HowDoWe“Activate”StudentEngagement?

MichaelCMelville,Ph.D.CenterforExcellenceandInnovationinTeachingandLearning

UniversityofNewHampshire

SessionObjectives

1. Becomefamiliarwith(atleastone)frameworkfordefiningengagement

2. Understandwhystudentengagementisimportant3. Understandtheroleofactivelearninginstudentengagementand

beabletoimplementitinyourcourses4. Beconvincedthatstudentengagementissomethingthatany

instructorcanachievesuccesswithintheclassroom

Whatdowemeanbyengagement?

• Studentagencyandmotivation• Interactionsbetweenteacherandstudent• Activelearning

“Studentengagementisthestudent’scognitiveinvestmentin,activeparticipationwith,andemotionalcommitmenttotheirlearning!”

(Chapman,2003)

Whydowecareaboutengagement?

• Studentslearnbetterwhentheyareinterestedinthecontent(Sousa,2006)• Studentslearnbetterwhentheyenjoygoingtoclass(Kahu,2013)• Studentslearnbetterwhentheyvaluetheirownlearning(Appletonetal.2006)

Perhapsmostimportantly….

• Studentslearnbetterwhentheyarenotjustpassiverecipientsofknowledge(Barkley,2004)

ActiveLearning

• Whatisit?

• Whatdoesitlooklike?

• Howcanitbeimplementedtoactivateengagement?

ActiveLearning:Whatisit?

• “Anythingthatinvolvesstudentsindoingthingsandthinkingaboutthethingstheyaredoing" (Bonwell &Eison,1991)

• “Doingwhatwethinkandthinkingaboutwhatwearedoing”(Barkley,2004)

• “Ateachingstrategythatrequiresstudentstoengagecognitively,aboveandbeyondpassivelisteningandnotetaking”

- ChadHershock,2017

ActiveLearning:WhatDoesitLookLike?

Imagineametalplatewithacircularholeinthecenter.Youputthisplateinaveryhotoven.*

Question:Whathappenstothehole?A. HolegetslargerB. HolegetssmallerC. HolestaysthesamesizeD. Idon’tknow

*Theexactoventemperatureandphysicalpropertiesofthemetalareirrelevanttothisproblem.

EricMazur,Physics,HarvardUniversity

ActiveLearning:WhatDoesitLookLike?

Think-Pair-Share1. Think:Individuallywrite,vote,click,etc.2. Pair:Talktoaneighborforabriefmoment(30-60sec.)3. Share:Debriefresponsesandrationales

Or4. Re-voteindividuallyafterthe“pair”

ActiveLearning:WhatDoesitLookLike?

ApplicationCard• Studentsareprovidedwithataskthatchallengesthemtoapplyaconceptorskilltoasituationtheyhavenotencounteredbefore,and/orchallengedtogenerateexamplesthatillustrateaconcepttodemonstratetransferofknowledge.

1. Explainhowyoumightgoaboutopeningatroublesomejaryouhavejusttakenoutofthefreezer(physics)

2. WhatkindsofjobsdoyouthinkrequirepeoplewithknowledgeofCalculusandwhy?(mathematics)

3. Compareandcontrasttheprocessoffindingthelocationofaresidenceinanunfamiliarareatotheprocessusedtoidentifythelocationofanelectronwithintheatomicstructureofanatom(physics)

ApplicationCards:Discipline-basedTeams

Thinkaboutyourcourse...• Imagineascenario/challenge/problemthat:• requirescriticalthinking(e.g.,evaluation,synthesis,application),• doesnothaveasinglecorrectanswer/solution/outcome,AND• astudentcouldengagewithfor1-10minutesduringclass.

Takeoutapieceofpaper….1. Writedownthegistofascenario/challenge/problem2. Writedownaspecific1-sentencequestion/promptforstudentstorespondtoduring

theactivity(freeresponse,NOTmultiplechoiceformat)

WhatAbouttheOther“Stuff”?

StudentEngagementismultidimensional

• Activelearningisimportanttogetstudentstothink,butwhataboutstudents’attitudes,motivations,emotions,perceptionsetc.?

Rapport

Noun1.Relation;connection,especiallyharmoniousorsympatheticrelation:

ateachertryingtoestablishcloserapportwithstudents

Doesteacher-studentrapportmatterforengagementorlearning?

Teacher-StudentRapport• WilsonandRyan(2013)developedaconstructofteacher-studentrapporttoexamineitsimportanceforpredictingactualstudentoutcomes

Studentengagement

• Myteacherencouragesquestionsandcommentsfromthestudents

• Myteacherchallengesmetothink• Myteachermakesclassenjoyable• Iwanttotakemoreofmyteacher’scourses

Perceptionsofteacher

• Myteacheriscompassionate• Myteacherisenthusiastic• Myteachercaresaboutstudentsaspeople• Myteacherisarolemodel

FactorAnalysis:2Dimensions

Teacher-StudentRapport

WilsonandRyan(2013)outcomes

• Attitudetowardthecourseandteacher• Studentmotivation• Numberofdaysofclassmissed• Perceivedamountlearned• Estimatedfinalgrade• Actualfinalgrade

Teacher-StudentRapport

Someotheritemsfromthescalethatdidnot predictpositivestudentoutcomes…

• Myteacheriseagertohelpstudents• Myteacherisunderstanding• Myteacherencouragesmetosucceed• MyteacherandIgetalong

Engagement:It’saGoodThing!

“Perhapsprofessor–teacherrapportreflectsmorethanjustacaring,likableteacher;usefulrapporttiedtostudentoutcomesseemstomovebeyondlikingtheteachertowhattheteacherdoestomaketheclassmoreengagingforstudents.”(Wilson&Ryan,2013,pg.132)

• Likeabilitynothelpfulwithoutengagement

• Likeabilitynotneededforengagement

• EngagingstudentsisNOTjustapopularitycontest

WhatAbouttheOther“Stuff”?

• Researchshowsthatstudentsgenerallyhaveapositiveaffectivereactiontoinclassactivities(i.e.,activelearning)(Nguyen,K.A.,Borrego,M.J.,Finelli,C.,Shekhar,P.,DeMonbron,M.,Hendersen,C.,...&Waters,C.2016)

• Relatingmaterialtorealworldproblemshelpsstudentscareaboutwhattheyarelearning(Sousa,2006)

• Feelingofbelongingtotheclass,enjoyingtheclassandbeingamemberofagroupcontributetoengagement(Finn,Pannozzo,&Achilles2003;Fredricks,Blumenfeld,&Paris2004;Kahu 2013;Kember,Lee,&Li,2001).

HowDoWe“Activate”StudentEngagement?

Engagement

Thinking

Interest/Investment

Enjoyment

Iscomprised of Active LearningArefacilitated by

ThePersonalizationPrinciple

Inadditiontotheinherentbenefitsofactivelearningonstudents’engagement,thewayinformationispresentedcanhaveapositive

effectonengagementandlearning.

ThePersonalizationPrincipleStudentslearnbetterwhenwordsareinaconversationalstyleratherthanaformalstyle(Mayer,2009)

• Peoplelearnmoredeeplyfromlessonswhenlearnersexperienceheightenedsocialpresence,aswhenaconversationalscriptorhumannarrativeisused

PersonalizationPrincipleExample

• “Lightningcanbedefinedasthedischargeofelectricityresultingfromthedifferenceinelectricalchargesbetweenthecloudandtheground.”

• “Let’stalkaboutwhathappensduringalightningstorm.Lightningcanbedefinedasthedischargeofelectricityresultingfromthedifferenceinelectricalchargesbetweenacloudyouoftenseeintheskyandthegroundaroundyou.”

Often,makingsimplealterationstolessonscanexploitthepersonalizationprincipleandactuallyimprovelearning

PersonalizationandEngagement

PersonalizedLesson LearnerEngagement

Deeper,longerlasting

learning

• Theabovemodelhasbeenshowntoworkinlabsaswellasinrealclassroomenvironments

• Toomuch“personalization”canbedistracting;don’toverdoit!

HowDoWe“Activate”StudentEngagement?

Engagement

Thinking

Interest/Investment

Enjoyment

Iscomprised of Active LearningArefacilitated by

Canbeaugmented by

PersonalizationPrinciple

ThankYou!

CenterforExcellenceandInnovationinTeachingandLearning

http://csl.cofc.edu