How Building Rapport Helped My Students Take Risks
One of my quietest students once came up to me after class and said, “I’ve never felt comfortable speaking in English before this course.” That
Fahad Ameen
November 10, 2025
A FREE PUBLICATION FROM THE CREATORS OF THE TEACHING PROFESSOR
encouraging student participation
How I Used the Parking Lot to Turn Quiet Rooms into Engaged Classrooms
When students of different years of study share a common class, their levels of experience and confidence differ. Students from lower years of study may
J. Muthoni Mwangi, LL.B, PGDip Law, LL.M
November 3, 2025
Using Playing Cards to Encourage Student Participation and Engagement
Like many faculty, it has been no easy feat to keep students engaged during class, especially in a physical geography course in which many undergraduate
Lisa McNeal, EdD, and Jennifer Rahn, PhD
January 21, 2022
Tips for Encouraging Student Participation in Course Discussions
A lot of students seem to assume that as long as the assigned work is completed on time, test scores are good, and attendance is satisfactory, they shouldn’t be forced to participate. This special report will help you create favorable conditions for more active classroom discussions.
Faculty Focus
June 8, 2021
How to Structure Your Online Class for Inclusion, Part 1
A bunch of black boxes on a video call. An empty discussion board. A student who hasn’t submitted any work all term. These might all
Jenae Cohn, PhD, and Courtney Plotts, PhD
March 22, 2021
This Semester, Don’t Forget Participation Feedback!
It is the beginning of a new year and a new semester at colleges and universities across the world. Professors are finalizing their syllabi and
Catherine Shea Sanger, PhD
January 8, 2021
When Everything Goes Right in the Classroom
It is difficult to predict what the dynamics of a college class will be like at the beginning of a semester. Two sections of the
Bill Bergman
June 12, 2019
When Students Lead the Discussion
A few years ago, my colleague Brenda Whitney spoke at a workshop about how class discussion can take on many different forms, each with its own style and descriptive moniker. Paraphrasing and borrowing language from her handout, with a few revisions of my own, these discussion styles include:
Peter Wayne Moe, PhD
March 8, 2019
An Argument for Grading Participation
Many of us have visions of a classroom full of bright-eyed students scribbling notes, nodding thoughtfully, and laughing at our jokes. The reality of the college classroom experience can be quite different, and student engagement sometimes feels like a difficult prize to earn.
Brooke D. Taylor, PhD
May 11, 2018
An Approach for Helping Quiet Students Find Their Voices
“I’m afraid I’ll be the only one to think my thoughts, that no one else will see it the way I do. I don’t want to be wrong.”
That was the response by a student to a comment I made asking him to consider participating more in class discussions. The conversation took place one day after class toward the end of the 2017 spring semester when he asked me to sign an academic progress report. He was a good student and submitted quality papers on a timely basis. Yet, while he paid attention to my lectures and everyone’s remarks in class, he rarely spoke.
Rich H. Kenney, Jr.
March 15, 2018
