I use a powerpoint presentation - that gets the students attention.
Hi Sharon,
There is nothing like meshing fun with learning! I like your idea!
Patricia
Hi Lise,
Students need to and want to hear about our experiences. Technology is a forever changing industry.
Patricia
My students enjoy my stories about how it was when I first started in the business. I kid around with them and let them know that someday they will be talking about their life experiences and looking back at the past and their audience will give them strange looks because technology will be even more advanced than it is now.
To keep from embarassing an adult student by asking the student a direct question, I have assigned students numbers. Then I ask the question, pause for reflection time, and roll the dice...the student/students with the assigned number matching the number on the rolled dice then answers the question.
This turns the class into a bit of fun and adds to the drama.
You can capture a student's attention by moving closer to the student as you move about the class room. It also helps to enlist students in planning activities and scheduling events/due dates/guest speakers. Students love to have a say in process of the course.
Planning to meet the needs of different learning styles on a day to day basis ensures the student will participate for at least a part of the lesson time.
Starting the class with a grabber...something fun, something shocking, a game, a video clip, a story starter, a team activity can also get the student engaged in learning.
Collecting a simple summary page, like a 3-2-1 at the end of class...and then referring to the summary the next class period...or grading the papers...can also encourage the student to participate in learning.
Peer pressure from a group can help the student to recognize that his/her input is important and required for success.
I agree. If students know how the lecture will relate to their future careers they are more likely to stay focused. Providing your own work experience and stories will also help.
Hi Debra,
It also helps to let them know that they will be tested on the material. You really get everyone's attention by stating this.
Patricia
Sometimes just supplying several visual aids really helps capture my students' attention. If I feel I am losing them, I will also have them all get up, move around, or take a break. I will also insert a real life story- they love the stories!
I place them in cooperative learning environments, especially with others with whom they usually do not talk. They often appear and sound more cooperating around a smaller group of their peers.
Hi Daniel,
Including students is a definite way to engage them. I make it a point to include all students on a daily basis.
Patricia
I include them in a discussion and try to utilize facts i know about them. This may include their major, likes and dislikes or their job if known. I try to get some of these facts about students on the first day when I assign a email project to send to me about themselves and how they learn. It helps me to know them and also lets me know if they know how to use their email!
While teaching a Project Management course which seemed a bit narrow in scope, I brought a guest speaker, a woman from Europe who had earned her Professional PM Certificate. She had immigrated to Canada 10 years earlier. She was able to explain how valuable a PM certificate was and the countless opportunities she had been presented.
A most difficult question as I teach online and live sessions are optional. I just encountered an assignment with 4 incidents of plagiarism, one students second. This is graduate level.
i always make it a point to move around the classroom when i lecture, and i look into everyone's eyes when i talk.
Hi Justin,
I bet those students that are not involved and have been given special assignments learn a lesson after the first time. I like it...
Patricia
Hi Nancy,
Smart tactic! I like it! Students always wonder why is she/he in the back teaching.
Patricia
I also try to ensure that the material I cover is what is needed for the assignments at hand. This helps to ensure all are listening to see what is required for the assignments.
One method I have used to deal with the students who sit on the back row and do not pay attention is to move myself to the back of the classroom, making it the "front". This works well when giving a powerpoint presentation. The students are looking forward to the front of the room but I stay in the back to lecture. This way I can see what is going on in the back and hopefully engage the students who tend to be less interested.
A great way to capture some students during class and to become familiar with each other is to move the desk around every other week. That way they are sitting next to someone new and that will break the ice.victoria
