As an instructor of Psychology, I often encounter students who lack interest in the subject matter. Many students view the class as little more than a requirement to earn the desired degree. To make the content more interesting and practical to the students, I often times assign them case studies to resolve. Since my students are culinary arts majors, the case studies often pertain to hotel/restaurant management scenarios. The scenarios generally increase student engagement, but there are still those who have little interest in the course. What are some other strategies that you have used to promote student engagement in the classroom?

Teaching is about listening, learning, sharing and discussing. When sharing or instructing a subject, the most important way to be a part of that subject and your class is by being able to understand what is being absorbed. Without feedback I cannot relate or understand what my students need and understand. I therefore at the same time am being taught by my students how to be a better teacher/facilitator. Learning what is needed from me will enrich my students with my teaching skills, soft skills and hard skills.

I find it to be a very easy transition when new students enter into my classroom. Yes there are nervous feelings and some jitters but I am a people person and I have always been able to relate to people of many different walks of life. One thing do is give my new students a "Welcome to my Class" gift and that breaks the ice immediately. Throughout the years I've noticed that little acts of selflessness will carry any person a long way not just myself, I also am standing at the door to greet my students when they walk in and i also provide them with info to contact me after school hours.

Early in my Police Career I came across a training Sgt. who always reiterated that there are no dumb questions. Mostly this was a safety issue, since we are working with some equipment that could be dangerous if not used correctly. I always encourage and tell this to my students to ease their fear of asking questions. I want them to engage me as I engage them. I believe this promotes learning.

In my many years of schooling I always appreciated the instructors who used many different approaches to getting the material across to the students. Lecture, Power Points and other visual aides, Guest Speakers, round table discussions is the approach I utilize. I attempting to reach all the different learning styles out there so everyone has a fair shot at grasping the material.

In what year did Chevrolet introduce the small block chevy V8 engine What was the impact on the racing and hotrod industry after its introduction ?

Using different types of questions in your class helps the instructor in many ways; Gauging whether they understand the material in the lectures, can they answer questions after they perform manipulative skills, then see if they are prepared to take an exam many days (sometime weeks) after the lecture and hands on tasks. So reviewing the information keeps the lesson fresh in thier minds.

the more you instruct a class you will learn the areas which the student normally have trouble understandind an you can ask questions inthose areas .... knowing that a lot of student donot fully understand the material completely as of yet and asking questions will reinforce there knoeledge.

Asking different types of questions closed,open ectis a critical component of seeing how well the students are understanding the material also lets you see how you may adapt to there learning style.

As a new instructor I have been working on polishing my presentations so that I will appear more professional in my students eyes. They know I am a new at this. Do you have any specific tips to help me improve my 'polish'

make them realize that their disability is not a hindrance for their success.

group assignment is helpful in order for them to work together.

It is very important to get engaged to our students.

When asking students questions in class I will choose 3 students for the same question only one can answer the question. All 3 students will talk about the question and then produce the answer. At that point I will be able to probe for how the student got the answer. This how I would get the quite and self esteem students active in the class.

After I ask a question I will look at each student in the class after I have looked at the last one I will call on the current eager beaver. I wont force eye contact, I just use this to provide proper wait time. Once answered I try to repeat the answer before any indication of right or wrong. Then based on the correctness of the response I will proceed.

As an automotive instructor I have an interesting course, service writing, because it is the only course that the students take here that really doesn't involve cars, but the people who own them. I am aware that this is a hard course to get the students motivated to care about so I am taking the approach that on the first day of the class I make sure that they are having fun, but the fun is really hitting on just how important this area is with todays customer. Bottom line, it creates a great first impression and really seems to get them excited about the course.

being an automotive instructor I feel that the best thing to do is add your experiences in the field to your daily teaching. The provided course material is great, but telling them about personal experiences that directly relate to what is being taught seems to really hit home for them.

We all need to be role models, but we need to do it in a way that the students stay engaged. There is nothing wrong with being a role model, but also be fun and exciting at the same time.

I always have a "canned presentation in my back pocket." Raising discussions in class can lead to going off topic which sometimes is not a bad thing, but if it gets too far off I try to slow the class and steer them back with some visuals to get them back on track. Of course sometimes if they are off topic but still in the course content I just let it flow.

I have a reputation that I project that the first days of kind of a by the book stern instructor. I like it that way - but I majorly lighten up after day 2 or 3. The fun thing is that Those students pass on to my future students " Chef Anderson is a tough instructor - keep your head down" Knowing full well that from day 2 or 3 on we have a lot of fun while learning the material. After that I try to poke fun at the materials by discussing cases and handling them in several ways, by the book, how a manager should handle it and then how I would handle it. This one usually get the most attention because my delivery is with some humor but handling the situation without damaging people doing the taks. Crack a joke, have the students do what I just said - it makes learning about the management of people which it a tough one in itself - fun because they see all sides of a situation and helps with a sense of humor as well.