connecting with students

Connecting with Students

Oh No! My teacher wants me to speak up in class...

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Objective

Address ways to overcome participation barriers and demonstrate techniques that may easily be used to promote active engagement of all students in a class


Agenda

Class Participation Relevance Traditional Techniques to Promote Classroom Participation Factors Influencing Student Participation Goals of Participation Classroom Challenges to Participation and Some

Solutions Final Thoughts

Class Participation Relevance



• Optimal Learning comes from active engagement with course material

• It is important to design class experiences and conduct class in a manner that aims to:

• Ensure active participation

• Ensure cognitive engagement

Student Engagement



• Class participation can address potential problems with students being unprepared

• If students know there is a chance they will be asked to participate, they will be inclined to prepare for class

• Create an expectation that students need to come to class prepared to participate.

Accountability



• Students prefer a class that relies less on teacher-talk and more on participatory engagement

• Activities and relatable experiences

• Lectures has its place in college teaching

• K-12 lectures are simply boring and unenjoyable

More Enjoyable Class



• A systematic way of continuously gathering evidence of student learning.

• Informs students of areas they have not mastered yet.

• It provides feedback on the success of instruction and helps identify areas where instruction needs to be modified.

Formative Assessment

Traditional Techniques to Promote Classroom Participation


Initiate-Respond-Evaluate (I-R-E)

AKA Initiation – Response – Feedback

• The most common strategy teachers use to engage their students in participation.

• In this approach teaches control participation in class discussions by posing questions, recruiting a student response (voluntary or involuntary) and then evaluating the students response by offering feedback

• Using this method, teachers may stylistically use slight variations, where feedback initiates further response and evaluation.


Cold Calling

• Refers to calling on a student at random without warning

• Controversial to some who feel that participation should be voluntary, especially for students who are shy or have anxiety

• Proponents argue that this is a useful practice to hold students accountable for outside classwork and preparation


Group Discussion

• Participation in group discussion is valuable to student learning

• The common style of group discussion is dividing students into groups to discuss some aspect of the material and then report back

• Social loafing is a routine problem

• Students will “check out” or disengage during the activity

• Teachers can guarantee participation of students by keeping students guessing who will be asked to present back to the whole class

Factors Influencing Student Participation


Factors Influencing Student Participation

Class-sizeSeating arrangements

Student confidenceCommunication apprehension

SexAge

Student preparationAuthority of the teacher

Climate of respectTime of day

Type of subject being learnedStudent assertiveness

Teacher attributes

Goals of Student Participation


What are your expectations for student participation?

• Our goal should not be that every student will participate in the same way or at the same rate. Instead, it is to create an environment in which all participants have the opportunity to learn and in which the class explores issues and ideas in depth, from a variety of viewpoints.

• Active Learners – they typically think while they speak

• Reflective Learners – they need to reflect on their ideas before sharing with others.

Classroom Challenges & Solutions


Problem: Repetitive Content

• You may be repeating the content because students have not yet mastered the skill or for test review.

SOLUTIONS:

• Assess prior knowledge• Skill grouping• Students teaching each other

• For test review, divide class in groups, each with a different topic. Have the groups test each other...; i.e. create the test for their topic, design review games. Assess them on creativity, team work, accuracy.


Problem: The content is too hard.

Part of the challenge is also that some students may hesitate toask questions because they fear that other students will see themas not smart.


Solutions – Content too Hard

SOLUTIONS• Allow anonymous questions.

• Question box• Index cards – all students write a card with a question or

comment • Allow them to work together.

• Do a quick check for homework completeness and then let students grade their papers in pairs and then review in whole group

• Jigsaw approach – divide up content among groups, each group becomes an expert on an area and then teach each other.

• Connect material with real-world application – use index cards to write a real-world application of the content they are learning.

• Break things down – Have students summarize a short text in a single word and then write 1-2 paragraphs on why they selected their word.


Problem: There is too much information to cover

SOLUTIONS• Plan lectures for no more than 15 minute segments • Break up larger concepts into smaller segments, then assign

activities for reinforcement. Repeat this cycle. • Give students the opportunity to stay connected with you during

your lesson – handouts with blanks for them to complete as the material is covered; lecture bingo, quick-writes or quick-draws at key points in the lesson.

• Ask for initial predictions on the topic – students can give their best guess on true/false questions before the topic is reviewed, and then revisit their responses once the lesson is given.

Problem: There is too much to cover.


Problem: Reluctance to Participate

Some students may be reluctantto participate, regardless of yourapproach, topic content, or itsdifficulty. Normal text

• Bullet• Bullet

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SOLUTIONS:

• Discuss benefits of participation and expectations in class. As a group come up with collective norms to ensure everyone has an opportunity to participate

• Have students write an autobiographical sketch on their learning experiences to help you identify who you may need to follow up with.

• Define participation broadly and allow students the opportunity to participate in different ways.

Feedback

What are you experiencing?

Final Thoughts


Final Thoughts

• Not all strategies are equal• Traditional techniques that are commonly used have its

limitations• Alternative techniques are just a few of the many used

by teachers to actively engage students

• Teachers need to sort out their philosophy of participation:

• Whether to grade participation, • How to deal with apprehensive students, • Strategies that feel comfortable to use • How to create conditions that promote class participation


References

Angelo, T.A., & Cross, K.P. (1993) Classroom assessment techniques: A handbook of college teachers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

Axelson, R.D., & Flick, A (2011) Defining student engagement. Change, 43(1), 38-43

Bean, J.C., &Peterson, D. (1998). Grading classroom participation. New Directions for Teaching and Learning. 74, 33-40

Girgin, K.Z., & Stevens, D.D. (2005). Bridging in-class participation with innovative instruction: Use and implications in a Turkish university classroom. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 42, 93-106

Kagan, S. (1990). The structural approach to cooperative learning. Educational Psychology, 47(4), 12-15

Miranda, M.V. (2008). Increasing class participation in social phobic students. Community College Enterprise, 14, 9-23

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