I have tried this and it works most of the time; however I find that if the subject matter is interesting to them I will try to ask more from them as far as participation is concerned
Brenda,
This is a great technique. You need to develop rapport with the students.
Judy Mohammed
I would approach them outside of class and get to know what they enjoy in the way of class activities and then during questions I would always be encouraging and enthusiastic when they participate.
Philippe,
This is a good technique. You need to build rapport also by getting them to talk about themselves and their interests.
Judy Mohammed
Discuss the subject before the class tells them to come 30 minutes early
Patricia,
Try to talk to the quiet students out of class on diverse topic to establish rapport. You begin to build trust and it is easier to get them to speak up in class.
Judy Mohammed
Your right, I don't want to embarrass the student or make them feel uncomfortable. But in the medical field, the worker has to speak up and interact. So trying to get the quieter students out his or her "shell". It is hard, but I like to hear their voices.
Patricia,
I also ask if everyone agrees with the answers. For students who do not have corect responses, I try to go back to how they may have gone wrong so that they could fully understand, but I do it as gently as I can.
Judy Mohammed
Carlos,
You are so right, we need to start conversations with our students and get them to open up a bit. Once the trust is established , we will then get our students to participate more.
Judy Mohammed
When I ask a question, I have everyone give an "answer". without having the same students respond. Most of the time the quiet students just shrug shoulders, but you it gets them to see what my method will be about for the class section. No one will get by without giving some kind ofanswer. Even if its wrong--I ask everyone "do you agree on the answer".
I find that if I speak to them during class discussions and not really ask them questions that take a lot of thought eventually they open up and participate in the question and answer sessions. Most of the time that the students are quit and don’t answer questions is because they don’t want to be embarrassed if they answer wrong so I try to show them that I the instructor don’t know everything either.
Sara,
I'm glad that you find the forums helpful. I find it more difficult to teach a class of 5 than one of 15. I enjoy student interaction and we miss that in smaller classes. I try to meet the quiet students (the ones that concern me) before or after class and during breaks and I just talk to them about any topic, usually things that interest them. I keep doing this and sometimes I may mention that I was speaking to Student A before and I was surprised to learn x, y, and z. This brings them to the discussion without them having to do so and they begin to build trust. They understand that I listen and I value what they say. This often leads to their participation in classes.
Judy Mohammed
It's a class of 5 students, so it's already quite small ;), but when we do group projects I assign them into groups of 2 and 3 and ask that they work with the person(s) that they know the least...it's pretty neat not only to see them get to know each other but to share ideas and new viewpoints.
Judy, do you have any other suggestions for engaging quieter students...I have one student who becomes visibly anxious when I call on her and I'd like to make sure she's comfortable and not feeling taxed in class discussions. Thank you, I'm learning a lot from these forums, very helpful!
Sara,
Did you break them into small groups?
Judy Mohammed
Juan,
This is a very good teaching technique. you can also try having conversations with them outside of class about general topics so that they can open up to you.
Judy Mohammed
I tried this last night, and not only did it work, two of my other quieter students joined the discussion! Thanks so much Juan, great advice!
For those student that usually don't participate openly, I encourrage them by asking them questions that I think they know the answer.
So if they answer positibly they would feel more encourrage to participate more in class.
Erin,
Have you tried reaching out to them outside of class, perhaps on the breaks or before or after class?
Judy Mohammed
That is similar to what I do. I always struggle with calling on students who are shy or timid. I am so afraid of making them even more self conscious. I try to ask them questions I know they know...to help build their confidence and feel more secure in answering questions in front of the classroom. Slowly I challenge them more over the course of the semester and they typically rise to the occasion!
Erin
Sara,
I try to meet them before or after class, and during breaks. I start talking to them about thinbgs in general and as we become more comfortable, I ask them about being so quiet. I encouraage them to talk and by teh end of the class, I mostly succeed.
Judy Mohammed
