The students do not actively participate during lesson. The teacher thus fails in making them involved. How can it be possible to let students participate actively?
It really does depend on the subject matter, but I have been lucky enough to teach subject matter which is directly related to my clinical experience. I usually start my teaching with a personal experience related to the learning context, which often draws the students' attention. I then ask the students if they have had a similar event or experience and open the forum for discussion. In my experience, this method usually engages the student as they then see vocational relevance of their learning. It is not to say that this cannot be done for other areas of learning. Perhaps you could engage the students more by showing the relevance of their learning context in an area that they recognise as important in the future.
One of the problems teachers (both in secondary education and higher education) face is the mobile phone as a distractor. Use this to your advantage and try Socrative (www.socrative.com) for instance. I have heard many positive comments on this and it keeps the students engaged as they actively participate in the content of the lesson.
Good luck!
In most cases if students are not forced to participate they will not do so. It is up to the teacher to therefore include relevant activities into the lesson to prompt the students to get involved and link it to their grades somehow. Maybe an extra 10 points for participation.
“Our goal is to transform how children learn, what they learn, who they learn from.” (Mitchel Resnick, A Media Lab for Kids: $27 Million from Isao Okawa Creates Center for Future Children at MIT, MIT News. November 18, 1998.)
I strongly believe that teaching is ART. Therefore, my first advice is to be a first-class artist on your stage (the classroom). It means, try to be different from others teachers in your environment, and engage your students to actively participate in lecture. Use a constructivist approach rather than objectivist in teaching (https://www.researchgate.net/post/Why_is_Objectivism_used_in_eLearning_instead_of_Constructivist_approaches). Use games and tools in teaching.
I am currently working in two-three separate directions. The first is “Different Roles of Agents in Personalized Programming Learning Environment”, and the second is “Pedagogical Patterns for Learning Programming by Mistakes”. We try to investigate various techniques to help learners to improve learning effects using e-learning systems. We propose an e-learning architecture with a recommendation module consisting of several different kinds of pedagogical agents that actively participate in learning processes, provoking learners and motivating them to learn more effectively. For the purpose of our research, we distinguish two groups of agents. The first group consists of pedagogical agents with diverse functionalities and potential. The second group includes harvesting agents employed in educational environments with the main goal of collecting different learning resources. Initial ideas are how to incorporate different kinds of agents: Harvesting, Provoking, and Zestful, etc. Both Zestful and Provoking agents have the same goal – to increase the learner’s quality of learning - but approach to this task differently. The Zestful agent offers hints that, in the usual methodology of teaching programming languages, represent useful directions for problem solving as propositions of appropriate solutions to the given problem. The Provoking agent, on the other hand, tries to steer the process of learning and problem solving in a bad direction by offering wrong parts of the code. That is, it offers false hints and suggests bad solutions to the given problem. The basic rationale behind this approach is to encourage learners not to follow the tutor’s instructions blindly, but rather to employ critical thinking and, in the end, they them-selves decide on the proper solution to the problem.
In addition, you could provide some home works for the students. For example, you finished classes about word processing in some course for computing literacy. After some time, give to the students your CV generating by Research Gate (for example), and ask them “How many times does my name appear in that document?”
Alternatively, novice students make mistakes in programming, design, and particularly in problem solving. Moreover, they are aware of that. Students “believe” that teacher is a person who always tells the truth, so they accept the facts and solutions without checking them. Moreover, the students take and accept some facts without checking the source of them, from Internet for example. Students often do not know how to interpret the error messages, or what to do to solve problems that are diagnosed. Debugging and Testing are an essential skill, whether done with a sophisticated debugger, or just by comparing actual outputs or results with expectations, as well as to have the whole picture of the problem and test properly the given solution from teacher. For example, the pattern was used in Basic of Computer Literacy course for non-professionals (like students with major in Geography) at the University of Novi Sad. Topic on data types and potential problems with them (such as division by zero for numbers, for example) was taught at the beginning of the course. After a while, branching and control structures were done, and their usage in solving some problems is presented. The students together with lecturer solve some problem using these branching and control structures. The lecturer conducted the output. However, students, i.e. for the particular data entry the program could crush, do not see the “hidden” special case. They miss to observe the case that leads in dividing by zero. This case lecturer "wisely" ignore in the analysis of the task. Next class, students still did not notice the mistake, and lecturer admitted his “sin”, and explains the reason and consequences of mistake "he made". Couple weeks later, students get the assignment very similar to previously, but in some other context. They all do the assignment without a single mistake.
I want to say, you have to provoke with the right questions/tasks, to determine how students have progressed and understand what you are teaches, as well to engage your students to participate in lecturing actively.
At the end, do not forget good old methods in teaching, like use of some physical device, such as a toy, that has some of the characteristics of the concept being taught. For example, I use the Frisbees™, to explain the concept of a parameter and the difference between value and reference parameters in function calls – elementary programming course.
I found this question interesting enough to read the responses, however, was surprised to see that ALL follow the assumption that success (as a teacher) is only measured by "active participation." Since the majority of teachers are extraverts, it is easy to understand their need for feedback from students in order to feel comfortable that the information was received. Statistically speaking, by encouraging "active participation" you have already alienated approximately half of your class. I would suggest that a less biased question would be, "How to encourage students to think for themselves."
Interesting! I read into the word 'active' the idea of quiet reflection as well, so agree in general David, but had thought the introverts were included. You make me rethink my initial view because you are right that most teachers love active feedback. I am currently teaching a chemistry class who rarely give feedback. The class is painfully difficult to teach because I can't guage my impact or their understanding.
The most important job of a teacher is to make a complicated topic simple to students who do not understand the concepts of a topic . All the students may not comprehend , what the teacher has taught & it is essential for the teacher to find time for a discussion after the class . Therefore , if the lecture time is one hour , the teacher should complete the topic in 40 - 45 minutes & allow 15 - 20 minutes for a discussion with the students . The classroom is not a conference among equals or peer groups , but a room where the teacher plays the important role of transmitting vital information for learning .There could be student based education learning programs in which students discuss topics as they understand it & the teachers plays a vital role in guiding the discussion . All the students may not have the same skills & it is the duty of the teacher to identify them & improve their skills . It is the responsibility of the teacher to identify the average students by observing their performance in group discussions & improve their skills to make them into very good students . The good students will do well on their own & need sharpening of their skills only . It is the duty of the teacher to realize that all students are not equal & play an important role in improving the performance of each student to his maximum ability without comparison to other good students . The main objective of education is that every student acquires skills depending on his ability to survive in the competitive world & not be overwhelmed by the complex education system , which rewards only the best .
Fayyaz, I think it related to the kind of topic and motivation. I mean that, firstly, the topic that you want to teach must be related to student`s interested in. Secondly, its depend on motivational continuum (Amotivation, Extrinsic and Intrinsic motivation, Deci & Ryan, Self-Determination Theory), which mean, intrinsic motivation might be related to student-involving in learning processes as well as creating new thoughts. /
Fayyaz,
When I was in high school, a long, long, long time ago, the most popular teacher (also voted teacher of the year for a number of years in California) was a man named Mr. Wise.
He taught history, and his method was to bring the characters and era to life for the students by bringing in costumes and props from the period he was teaching on. He also assigned reading and movies from that period as well. He would discuss the actors that were prevalent (the heroes and villains) but he would also let the class members make up their own characters from that period as well. (He also made each student develop a back-story for that character they invented, including when born, ethnic background, work history, as much detail as they could come up with, etc.)
His class was so popular that each semester more than a hundred students signed up for his class. Whenever he was teaching a class, students from other classes would cut and go watch him teach.
He was the Patch Adams of the teaching profession. If you have not heard of Patch Adams, get the movie with Robin Williams and watch it.
This method of inclusiveness and active participation will get students in the door and keep them coming back. Also, consider adjusting the seating in your class to that of a semi-circle (U) where each member is looking at you and each other. I have a certification as a Teacher Trainer and these tips do work.
Good Luck,
Edward J. Files, AAS, AGS, BSM, MBA (SAPM, CTT, CGPW)
Doctorial Student, Education, Org Development
Encourage student engagement in class. Inform students expilcitly that teachers and students equally share the teaching and learning. Intervention by teachers to constantly provide platforms for student participation in constructing new knowledge. Empower them to learn in meaningful contexts.
My answer to this would be passion, environment, opportunity, and intentionality. To begin, the teacher needs to be passionate about learning and the topic being taught. Nothing is more catchy in a classroom than a teacher who wants to be there, can't wait to share what they know, and is interested in what the student has to say on the topic. The discussions are open ended and the anticipation of discovery is intense. Students discover their own meaning and share connections and anticipate questions because the room has an adventurous atmosphere.
The environment is one of risk taking, collaboration,and experience. There is a sustained relationship among participants and the teacher uses the environment to their advantage. Items in the room are strategically placed to encourage creativity and to provide an atmosphere of belonging. There are set and followed norms that allow for experimentation yet boundries are present to maintain perspective. The classroom is a place where there are not wrong answers but sometimes better answers to shape understanding. Learning is not a set answer, but a discovery, challenge, and expectation.
Opportunity allows students to not only focus on the objctive for the day, but leave them with as many questions as facts learned. The sense of discovery carries over and they are encouraged to find and bring back information when they leave class. Their ideas are celebrated and encouraged. There is a love for learning and there is really no end to the answers available.
Finally, A teacher does not enter the room without an intentional plan for the day.
@All, more or less, you all agree with me... "I strongly believe that teaching is ART. Therefore, my first advice is to be a first-class artist on your stage (the classroom). It means, try to be different from others teachers in your environment, and engage your students to actively participate in lecture. Use a constructivist approach rather than objectivist in teaching (https://www.researchgate.net/post/Why_is_Objectivism_used_in_eLearning_instead_of_Constructivist_approaches). Use games and tools in teaching..."
I really like Edward comparison ...
I think the best educators are part teacher, part scientist, part performer, and all human!
Many thanks for the opportunity to add. Given the diversity of students, the comments regarding the active vs passive engagement characteristics of different students ties in well with our experiences. Therefore, despite the inherent frustrations of not being able to accurately gauge student response / reaction during teaching and instruction, the outcomes then form the basis of success indicators. Insofar as digital vs traditional learning, and student-benefits and -environmental responses, I am of the opinion that we are generally basing our expectations on our exposures rather than those of (certainly the younger) student. How often have we decried the attention span of students and their ability (or otherwise) to process different input streams? These are the same people that would happily commit upwards of five hours to digital entertainment all the whilst processing dynamic values such as weapons,fuels,speeds,threats both proximal and other, friend-or-foe indicators, etc. Might I be so bold as to suggest that our teaching materials and the way and form in which they are presented are part of the problem? That they are perceived as staid and dull relative to what is offered in the realm of non-formal education based entertainment? In fairness though I do not believe that there exists a simple, and certainly not a rapidly enough updating option that could in any way be considered as cost effective to maintain a semblance of efficiency. We therefore may have to appeal to the maturity of the student corps to participate and exercise restraint against the inevitable frustrations they have to suffer contending with what we have to offer, and importantly the constraints that exist on how we offer it?
One of the best ways to do that is that students construct knowledge together with Professor with active participation in class. It can be achieved by researching the student learns. Another method is to apply the teaching context motivates more students. Motivation is essential for better learning!
One quick way of encouraging student engagement is through the understanding of their learning styles. During the first meeting, ask them to fill in an online learning style survey form. This app is available on the Internet. Within seconds, you have an instant profile of you students' learning styles such as learning sequentially or analytically. That knowledge can assist you to create multiple platforms for better and active student engagement.
Brilliant. Thank you. The old "I hear, I see, I do...." to reach understanding holds true. The application of Blooms Taxonomy still holds great value (despite my contention that it does not specifically list RETENTION), but an opportunity to determine learner profile insofar as studying / learning for absorption, comprehension, application and retention goes, is invaluable. To address the digital theatre of learning remains a significant challenge so my thanks again for the direction.
Hi
After reading all the above responses which I found very enlightening ...The question I pose is.. How can you tell if a student is not motivated but is actively participating? I have recently been assessed for my Teaching practice in Higher Education where I organised case scenarios and formed students in to groups to perform a drama (I called it 'Actionary' but in other words it was role play-which incidentally I hate). My assessor said I should have asked the students first if they would like to participate (as in student-centred learning approach). I bet they would have all said no! However, the students all took part and did very well to my mind, but my assessor said that she observed the students reluctance to participate. How did she know? Please tell me... what do think I was missing? The group by the way were familiar with each other as they were half way through their module and they are after all adults!
Regards
Debbie
Hi Kay, perhaps you should ask your assessor what you were missing if you want to find out how they measure success.
Hi Kay, I personally never put anyone in a position of stress because I empathise too strongly, HOWEVER the proof is in the pudding. They participated and I am sure benefited from it. I teach teachers in schools and if a teacher can get that participation, while being respectful (ie not coercive or bullying) then the participants benefit more than they would have with me, notrequiring it. Some people can get participation better than others. What my ramble means is well done for getting participation without coercion. Participation is good asnlong as no one suffers in the process. You probably didn't miss anyhing, you and your supervisor have different belief systems.
Thank you Mark
Reflecting on your reply...I believe the learners did learn a lot more about themselves than they realised...the drama in question was called 'the art of information giving and information receiving'...and the fact each learner had a part to play..they all participated effectively... This can only aid their self development personally and professionally in their communication skills within their world. So I am now realising that maybe I did a good job in getting them all to participate!
Use relevant case studies and examples from the students' experience. Let them solve a problem (preferably in groups) and discuss their solutions using scientific concepts and methods and try to evaluate the strenghts and weaknesses of different approaches to a problem or an issue. Make sure that the students feel competent and that they understand that they are expanding their competences if they engage in class, in the discussions, in their contributions and even in their Errors.
Hello, take a look at Fred Keller's (1960) work on PSI Personalized System of Instruction. Also, Inter-teach (Boyce and Hynline 2002) as well as a current method called "flipping the classroom": multi media / very short web-casts used to introduce a lesson within the context of homework (allows learner to tailor lesson to own learning needs). Then students engage in practical exercises facilitated by teacher.
I think it depends on the teacher that creates an atmosphere of interaction between students break through the stalemate between him and the students, raising the issue for discussion
30 minutes before class ends, ask students to write in 3 columns ie., what they know, what they do not know, and what they want to know further in each column respectively. Then allow them to tell or ask what they have written.
Most students feel more confident when they have something written. This encourages student engagement in class.
Hi.
I think for this issue -as for many other classroom issues- general principles must fit particular procedures. Regarding the former, my "credo" is that motivation begets activity, which begets (discipline and) learning.
How to motivate, then? Needs and interests analysis may be the first step. And then, using the students' interests to decide on topics and activities (Krashen's and Ausubel's meaningfulness, right).
Here variety comes into play: variety of topics, of activities (VAK, yes. Visual-Auditory and Kinesthetic, individual + group activities), and of materials. Time is also a source of variety: short activities... The focus of attention is a source of variation as well: the teacher, the board, the textbook, the picture, the flashcard, the video, the audio material, one student. another student, the classroom arrangement, the teacher... yes, the teacher one among many other sources of variety.
That leads to something important: teacher-fronted classes "versus" (notice the relative weigh of this). If the class focuses more on students and learning than on the teacher and, let's say, rules or assessment... the students might feel more at ease.
But motivation is not purely emotional, you know. An important cognitive factor must be bore in mind: you don't like somethung you don't understand. meaningdulness, again. Input must be meaningful not only in thesense that it is appealing to the students for it is born in their interests, for instance. It also must be perceived in an active way by the learners. ACTIVE RECEPTION. An then, active practice... and later active and meaningful production...
However, comprehensibility and meaningfulness are also related to certain sense of challenge, you know. (i+1, Proximal Development Zone...): if something is too easy or already known, the learner loses interest; if it is too dfficult, it can also lead to the learner's disengagement or sense of failure... A sense of challenge fosters interest; and a feeling of achievement begets a deep sense of pleasure of learning and meaningfulness, success fuels the process.
Well, there so many things involved in a single issue. Hope this might help.
This is a tough problem. The ability of the teacher is to engage the students in such a way that they are able to identify the situations where they can apply what is being taught. It is easier said than done. So in my opinion the teacher need find suitable examples from the day-to-day to link with the ideas being presented to make the students becomes enthused with the subject.
I think the best way to involve the students in the learning process is to practice the following 4 things:
1. Prepare your session thoroughly; if some day I am not confident on the subject I am teaching, I can read that on the students' faces.
2. Learn to improve your delivery; punctuate wherever needed, and look into the eyeball of the students.
3. Use PPTs to help them cohere, understand the whole plot and the chronology of issues being taught.
4. Use some appropriate video/s, and discuss the video contents adequately to help the students conceptualize the issues on hand.
This method has helped me immensely in getting a positive response from my MBA students.
Debi, I totally agree with your strategies!
Preparing your teaching session is both critical and immensely time consuming. Considering learning styles, concepts of adult learning and reflective practice, and developing strategies to engage the unique group of individuals in front of you in a give semester is incredibly time consuming, but can be so incredibly rewarding!
Delivery and the use of PowerPoint slides (PPT) is incredibly important as well! You cannot stand in front of a class and read your PowerPoints (PPT)! If you do, students will ask, why am I hear if I can simply read the PPTs on my own time? I think it is important to punctuate PPTs slides with active learning strategies. To move information from working memory to short term memory to long term memory, students need time to process information. They need to make sense of the information presented, which is what helps learners remember what was presented.
PPT slides should help students recall the major points of the lesson; however, they should NOT substitute for the lesson itself. It is your active learning strategies that help students solidify and apply the concepts you are trying to convey.
I also agree with using videos, case studies, stories, problem solving scenarios and the like to reinforce the concepts you are presenting. The videos, case studies, stories, problem solving scenarios, etc are what bring the concepts alive; they are what bring theory to practice.
Multiple strategies are needed to engage students, and truth is each class of students is different and it is important to match your strategies to your learners!
Dear Margaret
I like your following sentences very much:
"To move information from working memory to short term memory to long term memory, students need time to process information. They need to make sense of the information presented, which is what helps learners remember what was presented."
I fully agree with this view. If you put too many ideas in your presentation, it is bound to boomerang; unless they are some obvious points. Indeed, one has to be careful.
Regarding the PPTs, I never write more than one line for each point i am making in the PPT. I make it a point to ensure that no point runs in more than that line. If a point is longish, I make a sub point of that to write it below the main point.
Also, I almost never read from the PPTs. PPTs just give me reassurance that I know the sequence in which to say what I want to say. Occasionally, I do read some interesting quotes, etc. if any from the PPTs. It is very dangerous to solely rely on reading the PPTs in the class. The moment you start reading from the PPTs, the students lose interest. My focus on PPTs is only for the chronology and coherence so that the students know the importance of the sequence, especially when the things talked about are complex.
I am of the view that the students are hungry for knowledge, and always look for value-addition; and the teacher has to find out how to deliver expectations effectively. .
But I have one serious problem with the gen Y students; they do not take notes. And, a number of things talked about in the class are not there in the book and the reading material supplied. The ppts of course, do help somewhat in that case. I almost always mail my PPTs to the students.
Maggie, I have enjoyed reading your answer. Thanks a lot for your frank views. best regards Debi
To encourage active participation in classes, I have found that requiring all students to jot down an answer before you accept a verbal response from any one student helps to ensure that all students are engaged with the material.
Of course, games theory (and poker) tells us that we do need to call on students randomly to present their answer, otherwise some students won't "play along." When someone is chosen to answer, she should be able to answer immediately because she has already written down a response. After a few obvious occurrences of students not having an answer ready to go, most students are motivated to participate.
Am currently experimenting with "flipped classroom" wherein, one component is: the student fashions a lesson and then delivers it, assessment included. One of my trial runs is enabling 16-17-year old pre-college students to discover the complexities of digital data based, scholarly, peer-reviewed journal articles. I could have prepared a series of lesson plans and assessments of deconstructed generalities, work up a series of slides shows, some homework, quizzes, tests. Instead, I asked "What might your major be in college?" Then, I assigned the task of finding a single digital data based, scholarly, peer-reviewed journal article on a topic in their possible chosen field, plug image in to our projector, and then give the class a tour of the database navigation elements, the basic evidence of such an article (abstract, keys, etc.) We established a classroom culture of learning together -- I couldn't possibly keep up with database interface innovation! I've moved on to the topic of "citations in papers", wherein, each student produces a mini slide show about a topic such as citing a Twitter tweet, or "citing a movie not yet issued as a DVD". (?!)
I feel that effective engagement of students involves the teacher re-conceiving the classroom as a meeting place of the minds.
In an old novel about Oxford in the early 1900s I remember reading and loving the line 'our tutor smoked at us until we understood'. Politically incorrect now, but the point was exactly as Johnathon said. A true meeting of minds is when learning occurs. The tutor and students sat around in a relaxed state discussing issues. How to make that happen in the formalised classroom is the complex question we are discussing.
I have recently been involved in using Problem-Based learning (PBL).This approach to learning has been the height of motivation and enjoyment for me and the other members of my group. The active participation of all group members has been amazing. The instructional task/problem was set by the teacher/facilitator which was constructively aligned with the curriculum and learning outcomes on the programme.
The idea of the group is to pose questions of enquiry, based on the students existing knowledge of the problem/task. After discussion and collaboration within the group whereby all members had something to say-either by restating the problem posed, identifying unknown terminology and clarifying any areas of misunderstanding or by raising questions that needed further information and investigation, meant full participation and engagement of the topic was 100%.
All members of the group went away with a task (a line of enquiry to follow and research) and to explain their findings to the group at the next group meeting. The buzz that the group had in wanting to share their findings was a teachers dream in students active participation.
My conclusion to this experience is that if the students are involved in a group activity whereby they have their clear, explicit instructions over the overall problem-based learning approach and knowing that they will need to find more information (which means in effect that they were not afraid to admit they did not know something) they feel more comfortable.
The comfortable feeling that one has in their learning ability gives rise to confidence and motivation in knowing exactly what they needed to do for the next session.
The overall result in problem-based learning is exactly what it says on the tin!....
It developed the 'HOTS' (high order thinking skills- Bloom's taxonomy- analysis,synthesis and evaluation).
To see PBL and HOTs actually working in practice was a revelation in teaching and learning. I have to say I highly recommend it.
Debbie
Hi Fayyaz
Survey Monkey is a free on line service where you can create and design you own evaluation/ survey form in a flash!... Not quite that quick.. However, it is a handy tool too have up your sleeve ( actually on your phone). You can download the app on iPad or phone or complete it on line on your PC .
Hope you try it
Be
Debbie
Here are a few suggestions:
Speaking clearly enough for all students to be able to hear;
Making eye contact with individuals in the class;
Being approachable, including being available outside set class times;
Encouraging clarifying questions;
Providing students with key notes prior to the class; and
Sharing learning outcomes with students at the beginning of the class.
Simple,make your teaching interactive enough..use participatory inquiry method,all opinion counts and all:extroverts and introverts : very intelligent,-not very intelligent,above average-below average.ALL must be involved.Make it line by line,one by one,in that way they know that all are members of same class.Be conscious of this at all lesson times,and you have an interesting active class,
you need to create a proper learning environment. Teaching is asking and answering questions. All students should be involved and one interesting point is to capture the students' attention. For that purpose, I am actually teaching Economics using music. I also provide with pp slides and personal notes before the lecture. I am always available outside class times.
The most profound and fundemental change to the classroom has been the seat that has been set for the instant access to the whole of human knowlege to partake in the interplay of the class. Is this a distraction? Is this a boon? We educators can never again be the gatekeepers to knowlege. So the real question is, how can this new class member be most productively and effectively engaged and involved with the rest of the class? The base strategy for me is to help students cope, parse, analyze, and form a concept from the deluge of information, meanwhile, sharing in coping with a kind of collective, stunning awe of it all.
Classroom activities from the learners' environment (so that they can connect well) and pertaining to their level works well in language classrooms. In my experience, using cartoon figures with dialogue bubbles work very well. The activity involves interpreting the given dialogues followed by filling the bubbles with one's own dialogues. It could be an individual or group exercise (depending on the level of the group). Then one could take it further by the learner/group making their own cartoons and creating their own dialogue bubbles.
Use constructivist approaches, constructivist educational philosophy in teaching. (look at https://www.researchgate.net/post/Why_is_Objectivism_used_in_eLearning_instead_of_Constructivist_approaches)
Involving students is not just about being prepared and knowing, I believe that is old school. The truth is that education models centered in the teacher are outdated, so I would ask your question differently how to get students involved in learning? My answer would be Intrinsic Motivation (IM). In reality the difference between a capable person and a succesful person is motivation, it applies to school and also to life. But how to boost IM? Well, I believe empathy is crucial for this, also satisfaction, trust, a good perception of justice in the classroom, constructive problem solving, making extrinsic motivation (such as grades and prizes) unimportant and most importantly your own IM level should be high.
If students are not being participative there are some questions you must ask yourself,
Are you being open to your students? If they are to open up to you, its a good idea to show them how.
Is the content of the course meaningful to them?
Do you care for them?
What is your motivation to work?
Do you listen to your students? Are you open to suggestions and change?
What is learning for you? What are your epistemological beliefs?
Do you ask them to create knowledge or ask them to absorb knowledge from you?
Is there trust between you and your students? is there trust between within the group?
Do your students feel they are being treated with justice?
In my opinion, a little bit of self analysis can go a great way.
Engage them in interacting with the content, regularly check for understanding. Understanding the attention span of your audience can help you gauge when to engage the learner:
http://www.google.com.au/search?q=what+is+the+average+attention+span%3F&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari
In large classroom settings clickers or similar methods like different coloured cards can be used to make sure that students are remaining involved:
http://www.google.com.au/search?q=clickers+for+classrooms&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari
Evaluate group and pair work in some authentic way--giving students regular feedback on participation skills and performance.
Ensure they're not sitting and listening for too long with movement, this is the key to active learning and build assessment into every lesson so that students know participating promotes success.
MOOC's(Massive open online course) is totally a new concept in 21 st century has been arrived . where faculty doesnt need to take or have boring theoretical lectures . We should also allow students to learn via electronic world... and now we as facukty need to understand teaching is not only the thng which can be done only in classroom.... now students are innovative so we need to apply for innovative education for them.. like via face book page , linked in discussions forums and wordpress , mind tree and a lot can happen over,,,,,,
Babli
is there any special software for quizzes online? how can ı shift from traditional lectures to online lectures?
Warning, not all students and teachers find MOOC and online formats easy to get along with. Some people feel isolated by adding more technological distance between staff and teacher. The instructor needs to create a course or a MOOC that is engaging and non-alienating.
However, if one feels alienated as a consumer early on, one will reject the technology and the format outright until first experience is proven not to be typical.
I rarely have a difficult time with students participating in my classes. Usually, I bring in a recent news article that relates to the topic for discussion/lecture and ask what they think about the particular event or situation. Sometimes I post the news on sakai for them to view and think about before attending class. In other cases, I ask them to use their phones (they love this) to locate an article and then give their opinions related to our class work for the day. I have even arranged pro and con teams for certain topics and asked the other class members to vote. All of these approaches seem to encourage students to get involved and to voice their views.
• Establishing a positive climate for quality and frank discussions and for students to answer questions when called upon
• Making student groups more effective
• Gathering formative, peer assessments for small group work
• Asking for information from the students very early in the semester to help you meet their needs
• Suggestions for peer and faculty assessment of participation in class or small group discussions
• Letting the classroom environment foster student participation
• Doing a cooperative, active learning debate
• Introducing and reinforcing active learning
• Evaluating students on class participation
• Making class discussions more of a group event
Thanks dear all for contributing and sharing your expert opinions.
Michael, a more nuanced view of motivation comes from Deci & Ryan in which they suggest that there are 6 levels of motivation with intrinsic motivation being at one end & amotivated at the other. They also posit strategies to move people from the more extrinsic to the more intrinsic. Worth a read
Deci, E.L., & Ryan, R.M. (1985). Intrinsic Motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York:Plenum Press.
Motto should be: "innovate, explore, and discover'
Teachers should be role models not dull and uninspiring
Proper planning of lesson, proper delivery of the content, creating classroom atmosphere suitable for the lesson, arouse interest in the students regarding the same, innovations e.g giving real life examples, open discussions, question- answer sessions, activity -based teaching can helpful for participating the students in teaching-learning. Through above all motivation plays a vital role in active participation of students in classroom teaching.
Some ideas:
1) Ask questions to the class during lectures to stimulate
curiosity.
2) Use guiding questions .
3) Use visual graphics . Public speakers have found that use of visual graphics and simple sentences written , placed in front of the public, focusing attention to the question posed
4) Teach principles of critical thinking while teaching the matter .
5 ) Encourage your students to know each other
6) Encourage independent thinking.
7) Teach listen
8) Talk less for students to think more
9) Use the Socratic method of asking questions.
Regularly use the Socratic method to ask questions to their students :
What do you mean when you use that word? What about trying to do?
What evidence is there to support that assertion ? Does the evidence is
reliable? How did you come to that conclusion? But how do you explain this?
See what that means ? What are the unintended effects of their
proposal? How do you think your opponents see that situation? How
they can respond to your arguments ?
10) Organize debates
Perhaps the first step is to ask oneself why they should participate at all.
The best way to ensure that students participate in is prendrre practical cases everyday and ask each student has their point of view, how will they react in such situations. It is important to innovate whenever the way to teach: image, video, group exercise, oral presentation in class with interaction of all students in the room.
I can relate to question as a student. It is true that you need to be confident in the lesson/ topic you are talking about, the worst thing is when you don't know what you are teaching. I have had PhD that didn't know what was correct answer in they own exercise. We really appreciate when you show us where we can use abilities and knowledge we gained in your classes. Working in small (3-5 persons) groups are also very good idea. If you can show topic in more "exciting" way like using some pictures, charts or animations it is wonderful! Another thing is making students present some topics, it makes us better researcher. Just like presentations in front of all group.
Just be precise in teaching / class-room sessions, give some valuable homeworks, interact with them as a friend / colleague, be little liberal and teach them to your best using all available ICT and web / computer skills, interact with them fully and provide a fully cooperative and cordial atmosphere, share and pass to them all good skills you have and motivate to give optimum results.
Asking questions in the class, giving home works, conducting quiz and most importantly in the present day context teaching students by the use of all available ICT and web/ computer skills can definitely make students actively participate during teaching.
Dear, This it is just my opinion.
Students of today, are thinking that they do not have time to understand something. They are always in a rush and want to accumulate as much as possible in a very short time. Unfortunately, there is not interest. For others it is very boring to study something.
Use other interactive methods in courses because if you only use traditional methods in teaching courses, risk to remain alone in classes and students to stay at teahouse.
Dear Colleagues, Here is a Doonesbury cartoon (and there are many) describing the situation(s).
http://www.gocomics.com/doonesbury/2011/01/23/
BLOWBACK
A CURSE
Michael Corrado | NC
June 09, 2014
"I have banned all electronic devices in my classroom..."
http://site.doonesbury.com/strip
Make the class interesting the best way you can. Bored students (or any human being really) quickly zone out. Teaching is sort of being at the Improv. You gotta keep the audience engaged. The voice has to change. The body language has to be lively. The subject MUST connect somehow with the students' own reality. Ask questions and be obnoxious enough to actually expect they will answer. Encourage them to ask questions. They will come out of the shell. But don't expect that will happen out of the goodness of their hearts. You gotta work for it like any good performer.
Agree with Kuldeep Dhama ...
Fayyaz Ahmad Faize .. I'm So interesting..
To encourage student learning teacher should provide students range of activities. Some activities provide a basis for observation, data collection, reflection, and analysis of firsthand events and phenomena. Other activities encourage the critical analysis of secondary sources—including media, books, and journals in a library
Avoid traditional lecture notes based teaching. Should involve students through GD, Seminar Ppt, Assignment, Project work,etc. Which I personally witnessed students involvement to the most. Rather then on one way delivery.
Meaningful bilateral engagement is vital. Language learning requires platforms in which participants can perform speech acts that allow them to understand language forms and functions.
By making the class interesting for the students. The teacher has to involve the students by making them pleasant not bore. The activity may be questions? Answers, Rewards, or any practical work like in computer science etc
You can actively participate your students through the dialogue, questioning,gallery work,brain storming, creat and solve the problem, video show concern your topic and discussion, think pair and share,and asking students to work together.
Relying on an active discovery-based learning model, taking into account the multiple intelligences of students.
According to my experience, get students involved in the teaching totally depend on the clarity of subject matter to the teacher and teacher's efforts towards delivering the matter. Remembering the name of each student and calling them by their name whenever there is disturbance, will also work. Visual material leave more impression on the learners mind so if possible try to include video to show them the real happening.
Best,
Arun
Diversification in teaching strategies to suit the different intelligences of students, while providing a safe environment.
Task-based method is the best method ever as it based basically on solving problems,discussing topics and engaging sts in real situations.
Sorry for being skeptical about this topic. “ You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink”. We can only hope for the best.
“You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength."
The main question asked “how to make the students participate in class”. The answer is it depend! there will be students (usually the same) that will be ready and will participate. I think that a significant number of students (depending on the grade or stage in development) may not participate no matter what. You might need to strongly persuade them to say something. I say this because some people blame in some way the faculty not to be prepared and I have to disagree with such statement.
Use brain storming , participatory and discussion technique in teaching and learning phase.
You can take students to water, as it were, but you cannot make them drink.
Integrity.
Teaching demanding and engaging contact that stretches but does not overpower
Building relationships
Methodological variety
Asking more questions than you give answers
Bill Lucas, I’m still skeptical. now a days students are covered and protected under anonymity. every time we use Polleverywhere, or software like that, we are reinforcing the “no-direct” participation spirit. We think that what is best or evidence -based is better. I am not sure that every student have the same opinion. the frustration is more directed to those how have the opinion that the fall is on the faculty and faculty only, what do you think?
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