Student Participation
Active participation should be used more in assisting student to gain information.
Hi Destiny,
I like the way you do this. It helps to bring accountability to the classroom for all those involved.
Gary
I strongly encourage student participation. When I lecture, I call their names and use them in examples. I also call on them individually to answer specific questions. I find that this helps them stay attentive to and involved with the lecture.
I am noticing that answering student questions with questions gets them to think about the topic and eventually answer the question themselves. This gets the entire class involved in the answer.
I do the same thing in my classes, participation is a must, if we do not create exercises for particiaption regularly, then there are usually a few students that answer all the questions and the rest just sit there. Creating group activities in each class is very important to me. When they first start we do the "why have you chosen this career?" and such. I also throw something else at them like tell me something unsual about yourself or your favorite resturant. As the studnets go along in the program, our activities are more like senerios or group activites of hands on.
Student participation is a must in the therapeutic aspect of massage therapy. Sometimes it is difficult to get them to be the one who is demonstrated on because of the unknown.
Great ideas...thanks Gary!
Hi Marco,
This is very true for online students. They need to feel a part of the class and that their contributions are valued. The more we can do this the more they feel respected.
Gary
I would also like to add what I would do for this as well. If we want to get student participation at a high percentage rate, we need to answer/respond to the initial posts that each student contributes, with a thought and also with a follow up question that involves the student, and the rest of the class. This will connect them and you will notice participation from almost all of the group.
Hi Lisa,
This is a good way to get everyone talking and interacting with each other without undue stress. You might want to give each group a question to respond to so they have something to work on after they have introduced themselves. I ask the groups questions like "How did you choose this field for your career?" "What kind of experience have you had in this field?" "Where do you see yourself in your career in five years?" The idea is to ask general questions that will get all of the students, including the shy ones talking.
Gary
I HAVE A LARGE CLASS AND MOST OF MY STUDENTS ARE A LITTLE SHY AND I LET THEM BREAK INTO GROUPS AND HAVE THEM SHARE SOME OF THE THINGS THEY MY HAVE IN COMMON AND TELL EACH OTHER ALITTLE SOMETHING ABOUT THEMSELVES
I'm fortunate to be teaching Cosmetology-This is such a creative field. We can play board games with study flash cards. There are endless possibilities for us.
I encourage student interaction between themselves and me by posing a fictional situation which has both an obvious and subtle errors. I challenge a student to correct the scenario, then allow other students to critique the answers and to find the not so obvious error. Then to this scenario, I ask for suggestions for a more effective and efficient situational change.
I agree-- the hardest part is getting/facilitating that active participation. I find that class dynamic is a huge factor in how much or little a class participates. Better understanding how each class interacts with each other can greatly improve participation. I've had classes that have loved to participate in whole class discussions and others that have done better, been more active, and ultimately gained more by using small groups.
