Grab a Post-it Note
Think about your average
class. For (approximately)
what percentage of the
instructional minutes are
your students actively
engaged and participating?
Come up to the board and place the stick-it note
in the column representing that range of minutes.
Teaching Excellence Center:
New Faculty Development Series
Strategies to Promote
Active Student Engagement in
the Classroom
Heather Olson Beal
Department of Secondary Ed. & Ed. Leadership
olsonbehk@sfasu.edu
Workshop Topics
Teachercentered
Instruction
Studentcentered
Instruction
Strategies
Let’s get started.
Teacher-centered
instruction
How do teachers and professors usually teach? What does research show?
What does the research show?
1. Get out your cell phones.
2. Think for 1 minute about
what kind of teaching
strategy or activity
occupied the majority of
the last 10 class sessions
you taught.
Research Findings:
• Most common: Lecture (92.8% of
respondents – lectured 4 or more class
sessions; 52.6% - lectured during all 10 of the
class sessions)
• Next most common: Full-group discussion
(7.55 of the 10 sessions)
• What’s wrong with full-group discussion?
• 20% of students use up 80% of the time in a
full group discussion
Which strategies are most effective?
• Two most effective: Hands-on activities and Practical
Exercises
• 7th most effective : Lecture
• What’s wrong with lecture?
• Retention and student engagement/participation are low
• In a 50-min. lecture, students are attentive to the lecturer
approximately 40% of the total lecture time
• First 10 min. of a lecture: student retention is approx. 70%
• Last 10 min. of a lecture: student retention is approx. 20%
• Lecture is a teacher-centered approach
(Smith and Valentine, 2012; Lang, 2008)
But lecture was good enough for me!?
• Teacher-centered approaches won’t work
anymore
• Higher ed. under increased scrutiny
• Lots of feedback from employers saying that
college graduates are not prepared for the
workforce. They struggle to engage in
independent, critical thinking and with written
communication skills (Arum & Roksa, 2010).
Shift Happens
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVQ1ULfQa
wk
Student-centered
Instruction
What does student-centered instruction look like?
Student-centered instruction is . . .
•
•
•
•
Active
Varied
Challenging
Flexible –
student
choice
• Collaborative
• Reflective
Student-Centered
Strategies
So how do we make our instruction more student-centered?
Maximize your Instructional Minutes
• Don’t try to control things you can’t control.
• Be selfish with your instructional time. Use up
every minute.
• 3 credit hour course = only 1.7% of our
students’ time per week
• Make sure how you spend your limited time in
class matches how you will assess students.
Strategies for Active Participation
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Graphic Organizers
KWL
Jigsaw Activity
Think-Pair-Share
Anticipation Guides
Cue cards / physical symbols
Knowledge Rating
Cubing
Strategies, cont.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The Minute Paper
Entrance/Exit cards
Poll Everywhere
Inside-Outside Circle
Carousel Walk
Numbered Heads Together
Sketch to Stretch
Inkshedding
3-2-1 / Think-Pair-Share
• 3 active participation strategies you’ve tried
that worked
• 2 that you’re interested in trying out
• 1 question/concern that you still have
Wrap-up
Above all, remember that we’re not teaching a
subject; we are teaching students. And when
we do that, it requires us to use different
strategies to meet the students’ needs and to
keep them actively engaged.
What’s
Your Message?
Good luck!