decided to try to help young people develop an interest rather than teach at DMS.

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#8

Oh, it would definitely be a manual workaround. (Unless Eventbrite has some feature I’m not aware of - I’m not an expert with it, as my org uses Ticketleap for most of our events.) I suppose you could have the user eat the fee (pay $10, get $9 back), or else charge through DMS directly and not involve Eventbrite at all.

That 50% no-show rate looks about right for free events, BTW. For Facebook events, we have learned to expect 50% of the people who RSVP as “going” and 0% of the people who mark themselves as “interested” or “maybe”.

Sometimes I get frustrated with it all - especially with the ENORMOUS horde of people who don’t RSVP at all, or only at the last possible second, when that data is absolutely useless for advance planning purposes. But I try to channel that constructively, into an attitude that lets me charge for my time without guilt or hesitation.

A small class fee also holds the instructor accountable too, after all. If a teacher is late or unprepared for a free class, then nobody can complain too much - they got what they paid for. But when somebody has laid down money to see you, you are delivering a paid service, not providing charity - and the teacher-student relationship becomes much more equal and mutually accountable as a result.

I would still love to build a system that will allow people to pay in hours or service, so that we can continue to welcome people who really can’t afford to pay in dollars. But that’s a longer row to hoe. One day at a time!

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#9

Bernard - As all three of us mentioned at the time that your class was excellent by all standards. It included a presentation and hands on lab where we got to experiment with your collection of motors and other parts. One of the most interesting parts was when you described motors without a model number and how you experimented with various connections and voltages to understand how it operated and the technology of the internals. I know your fall season is filled with the day job and normal activities plus refereeing high school football. I hope as winter rolls in and football season ends you might give it another shot. It will be a lot easier with the presentation and parts already lined up. If folks register and do not show, it is their loss.

All - For those that are not aware, I encourage and try to assist anyone interested in teaching an electronics class. I do not register for the first class, which would tie up a seat, but show up to assist and be a headcount if needed. A number of other teachers do this in their committee areas. Consider trying this if you have not tried it.

So, what are my plans? Full Speed Ahead! One of the biggest attractions of DMS is the Event Calendar loaded with classes. I do not like the honorarium cuts but it was a quick method to cut costs and may have been the best move. Hopefully, a better system will be coming before long. I have a new almost sold out class on the calendar and have purchased parts for another new class. I plan on continueing to run two classes a month.

What is my favorite accomplishment at DMS? Actually I have Made far less than I had planned. On the other hand, I have been a significant encouragement to @Bernard_Gray , @Dale_Wheat @dana55 , @tomthm in starting to teach at DMS. Sixteen year old @NickWebb took a class, then assisted, then presented a few slides, then taught every other class. I gave him the Arduino: Sensors for Fun and Non Profit class. Now that he has completed his Eagle Scout Project, Nick is teaching more. He has two classes on the calendar and one still has seats available. Its great to see a young man stand up in front of a bunch of Makers and teach a technical subject!

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#10

Serena kept a list of the people who no-showed her class, and they had to find someone to take their place or come in for volunteer-ish days to be able to sign again. The warning in her event sign up page made it clear she required notice [24hrs, I think.]

I’m sorry this happened to you, and I am glad you’re full steam ahead.

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#11

A good idea is making your class “by approval only” so you can blacklist no-shows.

Aside from that, I would be interested in a short class or talk on using Eventbrite. I have zero experience with it and I’m hesitant to use it as it is.

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#12

Find me
I’ll help you learn how to use the interweb

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#13

It would be helpful if the instructors included an email address in the class description moving forward. There have been times when I have had a sick kid past the cancellation period and couldn’t reach an instructor, but I did post the opening on Talk.

Some people are rude, but others will communicate ahead of time if given the opportunity.

P.S. I would like to take your class when our schedules match up.

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