| Recommendations | Certain students in class may lose interest in the material presented in class if it is not intellectually challenging. There may be other students in class who may find the course material overwhelming. Below are strategies to engage both these groups of students:1. Let students know what they are expected to know to succeed in the course.2. A pretest on the first day of class on material that students are expected to know will help determine if students have the requisite knowledge to succeed in the course. If the class is writing-intensive, ask students to submit a sample of their writing. For students who do not have the requisite knowledge, advise them on courses they should take or "assign supplementary work early in the semester."3. Divide reading list into background reading ("to review or acquire skills or knowledge to succeed in class"), basic reading and in-depth reading (to gain further knowledge and understanding of course material).4. A test during the second or third week of class helps to identify students who have difficulty with course material. Class attendance may also indicate if a student is feeling lost or overwhelmed by course material.5. "Plan a variety of assignments appropriate to various kinds of learning."6. "Students tend to learn more when a course is conducted just above the level at which they are functioning."7. Ask students questions that "require them to demonstrate them to demonstrate their understanding." Ask students for "definitions, associations, and applications of the ideas.""Ask a student to explain something you have presented in class, and gauge the response in terms of detail and accuracy. Go over material a second time, as needed."8. "Give frequent, short in-class assignments."9. At the end of class, ask students to write the most significant thing they learned, present any questions they have regarding the material presented in class, list "key concepts or main ideas" about the topic discussed in class, and/or write down "definitions and applications for difficult concepts." Ask students to summarize the reading material assigned. "Ask follow-up questions of all students". This helps to determine if students understand course material that was presented in class.10. "Collect students' lecture notes at random" to encourage them to take good lecture notes. Also, this helps to evaluate students' understanding of the material that is being presented in class. |
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