Struggling students

Today I supervised an exam for a web design course I teach at the institute where I work. Three students were not able to complete any of the work. I was really upset because some of the steps they’ve done multiple times. I’ve struggled with this group of students, in particular, because their attendance during the course was abysmal. But I would’ve expected them to recall SOMETHING.

What adds salt to injury is that the exam was an open book exam. They could’ve looked up the answers, but they didn’t even know how to use the note I gave them. There is definitely a language barrier (the note and exam are in English and some only know how to speak Arabic). But I’ve had students who would find a way to figure out what’s asked of them during the exam (for example, looking for a keyword in the question). And since the students were able to bring their own note, they could have added some translations that would help them navigate the note.

I don’t know what they’re struggling with, in particular, but there’s a makeup exam next week. I’ll be sending them a video to explain how to use the note for the theoretical part of the exam and a demonstration of how to complete the practical part of the exam.

Although I’m going on sabbatical, I also want to spend a bit of time thinking about how to reach all students so that - as the cliche goes - no student is left behind.

Do you have any tips to reach struggling students?