Transcript Increasing Student Engagement Caroline Clements, Ph.D. Director, Center for Teaching Excellence Freshman Seminar Annual Instructor Kickoff August 9th 2005

Increasing Student Engagement
Caroline Clements, Ph.D.
Director,
Center for Teaching Excellence
Freshman Seminar
Annual Instructor Kickoff
August 9th 2005
What is student engagement?
Why do we care about student engagement?
Different types of engagement…
National Survey of Student EngagementUNCW Data
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Asked questions in
Used e-mail to
Talked about
class
communicate with career plans with a
an instructor
faculty member
UNCW Faculty
UNCW Freshmen
Received prompt
feedback from
faculty
Natl Master's Avg
National Survey of Student EngagementUNCW Data
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Coursework
emphasizes
memorizing facts
Students
challenged to do
best work
UNCW Faculty
UNCW emphasizes UNCW emphasizes
contact among
spending
students with
significant
different
amounts of time
backgrounds
studying
UNCW Freshmen
Natl Master's Avg
Disengagement starts before college
–
UCLA’s Higher Education Institute Report
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Record numbers of high school students are
disengaged.
45% are graduating with an A average.
The take home message here
–
Students are getting higher grades for disengaged
behavior.
How does that manifest itself at
UNCW?


Disengaged students come to college with
expectations that reflect their lack of engagement.
They confuse disengagement with ability.
–
“I’m just not good at……..

Our job is to get them to actually test the premise
that they lack ability.

The Take Home Message Here is:
–
Students will become more engaged if we demand it.
How does university culture support
disengagement?

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“The Disengagement Compact”
Supported by institutional policies
emphasizing larger class sizes and
increased teaching loads
Supported by faculty having multiple roles
Particularly problematic for freshman
What is good practice in increasing
freshman engagement?

Start from what we know about students
–
–
–
–
1) They are not engaged and may not know how
to be engaged.
2) They have very high hopes for engagement
but do not fulfill these hopes- in part because they
are disengaged.
3) They have learned that minimal effort results
in pretty good grades.
None of this makes them bad students.
The “ideal” undergraduate experience

Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of
Teaching
–
–
–
–
–
–
Engage students in research in as many courses as
possible.
Provide opportunities for oral and written communication.
Provide opportunities for exploring diverse fields.
Offer freshman seminars taught by experienced faculty.
Create a sense of community.
Foster association with people of diverse beliefs, cultures
and ethnicities.
Phases of Effective Learning (Kolb,
1984)

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Getting Involved (Concrete Experience)
Listening/observing (Reflective Observation)
Creating an idea (Abstract Conceptualization)
Making decisions (Active Experimentation)
Constructivistic Teaching Principles
(Brooks, 1990)



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Build on student prior knowledge
Make learning relevant
Give students choice in learning activity
Encourage autonomy and active learning
Use raw data and interactive materials
Encourage student dialogue
Seek elaboration and justification
Pose contradictions
Ask open-ended questions and allow wait time
Encourage reflection on experiences
The Learning Pyramid (National Training Laboratories, Bethel, Maine)
Effective classroom practice: General
strategies
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Peer evaluation
Opportunity for written and oral communication
Shared responsibility for educational quality and
classroom management
Exposure to diversity
Outcome based assessment
Communicating across the curriculum
Exposure to non-classroom based experience
Effective classroom practice: Specific
strategies

Think-pair-share

3-minute summary during lecture

One minute papers

Fishbowl discussion
Effective classroom practice: Specific
strategies

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The Teaser - Where would we be today if we did not know the
structure of DNA? Or current events
Pop allusions - how is the musical score to "Lord of the Rings"
like an operatic score? How was Scully's use of Western
blotting appropriate to solve the mystery? Was it realistic?
Debates; develop hypotheses/predict outcome of
demonstration; what information would support a hypothesis;
class voting
Play devil's advocate - what would the opposite outcome
mean?
Student generated test questions
…BUT none of these matter if students
don’t engage

The “loopholes”
–
–
–
–
Group projects often become group solo projects
Service learning does not work if students are just
clocking hours
Technology becomes more bells and whistles if it
doesn’t increase investment in the learning
process
Group learning tasks often result in less
preparation
Engaging Students: System Changes

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Grade Inflation
Service Learning
Discussion Boards
Learning Communities (however defined)
Globalization of Academia
Need Help?

TWENTY WAYS TO MAKE
LECTURES MORE
PARTICIPATORY
http://bokcenter.harvard.edu/
docs/TFTlectures.html

MiddleWeb’s 10 Great
Websites for Teachers
http://www.middleweb.com/1
0TeachingSites.html