QEP Instructional Strategies

Ten Easy Ways to Engage Students in Your Lecture

(with little or no work for you)

1. Make a graffiti board
   Tell students at the end of a class period that you are going to write a statement from the assigned readings on the front white board at the next class meeting. Ask them to come to class prepared to walk in and write a comment or question about that statement on the board as if they were writing graffiti. Select a statement from the readings (or lecture notes) that is controversial, provocative, or illustrative. Leave student comments on the board for a while, and then use a portion of your lecture time to address/discuss as many comments as possible.

2. Close the class with a one-minute paper
   Ask students to summarize in writing the most significant fact, principle, or question the day’s lecture has produced in their thinking. At the beginning of the next class meeting, share a few of the most significant statements with the rest of the class.

3. Ask students to do a Google search
   At the end of a class period, give a brief topic (i.e., person, place, thing) to the class that will be relevant to the next lecture. Tell them that each student is required to do a Google search of that topic for the next class meeting, and that each one will be asked to share the most unusual, little known, or humorous fact about that topic. If the class is not too large, have every student participate by sharing one fact.

4. Make students anticipate the lecture
   At the beginning of a class, divide students into the smallest groups the class will allow (groups of 2 are best). Give them the lecture topic for the day, and ask them to interact with each other for about 3 minutes. They are to, through consensus and agreement, anticipate/guess 4 or 5 themes, questions, and talking points they believe will be covered in your lecture. Have them write them down, and occasionally throughout your lecture, ask how many students had a particular item from your PowerPoint or overhead on their list. This could be developed into a competitive exercise if you want that classroom dynamic.

5. Use a case study, narrative, or data sheet
   Switch students from listening, to silent reading, and then to small group discussion by using a handout. Any number of activities can develop from this strategy; individuals can share their reactions, groups can present their points of view, and Q/A can be facilitated. For a change of pace, give some groups different information in their handouts without telling them. When asked a generic question about their reactions, students will share seemingly opposing points of view until they catch on.

6. Play "Family Feud" or "Jeopardy" prior to a major course exam
   Using questions from a previous test, or the actual test (if you already have the test questions written), play an all-class game with the content questions. Class size will impact the effectiveness of this, and sometimes groups will have to be created to answer questions rather than individuals.

7. Conduct a guided reading segment
   It can be especially helpful, in the early weeks of your course, to help students learn how to read the course text critically. A guided reading segment breaks up a 50-minute lecture and teaches students skills in analysis and annotation. Divide students into groups and have them read a portion of the text silently. Their assignments can be varied; developing key points, brainstorming possible applications, or even applying the “anticipate the lecture” strategy illustrated in item #4 above. Group leaders can put their summaries on the front board so that students can see the ways other students think.

8. Have a "Who is he/she really?" exercise
   Divide students into groups of 2. Use the board or projection system to present 10 statements about a key individual the class is about to study (historical figure, philosopher, theologian, psychologist, scientist, writer). Some of the statements will be false but clearly plausible. Ask students to decide among themselves which are true and use the lecture that follows to verify their choices. EXAMPLE: "C.S. Lewis was born right after WWII began in 1941."

9. Integrate the lecture content with imaginary careers
   During the first week of class, have each student select a possible career field based on their major or personal interests. At various points throughout the semester, ask students to apply the content of the day’s lecture to that particular job description. How does the content affect the ethical behavior of a student in a particular job? How does the content impact relationships with coworkers in that career area? What are the implications of the current topic for "making a difference in today's world?" Are there humanistic, materialistic, or secularistic aspects of what is being discussed in class that relate to students’ future work life? Student responses can be shared in groups or as part of a larger class discussion of the implications of the content.

10. Ask for a student volunteer to help you demonstrate a point or process
    Energy levels of a group will be visibly enhanced during a lecture when a student volunteer stands in front of the rest of the group. The psychology of this is that students will put themselves in the place of the one volunteer and vicariously engage themselves at the same level as that single participant. This strategy also employs the peer influence “dynamic” of group participation.