Quiet Class
I am a new instructor this quarter who has little experience in the classroom. My energy level and enthusiasm is very high along with my passion for the course content (Professional Development...resumes, cover letters, interviewing). My class is small (less than 10) and very motivated yet very quiet. I'm wondering if anyone has suggestions on how to better engage the students adn encourage participation?
Hi Peter,
You are doing a good job of bringing variety to your classroom. The change of pace and different learning opportunities help the students to stay engaged in the learning process. This is what good teaching is all about.
Gary
I also have the students introduce themselves and explain their background and what they expect to get out of the course. I find this to be a good way to break the ice. I also usually try to mix lectures with group activities that review what was discussed. I have the students quiz or teach each other the material and then randomly rotate the groups so students meet others in the class that they have not worked with
Hi Amy,
This is was a great strategy and can be used currently. This is way to get the students contributing more to the course while still offering a required course that they may not value.
Gary
I agree, when I was in college I was in a class similar to what your teaching, was a requirement. This is something that our teacher did on a regular basis. Would pair us up at first to do interviews with just one person, as the class progressed it increased in numbers so that we were prepared for multiple people in an interview asking questions. It made a rather nerve wracking class a lot more relevant in what we did.
Hi Steven,
This is a great way to get students settled into the course and talking with each other. The sharing of some general information about themselves helps others know them better plus it gets them in front of people. The ability to communicate effectively is a critical part of every career so the more opportunities they have to do so the better.
Gary
I suppose part of it depends on the type of course. I have a couple techniques I use to get students to open up and communicate, but it depends on rather the course is a gen ed or a lab oriented course.
One thing that I always do, first day of class, is to make each student stand up in front of the class and tell the rest of the class a bit about themselves. It only takes maybe ten minutes, it breaks the ice, and it provides a little bit of a comfort zone.
In a lab oriented course, especially in their first couple of terms, I'll often find a way to make the projects revolve around who the students are as people. For instance, in a Design Fundamentals class, I might have them design a website layout for a page promoting their favorite genre of music. This typically results in the students finding common ground to start conversations, which, in turn, increases comfort, and, by extension, allows them to feel less nervous about speaking in front of the class. It's a bit of tangential way to do it, but it's proven effective.
Perhaps you could set up mock scenarios and a "what would you do in this situation" discussion. This would work with interview questions or best practices in interviews, what to do and what to avoid. You could put students in pairs or two groups and task them with something that then needs to be presented to the class by them. In a word usage class, I had students define words and create example sentences in small groups and then present those to the class. That creates a community bond in the class to help students feel more comfortable with each other.
Hi Melissa,
I would get the students involved in mock interviews right away. This will get them to talking with each other and should lead them into participating more in the general class discussions.
Gary
