Keeping students engaged can be a difficult task for any teacher, but we all have our strategies of keeping the class interesting, can you share yours?
I agree with Mark Mazzie, limiting the size of the class is important then developing workshops and exercises which provide immediate feedback... Thank you.
For me, I try as much as possible to make my class interactive by engaging students in discussions on trendy issues which promote critical thinking among students. I also ensure they participate in mini-projects. Also, In the world today, technology is the key. I try as much as possible to incorporate some kind of technology.
To create interesting and stress free environment in the lecture; according to me one should give correlate the topic with real world and give example to the students.
Our lecture must be interactive i.e. there must be 2-way communication. It should not be like that only professor speaks for 1 hour and the students only have to listen it. It would become very boring. Instead of that professor can make interactive class by asking questions related to the topic while explaining. Due to this knowledge related to the topic of the students can also be measured.
Thank you so much Roghaieh Asadboland. I am glad to know that being free with students will keep class interesting and make students eager to learn more.
Regards, MO.
Thank you very much Prof. Nikisha Jariwala for your brilliant response and suggestion.
The following discussion will give you some insights into your question
https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_do_you_usually_do_when_your_students_feel_bored_inattentive_or_unmotivated
Harvard Project Zero's work on making thinking visible and creating cultures of thinking will make your class both interesting AND ensure that good learning is taking place. The website has many resources and there are also a couple of books by Ron Ritchart, Mark Church and others. It will transform your teaching and your view of learning.
In my book you will find strategies to apply in the classroom
I always found it most interesting to end the lecture a little earlier, everyone is happy about that.
HI. expressing some of my personal life experiences and letting them express their stories and views about real life problems as a break in my English class can motivate them. best
Farangis is correct. Putting real life situations into your classroom as examples engages the students in the conversation and fosters critical thinking.
According to my experience the transferance of responsability to students in their own process of learning is a good way to create motivation. And this responsability shared both by students and teacher (coach) engage them to be more attentive, to do more, to have a self awarenness of their own development of each subject. This must be launched, in my oppinion, with a group of "tasks" indoor and outdoor which the main goal is to get the students working to a "common goal" so they get more entusiastic with the work to be done...
Teach through the arts, relate EVERYTHING back to them, be developmentally appropriate and ask open-ended questions that have a low-floor, high ceiling. Waldorf education!
Dear Prof. Salvador Vidal-Raméntol, please be kind to share your book on "Strategies to apply in the classroom". Thank you.
Thank you so much Bronwyn Frances Wong, I got helpful hints and valuable information from harvard Project Zero online materials. Thank you so much for the information.
Regards, MO.
Thank you so much Prof. C George Thomas for the interesting link.
Regards, M.O.
Hello Prof. Farangis Shahidzade, I quite agree with you. Allowing students share their ideas and views about life issues in class would motivate them to work harder.
Thank you Susana Bastos, engaging students to do part of the work is very important. It goes a long way to motivate them and bring out their best.
Thank you Alicia Johnson for your interesting response and helpful suggestions.
Thank you for your response Kimberly Marie Telfer-Radzat. your suggestion is noted with delight.
Regards.
Durante 11 años de mi vida hice clases en colegios de Chile y en todos ellos, más que la actividad o método era el sentido que tenía el trabajo, la innovación, la creatividad, descubrir, investigar. Hoy como académico, me parece que probar soluciones a problemas cotidianos, desde la integración de los temas, es una linea que me parece relevante abordar...
During 11 years of my life I did classes in schools in Chile and in all of them, more than the activity or method was the sense that had the work, innovation, creativity, discover, investigate. Today as an academic, it seems to me that trying solutions to everyday problems, from the integration of the issues, is a line that I think is relevant to address....
Thank you so much for your interesting contribution Roberto.
Regards, M.O.
The interest will appear when u catch child atenttion. And that u will get it when u ask them about their interests, when u link the value of the topics of your course to real life, and also when you challenge them. If they only need to listen and copy, it will be boring. If they have to think, analyse and solve problems, they will be active participants, and intellectually challenged.
Regards,
Sharing food with students--either inviting the whole class (if its small) to your house for dinner or bringing food to the classroom, can in fact build an amazing context of learning and stimulate so much interest in the students. Thats one of my experiences over my three decades of teaching..
Yes, relating the content to their previous reading/experiences/societal or global issue makes it interesting, especially when you engage them in a team debate for participation marks.
Best regards,
Debra
Dear Modestus,
Socrates would be proud of you for making the class interactive. Helping the students arrive at the proper conclusions on their own is a tried and true way to enhance learning. The days of lecture are winding down. I suspect that only when the subject matter is far beyond student level of expertise that a lecture would be necessary, but even then the instructor could use analogies applicable to student life, and then ask questions to heighten student involvement.
There was an article from Michigan State University on keeping laptops closed during class for better retention via note taking. Keep in mind there are different types of learners in classes so varying the method of delivery will help with engagement. If you are at a University remember the older, wiser learner, information will need to be relevant to their interests and concerns as well!
http://fortune.com/2017/11/27/why-students-should-leave-their-laptops-closed-during-class/
Here's a link to the process and success I have had with the Asynchronous Team Debate, which was selected from hundreds worldwide and featured in award winning author Jose Bowen in his 2017 text: https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Teaching+Naked+Techniques%3A+A+Practical+Guide+to+Designing+Better+Classes-p-9781119136118
Conference Paper Debating: A Dynamic Teaching Strategy for Motivating Student...
Best,
Debra
Students' engagement in the Classroom is an interesting amalgam of art and fun. There are number of ways in which we can keep our students engaged such as
- Use of analogies and metaphors to keep them absorbed
- Quoting real life experiences or events that is relevant to teaching and learning contextually.
- Involving few students in virtual scenarios where they are supposed to enact or react depending upon their understanding and learning in that particular situation.
- Make your teaching a fun loving experience for your students by engaging them in self explanatory graphics and comics.
Bring your zeal and enthusiasm in your teaching and you will see the transformation sooner or later.
My students know that both of us are seeking for and eager to discover the knowledge though our roles differ; they as explorers and myself as a guardian. We all make it a happy endeavor by contributing to its success. We are like a family and we juice the classroom discussions with something remarkable, worth remembering. Sometimes, we assume roles as in a drama to re-enact some historical episodes and some cultural events in a grand fashion. Staging the lecture in a collective manner makes it exciting with my students and myself yearning for our next meeting. When it's boring at times, we sing and dance for some minutes. I love teaching.
@Debra Sharon, Sarah Khater, Faraz Khurshid, Dickson Adom, thank you so much for your valuable comments and suggestions. I appreciate you all.
Regards,
Modestus.
@ Andrew Fournier, Doris Yates, Abdullah Noori, Musa W Dube, Juan Cristóbal Didier and Roberto Arias. Your helpful comments are much appreciated,and your feedback will help keep my class interesting.
Regards,
Modestus.
Modestus-
While I have not taught at the university level (I am currently a Ph.D. student in STEM Education), I have been teaching for 31 years. I also have several nieces and nephews currently or recently graduated from college who have discussed their college experiences with me. (This methodology and pedagogy in the undergraduate level is actually a big interest of mine...especially in STEM related courses.)
Students tend to get more out of the courses and content where they can be more active in the learning process, rather than just being lectured at. Let the students be part of the learning process by encouraging their questioning. Use breakout groups to have students discuss concepts and content. Yes, some lecture works, but posing problems and having students devise solutions based on the content of the course will go miles for them retaining what is being taught in the course. One of the best professors classes I've been a part of was a Nanotechnology for Teachers course at Rice University, whose lead instructor was the Dean of Undergraduates who happens to also be a chemistry professor. His non-chemistry major courses are filled to the brim, because students have gotten the word that he involves them in the process...not just give them info to memorize and, most likely, ultimately forget. I utilized some of what he taught us as teachers about atomic modeling with my 13-14 year old students...which he also uses with his undergraduate chemistry students. Obviously, I had to modify a little bit as developmentally appropriate, but I have never seen so many engaged students who had more "ah ha" moments about atomic structure. Several of those students are now chemistry or chemical engineering students in college and even did independent research in those areas during their high school years. One even told me that his inspiration for his research was what we did in my class related to this. That is one of the best feelings ever!
Hope this is helpful to you...Best-
Shari
Thank you so much Shari Hiltbrand for your brilliant contribution, I am glad to read from you. Most importantly, I am happy to know that students are motivated and inspired when they are part of the learning process. All you have shared will be very useful to me. Thank you once more.
Regards,
Modestus.
To make the classroom interesting the teacher has to engage the students in a positive way. The environment of the class if interactive will be more better. Some of the teacher suggest to make at better with the help of questions and answers. The question may be asked by redesigning and putting in front of the students. There may be some entertainment factor in learning to make the classroom pleasant and better. A teacher is always be ready to use a new strategy as it is derived from military to be prepare for a new situation. Same as with the teacher any time a new situation can appear, some time unexpected questions and the teacher is answer. The use of new and latest technology also can make the environment of the classroom excellent.
Hello Mr. Modestus Okwu ,
These are my five teaching techniques ,
1. Classroom Games as Teaching Strategies
2. Relate Class Content to Their Lives
3. Make it Interactive
4. Give Them Choices
5. Use Technology
Consider your audience. At my university we have a mixture of traditional and non-traditional students. I find it useful to draw on the personal experiences of the non-traditional students sometimes to make points in my lecture. By asking: Who has seen this? or What was your experience in this area? You are able to draw students into the conversation. It also helps when the younger students are able to see that there is a real world outside the classroom.
@ Dr. Irshad Ullah, Dr. R.D.Vignesh devendiran and Prof. Gregg W. Etter. Thank you so much for your comments and suggestions.
Regards, MO.
Let us not forget, setting the stage at the beginning of the term is also important as to how students will engage in the class along with the energy in which you present the materials.
The infusion of real life examples are helpful as well as sharing a bit of you within reason.
Thank you so much Dr. Qais Faryadi for sharing detailed information on " best techniques to achieve quality teaching". The information you shared is very useful.
Regards, MO.
In my classes, after presenting and discussing the topic, I present a problem situation and suggest that students bring reports of situations that happened in class with their students or subjects that need to investigate, and together, we resume the discussion of case studies using the method of circular processes. This method aims to provide students with the answers they want in the way they think best and in a circle, to present in the circle and together discuss and find solutions, texts, other forms, etc. Students enjoy, have differentiated learning and ask to use this method every day in all disciplines.
As a Mathematics teacher and a Researcher on different pedagogical approaches I used different strategies like collaborative approaches, integrative approach and constructivist approaches. I found these effective based on my researches which I conducted .
Thank you so much Maria Victoria VILLAFLOR Tiquis. I will be glad to know more about the strategies you have highlighted. I hope to get and read up more articles on collaborative, integrative and constructive approaches and possibly see how to implement them.
Regards, MO.
Thank you so much Marlene Schüssler D'Aroz for sharing your teaching strategy. The information you shared is very useful.
Regards, MO.
Good evening, Modestus-
To follow-up on the response I wrote, I thought I would share a resource I recently came across while doing some research for one of my STEM Education courses. The University of Minnesota (I have no affiliation with them) has a Center for Educational Innovation. It is a university initiative to improve university level instruction. In effect, it seems that they are extending instructional processes being done in K-12 classrooms, to the university level since the K-12 practices are often based on research that has been completed on the university level. One of the approaches they spend some time on is Active Learning. https://cei.umn.edu/active-learning This website might provide a good place for you to begin your endeavors in pursuit of more student engagement in your courses. It would be interesting to know what and how you proceed in your instructional methodologies and what your students responses are to the instruction.
Cheers-
Shari
Dear Shari Hiltbrand,
Thank you very much for your insightful comments and suggestions. The information you shared is very helpful. The link will be useful too.
Regards, MO.
We've been developing training classes for over 18 years and have delivered over 5000 two and three day classroom courses around the world. While there are certain strategies for keeping the course material interesting in various cultures we have found that the most consistent strategy is to limit the size of the class to a maximum of 20, thus we can develop workshops and exercises which provide immediate feedback to the attendee. This feedback keeps the participant engaged and interested in the course's learning objectives.
Involving the students in some manner is critical to maintaining their interest. Different variations of group work, challenge quizzes that often aren't marked but where they can see what they know, pair them up and make them take both sides of an argument, and exercises are just some of the ways. Vivid personal examples. Current events and what their thoughts are on them. Relating what you are teaching to their personal experience where feasible.
To keep the class interesting, give the students something to do. Don't just stand there talking at them the whole time, engage them in a task. Explain how the task will help them with an assessment item, or make it assessable. If the lesson you are about to give has nothing to do with the assessment tasks and there is nothing you can get the student to do, then cancel it as it is a waste of time. More at http://www.tomw.net.au/digital_teaching/
Tom, I agree engagement is important. Asking questions before a lecture is helpful as well. True, we should not be the sage on the stage but the facilitators that guide the discussions!😉
@ Mark Mazzie, Charles Shrybman, Tom Worthington, Doris Yates. Thank you so much for your contributions. Your comments and suggestions will be very useful.
Regards,
Modestus
Doris, I don't think conventional lectures are that useful for student learning. Better to spend the limited time when the students are together in a classroom to have them actively doing something, preferably together. I gave up giving "lectures" in 2008: http://blog.tomw.net.au/2008/08/my-last-lecture.html
Article Cultural Global Classrooms as a Tool of Acquiring Language L...
Conference Paper CONTENT LANGUAGE INTEGRATED LEARNING: THE CORE PRINCIPLE OF ...
Dear Colleague you will probably find intersting to read these two articles about some methodologies to have your students motivated in class using CLIL activities and using Global Classrooms to motivate, engage and improve students profficiency Language
Best regards
i have found david kolb's cycle of learning useful in designing instruction. one starts with a concrete experience (case study, prob-solving activity, simulation, etc.) that the learners go thru followed by reflection about what happened (verbally, in writing, in drawing, etc.). a model or theory is then shared to provide a framework for students to connect previous knowledge & learning. instruction is concluded with another experiment whereby learners can then actively "experiment" / apply the model, theory, or concepts. i have used this cycle to design learning whether with students, full-time/part-time clerical, custodial, professional, and faculty colleagues.
En mi experiencia, compruebo que necesitamos concluir nuestras clases con la metacognición. La reflexión paulatina durante toda la sesión ayuda mucho puesto que el alumno toma consciencia de cuánto, cómo y para qué se generó la planificación de la unidad de aprendizaje. Ello los acerca a convertirse en pensadores críticos.
Thank you so much Yoly Campaña, Gregg W. Etter, Jan Javinar, Carlos Daniel Cazco Maldonado and Tom Worthington.
I agree with Mark Mazzie, limiting the size of the class is important then developing workshops and exercises which provide immediate feedback... Thank you.
I teach graduate students in TVET, who are more mature and are employed mostly in industry, so at the beginning of the course, administer a student interest survey to find out which topics are of most interest to them and then design my lessons and assessments around their interests. The latter has shown to be working for students according to their course evaluations. Hope this is helpful.
Best regards,
Debra
I have been using as one strategy to teach only when students want
Thank you so much Dr. Debra Sharon Ferdinand-James, I am glad to know that you work as an educational technologist in a School of Education. The information you shared is very useful. Though I still have a question for you. My question - Are there cases where you make your topic of interest compulsory for students to research on?
The use of active teaching methods without sacrificing the health of the teacher.
Chapter FUNDAMENTALS OF THE PREPARATION FOR THE SELF-CARE OF TEACHERS 'HEALTH
Thank yo so much Prof. Reinaldo Requeiro, for your comment and useful link.
Tell little stories in the class while teaching======================================================================================
Dear Modestus:
Yes, when I have them to a debate related to the course topic but linking it to a national concern. Here's an example of how it is done successfully:
Conference Paper Debating: A Dynamic Teaching Strategy for Motivating Student...
One strategy to have softly-speaking students speak louder is to step back further away from them so they will have to throw their voices for you to hear them.
Best,
Debra
Thank you so much Dr. Debra Sharon Ferdinand-James, you have shared a very useful information, I have downloaded and read the conference paper titled "Debating: A Dybamic Teaching Strategy for Motivating Students and Teachers". It is very useful. Thank you once more.
Regards,
MO.
Learn to smile in class as an instructor.
Also tell little stories.
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