Posts Tagged ‘building student engagement’
August 19 - The Front Row: A Small Group Feel in a Large Class
By: John Allison in Teaching and Learning
Frustrated with the traditional lecture format in an upper-level chemistry class that enrolled more than 100 students, and envious of my teaching assistants who spent time in small recitations working on problem solving with my students, I designed an approach I call the “The Front Row.” It brings a small group feel into a large classroom.
August 12 - Structuring Discussion to Engage Students
By: Nachamma Sockalingam PhD in Teaching and Learning
Instructors face a Herculean challenge in managing discussion – whether the discussion is face-to-face or online. To be an effective instructor, it is important to learn how to facilitate discussion, and keep the dialogue flowing without veering off topic.
July 13 - How to Win Students and Influence Learning
By: Ellen Smyth in Teaching and Learning
An intense couple of days at this year’s Teaching Professor Conference inspired me to revamp my course, and I’m starting at the very beginning. My goal is to set the perfect tone to inspire and engage as soon as students walk through my door. I’m taking the Dale Carnegie approach to people and applying that to the classroom. “There is only one way under high heaven to get anybody to do anything,” Carnegie writes. “Just one way. And that is by making the other person want to do it.”
July 12 - How Do You Engage Your Students? More Tips from Conference Attendees
By: Mary Bart in Effective Teaching Strategies
As we mentioned in the June 28 and July 5 posts, during the opening keynote at The Teaching Professor Conference, Elizabeth F. Barkley, a professor at Foothill College and author of Student Engagement Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty (Jossey-Bass, 2010) presented on a topic she titled Terms of Engagement: Understanding and Promoting Student Engagement
July 5 - More Tips on Active Learning
By: Mary Bart in Teaching and Learning
As we mentioned in the June 28 post, during the opening keynote at The Teaching Professor Conference, Elizabeth F. Barkley, a professor at Foothill College and author of Student Engagement Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty (Jossey-Bass, 2010) presented on a topic she titled Terms of Engagement: Understanding and Promoting Student Engagement in Today’s College
June 28 - Student Engagement Tips from Teaching Professor Conference Attendees
By: Mary Bart in Effective Teaching Strategies
During the opening keynote at The Teaching Professor Conference, Elizabeth F. Barkley, a professor at Foothill College and author of Student Engagement Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty (Jossey-Bass, 2010) presented on a topic she titled Terms of Engagement: Understanding and Promoting Student Engagement in Today’s College Classroom.
June 27 - Designing Effective Clicker Questions by Going Beyond Factual Recall
By: Mary Bart in Instructional Design
At one point, a General Chemistry course at Penn State Berks had a success rate of about 50 percent, giving the multi-section course the dubious distinction of having one of the lowest GPAs on campus. After a thorough redesign, the course now consistently achieves a success rate of well over 70 percent, while the student ratings of the course and the instructors have never been higher. The key element in this chemistry course’s redesign? Clickers.
May 4 - Questioning Skills to Engage Students
By: Nachamma Sockalingam PhD in Teaching and Learning
Questioning skills are essential to good teaching. Teachers often use questions to ensure that students are attentive and engaged, and to assess students’ understanding. What is important to note is that in addition to the intent of the question, the question itself matters. For instance, to ensure that students are attentive, a teacher could ask the students “Are you listening?” To assess if the students have understood, the teacher could ask “Do you follow me?”
May 2 - Strategies for Facilitating More Effective Classroom Discussions
By: Mary Bart in Effective Teaching Strategies
If you’ve been teaching for any amount of time, you probably have a few nicknames for students based on the personality traits they exhibit. Roben Torosyan, PhD, associate director of the Center for Academic Excellence at Fairfield University, has some nicknames for his students, too. Names like Q, Sunny, and Light Bulb.
April 20 - Using Clickers to Engage Students and Maximize Learning
By: Mary Bart in Online Seminars
You know student engagement is important for learning, but it’s not always easy to activate, especially in large classrooms. Students may limit participation because they’re intimidated, unprepared, shy or scared. Worse yet, if they’re lost, you won’t know it. Find out how clickers can help you connect with students, even in the largest lecture hall.
