group environment
Every class has its' own specific environment, not necessarly coordinated by the instructor. Some classes are loud and boistrous; others are very quiet and not very responsive. What are your suggestions for students, in a class as a whole, have difficulty participating and to get students to participate. These are the classes where essentially no one can answer a question or cannot use critical thinking skills to answer a question. Perhaps this is a group speak phenomena.
Try having what I call an "icebreaker assignment". Have the students get into pairs. Give the students a question to answer on their own. Then after they've done that then have them share the answers with their partners. Then review the question with the whole class and share answers.
I personally like classes that are lively and sometimes bordering on boisterous. There is fine line between happy involvement and a party and I sometimes have to manage that with redirection. At the other extreme, I have never received what I consider a good instructor rating from a quiet class, which may help explain my preference. For a quiet class, I know that I have to prod, so I will sometimes ask why no one has asked me a question about _____________________ (I mention something specific and relevant). Again, silence. Again I ask, 'seriously, don't you want to know?'......more silence and then a timid 'yes' from someone. Then I say, 'well, ask me!' Sometimes at this point someone will ask and I will thank them for asking :-), Sometimes, I get sheepish smiles but no one is asking. At which point, I say, 'ok, well, if you are ever interested just ask. Till then, we move on.' And then, I just leave it hanging. They get a little perturbed that I would not just give it to them but it tends to open the door to having them take more responsibility for their learning. With a few more of these espisodes, by the 2nd or 3rd week of class, they will typically have come around to being more involved.
