Keeping the student involved.
One of the ways I keep my students involved is to plan my lectures into sections. The students are more inclined to remain engaged if the day is put into blocks of 1 hour sections. Each hour we do something different such as a lecture, then some hands on lab relating to the lecture, or break up into groups and give each group a timed challenge to see what they have learned. I also really helps to keep the students motivated.
Marlene,
Wow, multitasking while learning! Students do tend to do better in small groups settings. Some feel the time is less than productive, but good directions lead to positive activities where each helps another, and actually time is saved.
Barry Westling
I totally agree with group activities. Initially, the students usually groan, but once they get started, they (for the most part) really get involved with the activity.One activity that has been successful is have students "teach" a new ESL diabetic how to give insulin.
Jacqulin,
Great! Interesting and creative engagement activity does take planning and usually, some preparation. I can fairly easily involve students, but to consistently engage them as well is the challenge. The "what's in it for me" concept is one way to engage students. When they feel they will benefit somehow, they tend to embrace learning activities, and their understanding of presented material is usually improved.
Barry Westling
Students sometimes get bored and tired especially when they have an afternoon class. Students never know what to expect in my class in terms of their involvement. Some strategies I use include, having questions after each concept (1 or 2 multiple choice questions or a one-minute written answer to a question or something short. I also use colored cards to mimic clickers. It is suprising to see how adult students love this activity. I teach Mental Health nursing, so sometimes I role play specific disorders and they have to identify the disorder. So much activities to do to keep students involved but it has to be planned. Involved students = Happy instructor = Better Pass Rates
Crystal,
For me, if I can keep topics related to how they can benefit the student, they'll be more likely pay attention and become involved in their learning.
Barry Westling
I do have difficulty keeping some of my students involved. I tend to have the same two or three that I can't get involved despite efforts. I liked the different topics that discussed why they may not be involved and why.
Pam,
I love that analogy! It is very true!
I previously taught night classes than ran for 5 hours straight. Talk about needing to keep students involved. I learned very quickly to engage them in different activities to keep them motivated.
Sylvia,
If students perceive there is something beneficial to them in a lesson, they'll be more apt to pay attention. If this is true, then one way to keep student attention is to have constant reminders why they are in this program, their profession, and stories and experiences related to their career choice that makes class interesting an pertinent.
Barry Westling
keeping the student involved is a focused driven task that can be done, I think that getting feedback from the students about getting involved.
Judy,
As far as the environment, the instructor definitely sets the tone. It's difficult for most studenmts not to be engaged when their instructor is upbeat, energized and enthusiastic about the topic. Using a vaiety of acitivities to get students to learn is way better than just the same old lecture w/ PPT's with a quiz the next day.
Barry Westling
I have always felt lecture along with open discussion with the students is a great way to hold their attention. Study groups with guestion/answering sessions is also very helpful.
In order for a student to be motivated...first the Instructor must be!!
Pamela,
Engaging students is easily said, and a lot of work and planning to carry off successfully. Engaging may involve simple things (such as questioning, circulating around the room) to more assertive methods, such as changing to small group dicussion, or share-pair, or lab. Being sensitive to the tone of the class is key to staying on top of it.
Barry Westling
Attention is short that is for sure. You have to move around and do different things so that you keep them motivated. We are almost the director of a movie. pam
Deanna,
It's said the adult attention span is about 20 minutes. Of course not all classes can be segmented into such small increments, but keeping the class activities fresh, upbeat, and with lots of engagement (Q&A, discussion, etc.) along with interesting delivery techniques can help keep attention and focus. Alternating activities frequently as applicable can also keep student interest. Anything active versus passive (sitting and listening) will improve learning.
Barry Westling
I think keeping the student involved is very important because otherwise they get bored or distracted very easily. If that happens, then you have to try or figure out on how to get them reengaged and interested. I think breaking up lecture and putting labs in between is a really good idea and I do that myself. It keeps the students motivated and that's what you need escpecially if you have an evening class. Evening classes I think are the hardest because they're already tired from working all day at their jobs or at home with the children and by the time they get to class, they're ready for a break, so that is why you really need to keep them engaged and motivated.
Hi Mary,
This sounds like a great way to keep students involved and interested in the class materials. It is very easy for students to lose sight of what you are saying especially if you are lecturing for hours at a time. I think this is a way to keep class fun while learning.
Paul,
I agree. To keep active minds interested, the lesson, presentation and delivery have to tailored to the students who are able to think many times faster than the instructional process. As you say, one way to keep interest is invlovement. By keeping students involved they will naturally stay focused on the task before them.
Barry Westling
I think lecture time should be limited to new information that can not be delivered another way. Having said that even within lecture you can pose questions to students to test where the class is at and maintain involvement. Fifteen min. of lecture is a life time for students living in a world of milliseconds, nanoseconds, and topics going viral on youtube and facebook in just a few moments. Lecture is the setup perhaps and then groups, brainstorming, casestudy, q & a, etc. Kind of like a pitcher in baseball. He may have a fastball, and a curve, you add that change up and viola... something else to look at from a different angle.
James,
This is a good technique because it accomplishes at least two important feats; one is to improve engagement and participation, and the other is to stimulate the mind by doing a diiferent activity. Sometimes students don't thing discussion is really an educational activity, more social. So for those students they benefit even when in their thinking, they're just talking with classmates.
Barry Westling
