How Do I Get More Students to Participate in Class?
Program includes a CD with the video presentation, plus supplemental materials, PowerPoint slides, and complete transcript • $99
When it comes to classroom participation, research continues to confirm what most faculty members experience each day: A limited number of students make the majority of contributions. In an observational study conducted in multiple classrooms, only 44% of the students participated, and 4-5 students made 89% of the comments.
Although getting more students to participate is challenging, the good news is that it can be done, and it doesn’t have to involve such tactics as “cold calling” on students or resorting to a points system. In this program, Maryellen Weimer, Ph.D., describes 18 strategies that work.
During this 20 minute program, you will learn how to:
- Better encourage students who rarely participate to speak more often.
- Provide other participation opportunities, such as brief written exercises or small group discussion, to help generate contributions.
- Move beyond seeing reluctant participators as a problem.
- Limit the participation of students who speak too often.
- Find something positive to say about a first-time contribution.
The program also includes supplemental materials that feature a summary of strategies and a summary of the research on participation in college classrooms.
Learning outcomes
At the conclusion of this program, you’ll be able to choose from a wide range of approaches for increasing student participation in your classes that include:
- Knowing different ways to respond with care to wrong or not very good answers to help encourage continued contributions.
- Knowing how to use something that a student has said previously and apply it in a follow-up comment or question.
- Understanding how to have students participate in different ways, such as by doing a problem on the board, writing key comments on the board or submitting questions by e-mail.
- Knowing how to take advantage of different opportunities to interact with students outside of class to facilitate increased classroom participation.
About the Presenter:
How Do I Get More Students to Participate in Class? • CD • $99
Each Magna 20 Minute Mentor includes a CD with the video presentation, supplemental materials, a copy of the PowerPoint slides and the program’s transcript.
Want to make this program available for your entire campus?
Contact us about a Campus Access License to load the CD onto your institution’s internal web site for unlimited, convenient on-demand access to members of the campus community. The Campus Access License is ideal for for ongoing group or individual training or to build a library of professional development material.
If you have any questions contact Customer Service at 800-433-0499 or (608) 246-3590 or email us at support@facultyfocus.com.
Dr. Maryellen Weimer has served as the editor of The Teaching Professor since 1987. She is a professor emeritus at Penn State Berks and one of the nation’s most highly regarded authorities on effective college teaching. In 2005 she won Penn State’s Milton S. Eisenhower award for distinguished teaching. Dr. Weimer has consulted with over 300 colleges and universities on instructional issues, and regularly keynotes national meetings and regional conferences. Her book Learner-Centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practices, is considered the go-to guide for educators looking to adopt a learner-centered approach in their classrooms.