How to get uninterested students interested?
How could I get uninterested students interested?
Hi Jennifer,
I agree, it is important to involve the students. This is an awesome strategy to help keep the student's motivated and encourage them to continue to work towards their goal. It is amazing how real world scenarios help student's grasp concept of the initial information. It also helps increase their public speaking skills, and confidence level. We are dealing with a new generation of students; reading out of the book word from word is just not happening anymore. We have to stay up to date with our students and find ways to maintain their interest. I enjoyed reading your posting!!
Hello William,
After a certain period of time, students seem to loose focus. A good strategy will be to make the subject interesting immediately when class begin. Maybe introducing the subject and then have them elaborate on it with their personal experiences. This is relative in many subjects, it will definitely keep their interest. Incoporating activities is also helpful. It is important to learn your students likes and dislikes, this gives you an idea of how creative you need to be in order to keep their attention. It their are constant communication with their classmates while you are teaching, try to involve that student by asking he/she questions or assigning a specific chore such as operating the powerpoint slides while you review them etc. Hopefully, this is helpful and good luck with the remainder of the course.
I always respected the professors that acknowledged the fact that a topic was less than mind-blowing; however, the content was valid and necessary. These professors explained the relevance of what was being discussed and gave specific examples of how the "boring" content would apply to my career in the future. Whenever possible, I try to provide the same explanation of relevance to my students. While the content I present isn't always interesting in the eyes of my students, the uninterested students are at least given the opportunity to see the validity of my lessons.
I certainly hope so, I know how it felt when I was the student and I wanted to take part in the class but understood that this was not a typical interaction of the class. I hear all to often the need for more "hands on" or group interaction, and I want to provide the best learning environment for my students while maintaining the integrity of the curriculm that is usually prescribed.
William
Hi William,
I think this is a good plan and that you will start to see more student interaction. Students like to talk among themselves and work together to solve problems. Your approach will allow that to happen.
Gary
One of the things that I have been having trouble with is students that do not pay attention in class. I ask the students questions but try to not point them out specifically to often because I do not want them to get discouraged. On the other hand, if I do not call on them I never know if they are paying attention. This is something I have been thinking about a lot lately and decided that I will push more activity to the student and pull away from the lecture portion, that way the students are more interactive with the course material.
Hello Dana,
I believe that developing a wholisitic understanding of your students will help you to bring teaching and learning to where they are. Sometimes, unconventional methodologies may have to be utilized in order to reach students where they are. Do not "dummy down" the subject -- but strive to make it relevant to their understanding and place in life.
I agree that making the content relevant to the student is probably the best way to gain their interest. Finding real-world applications, especially ones that relate to the students' desired career fields, has worked wonderfully for me. But sometimes making that connection is more difficult. One challenge I face is making art history relevant. Rather than regurgitate endless names and dates I prefer to focus on ideas and themes. For example, in discussing ancient pictographs (picture writing) we discuss concepts related to communication, writing and cultural context. To illustrate their importance and relevance I show my students modern examples of pictographs (road signs, bathroom signs) and we play a 'Telephone'-like game in which students have to pass on a message by drawing pictures rather than writing. It's interactive and fun and gets at all sorts of issues related to pictorial communication. Make the content relevant and look for creative (fun?) ways to deliver it.
Hi Jennifer,
I am a big fan of this method. I use case studies that are based on "real world" examples that I have worked through as a consultant. My students, like yours really like these. They get them excited about what they are going to be able to do when they complete their classes.
Gary
One of my favorite things one of my professors did to keep us interested in what appeared on the surface to be a very boring subject was to give us a real world scenario and tell us to figure out the solution in a discussion. It not only showed that the material was useful and applicable, but also taught us to weave together different things we had learned throughout the term.
I show students 2 to 3 examples of successful work and an example of 1 unsuccessful work and have them compare the two.
Dana,
When issues such as this come up, I talk with the student to find out what they are interested in and try to relate the course to their interest. My classes tend to be a managable size, so I can take the time to learn about students. I may also start them off with very simple excercises to see how they respond and how they think in their problem solving abilities.
Hi Dana,
Try to get them to become invested in the course content. Have them do projects and activities that they can use outside of class. Help them to see the relevancy and application of what they are learning. Create teams and have competitions over the course content. Students really become involved with competitions. Help them to see the return on their investment (ROI)for their efforts.
Gary
