3 simple ways to increase classroom engagement

Higher Education

Sam Studd
by Sam Studd
3 simple ways to increase classroom engagement
Lecturers have many responsibilities, but their most important one is to engage their students in the learning process. Engaged students are more likely to understand material and retain it over time; as such, it's vital for teachers to develop techniques for keeping them engaged. In this post, I'll explore three simple ways that can help teaching staff ensure students remain engaged.

1. Engage students from the off

Be sure to always engage students within the first five minutes. By running an icebreaker staff or asking some simple questions using a polling software such as Vevox, you’ll get students immediately engaging and ready to contribute during the class.

You can additionally ask students what they've learned from previous classes or what they are looking forward to learning from this one - this will help you gauge where everyone is at with a certain subject area – allowing you to tailor lessons appropriately for all levels within your class.

2. Set clear expectations


To set clear expectations, you must first identify what you want students to know and be able to do. This can be done by creating a clear learning objective for each lesson or task – this clear and consistent communication will ensure students are always aware of what s expected of them – they’ll likely then be more receptive to tasks.
 
Once you've determined what is expected from students, it's time to assess their progress toward those goals. There are many different types of assessments available - some more formal than others - but whatever methods you choose should allow for frequent and regular checks on student understanding along the way so that problems can be identified and addressed early on before they become big issues later on in the year!

3. Utilise educational software


It’s now more important than ever to move with the times and embrace new technology as it becomes available – and this definitely applies when it comes to teaching. Using education technology can help to create interactive teaching sessions and improve student engagement.

Using an audience engagement tool such as Vevox during your sessions will lead to greater engagement & will allow you vary your lessons so students will constantly be enriched with new and fun content.
 
It's important to remember that engagement is a process, not a one-time event. The more you can build up your students' confidence in their own abilities and help them understand why what they’re learning matters, the more engaged they will become. If you're feeling stuck or uninspired when it comes time for your next lesson plan, try using these three steps as a starting point: Engage from the start? Check! Clear expectations? Check! Educational software? Check again!