Keeping the students engaged by:
*Hands on activities
*Group activities
*Question and answer session
Tone of voice using influctions to express key points
Use visual demonstrations
I utilize active learning techniques to encourage student attention. I have students actively apply what we are learning about in the classroom.
I find that you have to have multiple forums for presenting the information you are tring to teach. Variety always works best.
The way I capture a student attention is having him/her to be my assistant working with me. I also give him/her jobs dutys to research different chapters that he/she can give understanding to the class. It really works.
Hi John,
Students love it when active learning is taking place.
Patricia Scales
Hi Paul,
Wow, you do a fantastic job keeping your students engaged.
Patricia Scales
Hi Vance,
Great way to make interviewing apply to the real world.
Patricia Scales
Sometime are lecture isn't all that exciting so I have to bring into the classroom durning lecture different ways to keep their attention. I have them get up and stretch, I stop and do a little review game with them, have guest speakers come in. The more you interact with them during lecture, you keep them attentive and less from drifting off into lala land. This seems to work really well for me and the students like it also.
The courses that I teach require a great deal of hands on and role playing. This has not been a problem as of this date.
I change my method of delivery. If I am lecturing and losing students attention, I change to questioning or discussion. If I am using the computer, I move to small groups. Changing up the way I deliver the information seems to keep people focused.
By calling them out more and making themfeel like there is no wrong answer...
I utilize several methods to capture a student's attention. When speaking, I move around the room, between tables and behind students all the while asking questions. When I ask questions, I will call the student's name, either at the beginning of the question or at the end. "Johnny, what do you think about this?" or "What do you think about that, Johnny?" If the student is disengaged, I will use his/her name first. To keep them engaged, I will use their name last.
I also have the students stand and stretch and pass around show-and-tell items to get their hands moving and their minds involved.
Occasionally, I will temporarily suspend the presentation and talk for a minute or two, relating an anecdote that may or may not have anything to do with the subject. I find that this takes the stress off of their minds and opens them up to becoming involved in a discussion. When they're re-engaged, I continue with the presentation.
I also inject humor into my presentations that relate to their frame of reference about current events. Varying voice tone, pitch, inflection, volume, and even resorting to the use of a foreign accent keeps them on their toes, mentally.
During lecture, I like to go over a topic in a couple of different ways. First, I may have the classic lecture with slides, then I will show a video on the same topic (such as a mechanism for muscle contraction), and then I may draw out the process on the whiteboard. Finally, I proceed with the lecture on the next topic. By breaking topics up into smaller chunks, I find that it is easier to keep students engaged.
On the first day I have with Medical Terminology students I have them interview each other and then introduce their partners to the class. I tell them they will be tested over the material presented. As the introductions take place, I coach them about how note taking will be critial to their success in medical school, that paying attention to detail can save lives, etc. I also use the opportunity to tell them that they will constantly be preparing for job interviews in which they have to introduce themselves to prospective employers.
Move around the room instead of lecturing from the podium, call on students randomly, in a non-threatening way, create interactive activities during class instead of straight lecture.
Hi John,
How do you typically engage your students? I like to use variation of teaching methods, such as role playing, scenarios, case studies, group assignments to engage my students.
Patricia Scales
I keep any student that appears to be losing focus engaged.
Walk around the room, seek eye contact with them, ask a question on a topic that they may have experience in.
Hi Dennis,
A different voice works wonders. I like how you thought about not putting the inattentive student on the spot, yet this generally brings the student back.
Patricia Scales
Break the class into smaller groups.
