Tips fr Engaging Students in Learning: Alternatives t Lecture Cntents INTRODUCTION... 2 GROUND RULES... 2 WAIT TIME... 2 GIVE ME FIVE... 2 PROVIDE POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT... 2 THE RULE OF TEN AND TWO... 3 THINK, PAIR, SHARE... 3 SNOWBALLING... 3 THE 60 SECOND BUZZ... 3 60 60, 30 30... 3 SOMETHING I HAVE LEARNED AND SOMETHING I CAN USE... 4 FREE WRITE... 4 THE ONE MINUTE PAPER... 4 GROUP ACTIVITIES... 4 PREVIEW THE TOPIC... 5 BEGIN THE CLASS WITH A CHECK IN... 5 FINDING A PARTNER... 6 THUMBS UP, THUMBS DOWN... 6 STAND UP IF YOU AGREE... 6 VALUES LINE... 6 1
Intrductin Learning is ptimized when students are actively engaged in learning. Research n teaching and learning shws that mst f us remember: 10% f what we read 20% f what we hear 30% f what we see 50% f what we bth see and hear 70% f what we have discussed with thers 80% f what we have experienced persnally 95% f what we teach smene else The fllwing are a cllectin f ideas that can be used as alternatives r supplements t lecture in a cllege classrm. Chse the activities that fit yur teaching style and the learning style f the students in yur classrm. Grund Rules Setting grund rules is a gd way t create a safe space fr grups. If the grup creates the grund rules, they will have wnership ver the prcess (this desn t mean that yu can t suggest rules t!). If yu re having prblems, bring it back t the grund rules it s like yur safety net ( Hey! What did we agree t in the grund rules?! r maybe we need a new grund rule abut ). Sme gd basic grund rules are we wn t talk ver each ther and we will respect what ther peple have t say. Ask grup t suggest grund rules and keep track f them. Wait Time When asking the class a discussin questin, be sure t wait fr the respnse. It is a gd idea t wait a minimum f six secnds fr students t frmulate their answers. The silence is uncmfrtable fr students and it is likely that smene will prvide an answer. Give Me Five When asking a discussin questin, tell the class that yu want at least five answers. When the first student prvides an answer, say That was a gd start, give me anther answer. Cntinue until yu get at least five answers. Make sure t have enugh wait time t get respnses. This is a gd technique t engage mre students in the discussin. Yu can als say, I wuld like answers frm students wh have nt had the pprtunity t participate yet tday. Prvide Psitive Reinfrcement Encurage discussin by prviding psitive reinfrcement t all students wh participate in the discussin. This can be difficult if yu d nt like the respnse, disagree with it r the respnse prvides incrrect infrmatin. Be creative in thinking f respnses that prvide psitive 2
reinfrcement fr participatin. Give students in the class the pprtunity t crrect r add t the infrmatin presented. Here are sme examples: Thank yu fr yur answer. Des anyne want t add t that? That s an interesting idea. What d the rest f yu think abut it? That s a cntrversial tpic. Des smene have a different pint f view? Thanks fr getting the discussin ging. Let s hear sme mre ideas. The Rule f Ten and Tw Fr every ten minutes f lecture, students shuld have at least tw minutes t talk t each ther abut what is being presented. Here is an analgy t think abut. A cllege lecture is like a stick f gum. It is nly when students chew the gum that they get smething ut f it. It is imprtant fr students t interact with the material in rder t retain the infrmatin and becme engaged in learning. Think, Pair, Share Pse a questin t the class and ask each student t think abut the answer silently fr 30 secnds. After 30 secnds, ask students t turn arund and ask the persn behind them the same questin. Let students discuss the issue fr abut 2 minutes. Then ask fr vlunteers t share their best ideas. Here is an example: Yu have an imprtant assignment that is due sn, but yu have been prcrastinating and find it difficult t get started. Hw can yu mtivate yurself t get started and avid prcrastinatin? Snwballing The instructr begins by psing a questin fr discussin. The first step is that the student thinks abut the answer. Then the student jins with anther student and shares the answer. Then the 2 students jin with 2 ther students and share answers. This grup f fur can jin with anther grup t have a grup f eight. The 60 Secnd Buzz Prvide a questin fr discussin and give 60 secnds fr discussin. Share ideas frm the 60 secnd buzz 60 60, 30 30 In this discussin technique, students are asked t find a partner. They decide wh is number ne and wh is number tw. Number ne must talk abut the tpic fr 60 secnds withut stpping. N questins can be asked during this time. Then student number tw must talk abut the tpic fr 60 secnds withut repeating the ideas discussed by number ne. Again n questins are asked. Then 3
student number ne respnds r adds t the discussin fr 30 secnds. Then student number tw des the same. The instructr asks fr five students t stand and share ideas with the grup. The instructr can facilitate the vlunteering by circulating arund the rm and listening in n the grups. When the instructr hears a gd idea, he r she asks the student t reprt n their ideas at the end f the discussin. This technique als wrks well fr reviewing a tpic. Smething I Have Learned and Smething I Can Use Use this activity at the end f class. Have students find a partner fr discussin. Have students decide wh is number 1 and wh is number 2 in the discussin pair. Student number 1 discusses fr 30 secnds smething they have learned and smething they can use. Student number 2 discusses the same questin fr 30 secnds. Then there is pen discussin fr ne minute. Ask fr vlunteers t share with the class what they are learned and hw they can use it. Free Write Intrduce a tpic by prviding a brief lecture, reading a shrt newspaper article r shwing a vide. Ask students t write whatever cmes t mind in five minutes. At the end f five minutes, ask students t underline their best sentence. Ask fr vlunteers r call n students t read their best sentence. The One Minute Paper Anther variatin f free writing is the One Minute Paper. It is a ne minute written respnse t a questin psed by the instructr. It can be n any tpic, but here are sme ideas: What is ne thing that yu will remember frm class tday? What was the mst surprising idea in tday s discussin? What was the mst useful idea discussed tday? Wuld yu agree r disagree with this statement? Why? What was the majr bjective f tday s class? The One Minute paper can be used at the beginning f class t start a discussin. It can be used in the middle f class t check understanding r get student feedback n key ideas presented in the class. It can be used at the end f the class as a summary activity. Have vlunteers read the ne minute paper r call n students t read their papers. Instructrs can ccasinally cllect the papers fr participatin credit r just use them fr discussin. Grup Activities Using grup activities can be ne f the best ways t invlve students in learning. Here are sme guidelines fr effective grups: Give clear directins fr the grup befre students start mving int the grups. Set a definite time limit fr the grup. Mst discussin grups shuld be arund 5 7 minutes. Remember the task expands t fit the time available. 4
Establish a quta f what is t be accmplished. Challenge the grup t cme up with 10 ideas in 5 7 minutes. Get students int grups quickly and have a methd fr getting students int grups. There are many ways t get students int grups. Each rw is a grup Cunt ff as in sprts teams Have grup assignments fr the week, mnth r semester. T get all students invlved, make sure every grup member has a rle t play. Here are sme examples f rles: Reprter: Reprts best ideas f grup. Leader: Keeps the grup n task Nte Taker: Takes ntes Time Keeper: Makes sure the grup finishes n time Discussin Leader: Get all members f the grup t participate Writer: Writes the best ideas n the bard One prblem with grups sharing discussin is that the first grup reprts n all the best ideas and then the rest have less t say. Use the rapid fire technique fr reprting frm each f the grups. When grups share infrmatin, each grup shares ne idea and the next grup rapidly shares an idea until all ideas are exhausted. In this way, the discussin mves quickly and each grup has equal pprtunity t share. Preview the Tpic Briefly intrduce a tpic fr discussin. Divide students int grups (4 5 students per grup) and ask them t brainstrm everything they knw abut the tpic. Appint a recrder and a reprter fr each grup. The recrder takes ntes n the ideas. The reprter shares ideas with the class. Have each grup share ne idea and then g t anther grup. Once an idea has been presented, it cannt be repeated by ther grups. Alternate grups until there are n mre new ideas. This is a great starting pint fr discussin and prvides the backgrund fr presenting new ideas. Here is an example: Hw shuld students prepare fr a midterm exam in cllege? In this example, students wuld share ideas with the small grup. Then reprters wuld share the best ideas with the class. The instructr wuld use the discussin as an intrductin t the tpic f exam preparatin and add ideas and a summary t the discussin. Begin the Class with a Check in Spend a cuple f minutes at the beginning f the class with ne f these questins: What is smething gd that happened t yu since the last class? What is distracting yu frm being fully present is class tday? D yu have any news t share with the class? Ask fr vlunteers t answer the questin. The Check in has several gd utcmes. The instructr gets t knw students in the class. The atmsphere in the class is mre persnal. This is mtivating fr sme students. The instructr knws abut prblems that students are facing. 5
Finding a Partner When instructrs ask students t find a partner fr discussin, students ften chse the same persn each time limiting cnversatin with ther students in the class. Fr variety, ask students t find a partner based n ne f the fllwing ideas: Find a partner wh: Was brn in the same mnth as yu Has the same she size Has the same majr Has the same clr shirt Went t the same high schl Use yur imaginatin and be creative t help students talk t a variety f students in the class. Thumbs Up, Thumbs Dwn Often instructrs pse a questin t a class and students hesitate t answer. Ask a questin and then ask students t vte n whether they agree r if the statement is true r false. Students vte thumbs up fr agreement. They shake their thumbs up if they agree very much. They pint thumbs dwn if they disagree. Pint thumbs t the side if undecided. Stand Up if Yu Agree A variatin n the abve is t ask students t stand up if they agree with a statement r reverse the prcedure and have students stand up if they disagree. This gets students ut f their seats and fcuses their attentin n the discussin. Values Line Place a sign in the frnt f the classrm which says, Strngly Agree. Place anther sign in the back that state, Strngly Disagree. Read a values statement and ask students t frm a grup near the sign that represents their pinin. A neutral grup can be frmed in the middle. Ask students t find a partner in their grup and discuss the reasns fr chsing the grup. Then ask students t find a partner in the ppsite grup and discuss the tpic with smene wh has a different pinin. Here are sme examples f values statements: Ptential earnings are the mst imprtant factr in chsing a career. It is mre imprtant t find yur passin rather than t be wealthy. Cramming is an effective way t study fr an exam. Yu are mre likely t be successful in business if yu are a judging persnality type. Yu are what yu think. Yur attitude determines yur behavir. Mst f the abve article is frm: http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:4l 2PDzk7TMJ:www.cllegesuccess1.cm/InstructrManual4thEd/TipsfrEngagingStudents.dc+Practical+Tips+fr+engaging+students&cd=9 &hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca&utm_surce=swmarketing&utm_medium=email&utm_cntent=6298731&utm_campaign=sem%20canada%3a%2 0Vl%2010%2C%202009 6