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

What is student engagement?

Why do we care about student engagement?

Different types of engagement…

National Survey of Student Engagement- UNCW Data

Disengagement starts before college – UCLA’s Higher Education Institute Report 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? “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) Getting Involved (Concrete Experience) Listening/observing (Reflective Observation) Creating an idea (Abstract Conceptualization) Making decisions (Active Experimentation)

Constructivistic Teaching Principles (Brooks, 1990) 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 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 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 Grade Inflation Service Learning Discussion Boards Learning Communities (however defined) Globalization of Academia

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