Opt rdgs-Std. engagement

Student Engagement

It won't come as a surprise to you that many of our students are bored, but here is some research that give more details on why students are bored.

Research on the Engagement Gap - Indiana University’s High School Survey of Student Engagement - 67% students report being bored in school every day - 82% are bored because the material isn’t interesting - 41% are bored because the material isn’t relevant - 33% are bored because the materials is too easy - 27% are bored because the materials is too difficult

The results of this lack of engagement are poor performance, high absenteeism, higher drop-out rates, and ultimately a lack of enthusiasm for learning that can have lifelong consequences.

There are many ways you can increase student engagement, in both f2f courses and online:

Help students to guide their own learning process including setting goals, designing learning processes, and monitoring progress.
Include a variety of learning resources and activities at different levels (differentiate).
Present content in a variety of formats (multimedia).
Make the content relevant with as many real-world connections as possible.
Emphasize higher order thinking over rote memorization.
Build strong relationships with students.
Ask for student suggestions, and then listen to them and act as appropriate.

Here are some additional suggestions that apply specifically to online learning:

Have ample opportunities for active participation. This could include:
- Discussion groups with prompts
- Online writing (blogs, discussion groups, Google docs, etc.)
- Multimedia production (create a movie, web site, interactive presentation, etc.)
Encouage students to engage in peer learning by teaching and learning from others.
Have a strong and supportive online presence as instructor.
Give ample and timely feedback.
Provide multiple means of communications, e.g. course announcements, email, discussion groups, online "office hours," etc.

Additional resources: