University College of the North
Academic Development
October 2013
Student Engagement – Tip Sheet
In her book, Student Engagement Techniques A Handbook for College Faculty, Elizabeth Berkley asserts
that student engagement is the product of motivation and active learning (p. 6). She uses the word
product deliberately with the belief that either element (motivation or active learning) is missing,
students engagement will not occur. The tips listed and information provided are attributed to Barkely.
Motivation
When students want to learn, they are more
to learn. Often, if students are motivated,
many of the typical teaching challenges
disappear. How can you motivate students?
Below is a sample of the tips offered by
Berkley.
Tip 1 – Expect Engagement – let students know
that disengagement is not an option, talk to
seemingly board or disengaged student
privately, think about varying delivery (eg faceto-face, online), a disengaged student
undermines the morale of the entire class
while enthusiasm is contagious
Tip 2 – Develop and Display the Qualities of
Engaging Teachers – students are more likely
to engage if you nurture and display attributes
such as energy, enthusiasm, passion,
approachability, fairness and optimism.
Tip 3 – Promote Student Autonomy – provide
students with meaningful rationales, give
students choices of learning activities, allow
students to decide how to implement class
procedures, help students to use selfassessment procedures.
Active Learning
To learn something well and deeply, students
need to be actively participants in the learning
process. Active learning can involve analyzing,
thinking, reflecting, problem-solving,
demonstrating, performing, teaching, etc.
Samples of Berkley’s tip for active learning are
listed below.
Tip 1 – Be Clear on Your Learning Goals -- focus
on skill and abilities central to the discipline,
focus on enduring learning that can be
assessed
Tip 2 – Clarify Your Role – if your goal is to
promote active learning, your role in the
classroom changes, today’s college/university
instructor must be more than a dispenser of
information
Tip 3 – Active Prior Learning – have students
write a brief essay to describe, remember, or
understand aspects of the topic, interview
another student about the topic, use ThinkPair-Share, use graphic organizers to stimulate
recall of prior learning
Motivation (continued)
Active Learning (continued)
Tip 4 – Teach Things Worth Learning -expect students to achieve understanding
not simply knowing, encourage students to
transform and reflect on content to make
their own meaning, focus on learning how to
find and use information
Tip 4 – Teach in Ways That Promote
Effective Transfer – metaphors, analogies,
symbols and images can help students
understand and recall concepts, when
teaching similar concepts highlight the
differences up front, teach a skill just
before students have the real opportunity
to use it
Tip 5 -- Try to Rebuild the Confidence of
Discouraged and Disengaged Students –
provide clear directions and structure
including dividing assignments into
manageable parts, organize materials into
modules that allows students to move at
their own pace, guide students to tutorial
and other campus support programs, help
students to understand who they are as
learners, combine empathy with
determination and confidence that students
will meet established learning goals.
Motivation
Tip 5 – Limit and Chunk Information –
average working memory can handle
between 5 and 9 items of information at
once, adults can process an item for 10-20
minutes before mental fatigue or boredom
occurs and drifts – limit topics or items
from one to seven, chunk smaller and
similar components together, break up
presentations into sections interspersed
with other kinds of activities such as
discussion or writing.
Student
Engagement
Active
Learning
Barkley, E. (2010). Student Engagement Techniques A Handbook for College Faculty. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass
This tip sheet is distributed on behalf of the Academic Specialist. For additional information or other tips related
to teaching at UCN, contact: Ann Barbour-Stevenson abarbour-stevenson@ucn.ca or 204-627-8634