T4E Teaching Book Study Lunch and Learn January 13, 2011 Introduction Elizabeth Barkley’s Student Engagement Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty Quote from the opening paragraph of the book What are your thoughts and/or experiences? Activity Student Engagement Technique #16 p. 219 Team Concept Maps Teams draw a diagram that conveys members’ combined understanding of a complex concept. Because a picture is worth a thousand words, graphic organizers are powerful tools for converting complex information into meaningful displays. Activity Directions On the first large post it paper, write the heading “Terms of Engagement” Brainstorm for a few minutes, writing down terms and short phrases that represent the most important components of “ENGAGEMENT” in the classroom. Choose a graphic organizer that your team believes best captures the relationships of the concept (for example, a spoked wheel, a flowchart, a network tree, a fishbone, etc.) Write the graphic organizer on the second large post it paper, and select a representative to share it with everyone. Barkley’s Venn Diagram Model of Student Engagement Student Engagement Motivation Active Learning Motivation = “student really care about what they’re learning; they want to learn; students demonstrate passion and excitement.” Active Learning = “students are trying to make meaning of what they are learning; involved in the academic task at hand; using higher order thinking.” Book Overview A Conceptual Framework for Understanding Student Engagement - Discusses a theoretical model for defining engagement in the college classroom as the synergistic interaction between motivation and active learning. From Theory to Practice. Explores what student engagement looks like in practice, drawing from interviews with six college with reputations among students for being effective, engaging teachers. Tips and Strategies – Offers practical advice on how to increase motivation, promote active learning, build community, help students learn holistically, and ensure students are appropriately challenged. Student Engagement Techniques (SETs) – Included step-bystep directions for fifty learning activities that can be used across many disciplines. Book Study Overview – See Handout January: A Conceptual Framework for Understanding Student Engagement - Participants will read and discuss a theoretical model for defining engagement on pages 3 – 44. Action Step for February: Read pages and consider at least one of the Student Engagement Techniques (SETS) to implement in at least one of your classes this semester. The SETS will be discussed in April. February: From Theory to Practice. Participants will read and discuss six interviews with highly effective and engaging college teachers on pages 45 – 77. Action Step for March: Select one of the five chapters on Tips and Strategies as your area of focus and be prepared to share highlights of your chapter with your colleagues. March: Tips and Strategies - Each participant will focus on one chapter and share with the group highlights of the tips and strategies learned from that chapter. The chapter topics include fostering motivation, promoting active learning, building community, ensuring students are properly challenged, or promoting holistic learning. Action Step for April: Be prepared to share the results of implementing at least one of the Student Engagement Techniques (SETS) in at least one of your classes. April: Student Engagement Techniques (SETS) - Each participant will describe at least one SET that the instructor implemented in his/her classes this semester. Decide the Basic Parameters Location? Food? Additional Ideas? HAVE FUN!