Beth,
this is one of the first things I harp on with my public speaking students. It portrays weakness & a lack of self-assurance when we do not make eye contact.
Dr. Ryan Meers
I believe making eye contact with students is a vital tool in making the student feel important in the classroom. While teaching my professional development class, I usually spend some time having students practice making eye contact with me. It is not as easy for some; many students have thanked me later in their careers for learning the importance of making that eye contact.
Eye contact is certainly useful in regard to engaging students, gauging their understanding and needs at a particular moment (break, discussion, further explanation). It can also help to create an interpersonal bond between the teacher and the learner. It also can be used strategically to establish control and leadership in the classroom.
The value is that it shows the students that you are confident, that you are interested in them and what they have to share, that you "see" them and they are a valued member of the classroom
Maintainina eye contact with you students is very important so they have a feeling that you are truly listening to them because they see that you are focused on them. You as an instructor who maintains eye contact you are showing that what your students has to say is important and they are important in return.
In Psychiatric Nursing, eye to eye contact is not only a key aspect of the Mental Health Status. In the classroom, eye to eye contact enhances communication as it encourages both faculty and students to openly dialogue in a direct fashion. Thanks, Dr. G.
making eye contact with the students helps the students pay attention and focus on what i have to say during my lecture...
Renee,
this really is a great way to keep monitoring the progress & understanding of the students.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Maintaining eye contact engages the students more and gives me a heads up if they are or are not understanding something by there facial expressions. Eye contact and physical gestures encourages me to move forward or to delve into the material.
I agree with your points!If we look at each student, we can determine whether or not we "lost" any of them as we teach. Then we can adjust our lecture accordingly.
I believe that making eye contact with students is important. It makes each student feel valuable to the instructor and the class.
Eye contact minimizes classroom management problems and helps students to feel like the instructor cares about more than the material -- the instructor cares about the students as people.
It is very important to maintain eye contact with your students. One reason is that it will boost their confidence in knowing that you recognize them and two it also let them know that it is important to pay attention because you see them.
Maintaining eye contact with students is important during the delivering of instructions. It acknowledges the students as part of the learning process and that you are aware of their presence. And as a result, the students will be more attentive, knowing that if they are distracting from the class by pulling things on their computer monitors or texting, you may easily find out. Eye contact also shows that you respect the students as individuals. And more it allows you to read the students expressions and that can provide you with valuable cues on whether they understand or not so you can adjust your instructional delivery.
Having eye contact with students allows the instructor to gauge or read expressions. Some students may have bewildered looks but hesitate to ask questions. Also, maintaining eye contact with students shows that you acknowledge their presence.
I think it lets the individual student know that you are speaking to him or her and,I believe, it will keep them more engaged as the lecture proceeds.
There are some students, of course, who will feel uncomfortable with the eye contact. It doesn't take long at the beginning of a course to get to know your students and get an understanding on how the interaction with individual students should be.
In my experience, when I maintain eye contact with all of the students, one by one, as I am speaking, they tend to pay more attention to me. Several have remarked "if I'm looking down while you are talking or not paying attention and you look at me, I can feel it. I don't understand why, but I can."
I have found that the more eye contact I make, the more engaged the student is in my body language, my voice, my words, and my objective.
Also, if I cannot maintain eye contact with students, they feel that I am hiding something or that I may be "fibbing" on a subject (not knowledgable).
Maintaining temorary eye contact helps the instructor keep the class involved and allows the students to feel more relaxed.
It is very valuable. Eye contact draws the student's attention to you and what you are saying, as if you are speaking only to them. It also provides a level of comfort for the student by making you, the instructor, more approachable and more "human." The value of eye contact is not only for the student, but also valuable for us instructors; we can see if a student is lost or falling behind in class, we can gauge their level of enthusiasm or boredom, and eye contact can be used to negotiate through lecture material by determining what will need more explanation and review.
It makes the teacher-student contact more personable and should make the student feel that he/she is a real person and is important.
