Keeping Students Engaged in the Learning Process

In addition to finding value in the course material, students can find value in the learning process itself. Students are more motivated to attend classes if the instructor engages ‘fun’ and ‘interesting’ teaching practices. During one of our student focus group sessions, one of the Arts students mentioned that “especially in [subjects where] I find the material less interesting, when the prof seems excited or engaged or like like they want to be there and they try to make it fun and interesting that really helps me like show up to class because it’s just a nice environment to learn in”. In addition to being more motivating, most students find that engaging and interactive teaching methods improve their learning.

Discussions were the most frequently mentioned teaching practice. Students seem to value discussions because they have the opportunity to actively participate in the learning process and hear new perspectives. One Science student describes how discussions enhance motivation to attend class because they foster a sense of connection with the professor: “[discussions] kinda break the wall between you and the prof as well. [Whereas] I feel like if it’s a prof that only stands there and only talks to the class without interacting, … [I’d be] be less motivated to come”. Similarly, an Arts student describes how discussion enhances motivation to attend by forming social connections: “you kind of have more investment in that class because you have… [you] know other people”. Some students prefer small group or partner discussions as they provide more opportunities to for individual involvement than in larger discussions. In addition to discussions, students described a wide variety of interactive or otherwise engaging teaching practices instructors could incorporate in their classes to enhance student motivation to learn.

In addition to describing a number of ways that instructors can promote engagement in the learning process with active learning techniques, participants described how passive teaching practices tend to have the opposite effect. Dim lighting, speaking in a monotone voice and reading from the slides make it difficult for students to stay alert. One student describes this experience as “you may go to a lecture hall and then just sleep and then you know, not engaged and you feel like you’re wasting your time” (Science student). Taking the slides directly out of the textbook is equally demotivating: “it was honestly like word for word and like the exact examples were scanned in from the textbook so it’s really discouraging if you come to class and you’re like I could do this on my own” (Arts student). Students indicated that even within a passive learning environment – such as a traditional lecture – instructors can promote engagement by showing their passion and excitement for the course, by using humour or sharing anecdotes when appropriate.

It is worth noting that while most students prefer interactive teaching practices, there is a small minority of students who prefer more passive learning environments.

Although employing an interactive and entertaining teaching style may sound appealing, one instructor noted the challenge of keeping students interested throughout a class during the instructor focus group: “the problem is that students are busy and … I am competing with Hollywood, with Facebook, with Snapchat … I am competing with that because the students are overwhelmed with information, entertainment, news, all kinds of product and I’m just another channel.” (Instructor 10, Arts). Even though it may not be easy to compete with other channels that are vying for students’ attention, the teaching practice ideas below may help you create a more engaging learning experience for students.

Teaching Practices that Create an engaging learning process

  • Speaking in an engaging tone of voice
  • Using a variety of attention-getting strategies during the class (clickers, videos, questions, activities)
  • Incorporating humour as appropriate
  • Choosing interesting examples
  • Incorporating multi-media
  • Hand-writing notes
  • Encouraging students to ask questions
  • Asking students questions
  • In-class discussions
  • Clicker questions
  • In-class practice
  • Review sessions
  • Internships and community-based projects
  • Field trips and attending community events
  • Physical classroom space

Alright! It’s that time again. Students are not the only people who enjoy discussions – we do too! We’d love to engage in a dialogue with you about the above teaching practices! Do you see yourself implementing any of the above? Do you foresee any barriers in doing so? If so, what are some ways you can facilitate engagement despite these barriers?

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