by far one of the hardest things to do in a classroom setting is to keep your students engaged. A lot of classes students enroll in it's because they must and not because they want too. I almost always assign group work in my classes since they keep the students interacting with each other;which they usually feel more comfortable doing then speaking out loud in front of everyone. Using examples that relate to them directly is also another technique I like to use. Students pay more attention when something becomes personal.
Be an "active" instuctor. Move around class. Gestures.
I agree humor is great I also use sports.
short videos, guess speakers,class discussions are things I use in class.
I will focus in the on-line environment as it is mainly the modality I facilitate in...
1. Make the topic interesting and relevant.
2. Encourage timely participation.
3. Ask two or three open-ended discussion questions to provide opportunity for ongoing dialogue.
4. Encourage clear, concise dialogue.
5. Rotate students or groups.
6. Create a safe environment, where no one feels attacked.
7. Make expectations clear.
8. Extensive use group discussions.
Regards
Gilbert,
Like your model and style of delivery. Sounds like you are doing a good job with moving your students through a lot of material while keeping them engaged. This is the sign of a dedicated professional and I commend you for your efforts.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Gerald,
All the things you listed are going to help you be successful in your instructional impact on your students. Humor is a great resource to use to help students relax and appreciate time spent in class.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Robin,
Students like change of pace and variety in instructional delivery. You are offering both with your approach and this is so important in longer sessions like yours. I teach from 4 until 10 pm so I can relate to the challenge of teaching long duration courses and keeping the interest of students.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
My class runs for 3 hrs most days. But the 3 hours could be spread over 6. Pharmacology is a very intensive course. I also emphasize that there are no stupid questions in my class. I also make them laugh a lot through role playing. I also put students in small groups of three and direct questions to each group rather than individuals. By directing questions to the group, students feel much less intimidated.
Instructors that injected humor in their lectures always kept me interested. I hope I'm able to use humor as appropriate. I look forward to using videos, guest speakers and may be some tactile things from the lab at times.
The class that I teach is 4 hours. Usually I start off with the lecture. Then we take a 15 minute break. My class requires a lab so then I will have the students do some hands on. This allows them to get up out of their seat and participate rather than listening to me lecture. I will hold demonstrations and sometimes ask the students to demonstrate to the class. They are very proud to show their classmates their knowledge and skill.
Kimberly,
These are all great ways to help students to reset their thinking and get their minds focused on the content being offered. Also you are helping them to see relevance and application through these discussion and hands on activities.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
When ever possible I try to divide the lecture time up with some type of demonstration or activity. Either breaking up the class into groups to work on a problem/case study or Q & A review games or demo the skills, something to help reinforce the lecture message.
I think this is a great idea. My class will be 2 hours in lecture and then 2 hours in lab. I incorporate funny stories as examples of the content we are studying to keep the students engaged.
Jose,
I teach from 4 until 10 pm so I can relate to your situation. Yes, it is a long evening that requires a lot of change of pace and variety to keep the students engaged. They are tired from working all day and just want to sit so I get them up moving around, working in small groups, making presentations, etc.. Helps the time to go by but I will say that at 10 pm I am worn out because takes a lot of energy to keep them focused for that long.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Katrina,
This is a good strategy to follow because you have your students anticipating the next phase of the class. This is what learning should be about and it makes the classes a lot more fun for everyone.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I teach in the evenings from 6pm to 11pm twice a week. It is very difficult to keep the students engaged for that period of time. I find a combination of young students, right out of high school and older students, coming back for second careers. It is a challenge to keep both demographics engaged.
I found that when I am moving through more than one chapter, if I plan an interactive but knowledgeable activity the students are eager to go on to the next chapter and the next activity.
To keep my students engaged in learning is by keeping them involved in the chapter reading in the class especially on the examples given in the book and have them to related it to the actually assignment that they are working on. Having the student to find the example that is related to the one that they are currently working has been a great help for me. This will give me the opportunity to make sure they have read the chapter and if they have not this is a time that they will have to read to find the answer to help them with the problem at hand. Even after wehave work through a probelm together as a class.
Rollin,
Sharing stories like this are valuable to the students because they keep them interested in the class while learning about thing to do and not to do when they are in the field.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
