A couple weeks ago, I wrote an article giving two tips on student engagement in hybrid mode (This means students meet in person sometimes; other times they are engaging with the material from a distance through a learning management system [LMS], like Blackboard). The article also covered how to bridge an activity started in an in-person session to the LMS so that there is cohesion and fluidity.
I want to continue discussing student engagement this week. It’s an especially important topic to me because I've spent my entire teaching career trying to improve it, as have other instructors.
It tends to be the case that we know our material very well, and the subject matter is indeed interesting, and relevant in ways many students don’t realize. But that is still separate from whether we can deliver it in a way that is engaging for students. This is the challenge. Infusing active-learning tasks has the potential to get students to see the material as, at best, very engrossing, and at least, not terribly boring.
All it takes, in my view, is the old adage of making learning fun. At the root of “making learning fun” is the concept of “play.” Of course, “play” for young adult and adult learners doesn’t look like play for kids, but it’s true that adult learners appreciate adult versions of play, which includes engaging with classmates, experiencing new concepts in connection with things they like and love outside of school, and lastly, hands-on “tinkering.”
I made this infographic to give you some ideas on how to engage students in the classroom and to then connect it to the LMS (learning management system) to continue that engagement. The first two items are the tips I touched on two weeks ago. The others are new. Take a chance and try them, as you see fit. Your students may be taken aback at first by the creative spin, but they will appreciate your livening things up.
If you would like to download and print this infographic, please use the following hyperlink to download the shareable PDF document: Student Engagement Hybrid Learning. NOTE: You may be prompted to enter your UHCL account credentials to open this file from OneDrive.
