Principles and Strategies of Engagement

• Principles of Engagement
• Strategies to Promote Equity and Engagement (Tanner 2013)
• Using Technology to Promote Online Engagement

Principles of Engagement

How to Make Your Classroom More Engaging: Advice Guide, Cavanagh (2019) argues that engagement is a critical first step for student learning.  She outlines four principles of engagement under which classroom strategies and research are organized.  While "active learning" might be expected as a stand-alone principle, Cavanagh (2019) believes that getting your students actively involved in the learning process (rather than remaining passive) is central to an engaging classroom. Therefore, active learning is embedded within each of the principles.

Principle 1: Cognitive resources are limited – Tap into emotions and lived experiences

• Chunking content into shorter time periods and smaller learning segments, and using emotional hooks to tap into episodic memory, can help reduce cognitive load.
  • Stimulate interest, curiosity, and participation.
  • Tap into students’ emotions and lived experiences, for example by using:
    • Brief lesson teasers
    • Stories or images
    • Music or songs
    • Provocative questions
    • Current events or headlines
    • Demonstrations
    • Videos
    • Case studies or simulations
  • For example, instructors might present public health students with the Flint water crisis:
    • The Flint water crisis began in 2014 after the city of Flint, Michigan, changed its drinking water source from treated Detroit Water and Sewerage Department water to the Flint River, leading to widespread public health concerns.

1. What questions, issues, or perspectives come to mind as you analyze this situation?
2. What do you know about water quality in the Central Valley of California? What challenges exist, and why?
3. Based on what you learned from researching the Flint water crisis, what recommendations might you have for Californians?

Principle 2: Your persona and performance matter

Your presence makes a difference in student engagement.

• Students often report choosing their major based on introductory courses taught by particularly dynamic instructors—help students fall in love with the subject.
• Research indicates that instructor enthusiasm is contagious and is associated with higher levels of student motivation.
• Take risks and try new approaches. Incorporate current events that make course material more relevant and add value to the discipline.
• Be explicit about performance expectations and the value of the material being taught.
• Provide academic supports that help build student confidence and positive expectations for success.

Motivation and/or levels of interaction with the course content is driven by one's expectations to succeed and the value the individual places on the material.

Principle 3: We are intensely social creatures, motivated by community.

Learning is a social act. Discussions and collaborative work, whether asynchronous or synchronous, help students process, elaborate on, and make connections between and among new information and prior knowledge (Ambrose, et al., 2010).

• Learn and use student names.
• Provide opportunities for everyone to contribute, such as using jigsaw activities and assigning roles.
• Work as a class on a shared project. For example, consider replacing a final exam with a collaborative product, such as creating a children’s book on the topic. Use approaches from the arts and humanities to build interest and variety.
• An example might be an asynchronous discussion board activity for a microbiology course.

Principle 4: Tap into episodic memory with stories, pictures, and music.

Of all the types of memory, episodic is said to be the most powerful in terms of deep, lasting memory for retrieval purposes. Episodic memory is a type of declarative memory that allows you to consciously recall personal experiences and specific events that happened in the past (Tulving, 2002).

• The stories you tell in your classroom can draw from your own intellectual journey, your research or fieldwork, people who lived through different historical eras, or patient case histories. Whatever their form, tell stories.
• Students also have relevant stories to share. Inviting them to contribute demonstrates interest in their experiences and highlights their potential to contribute meaningfully to the course and the field (Cavanagh, 2019).
• Example: Lesson — Word Choice Matters
  • After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, two photographs appeared on Yahoo News and other outlets on September 2. Analyze the socio-political impact of journalists choosing the word “looting” instead of “finding.”

References

1. Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M. W., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M. C., & Norman, M. K. (2010). How learning works: Seven research-based principles for smart teaching. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
2. Cavanagh, S. R. (2019). How to make your teaching more engaging: Advice guide. Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved August 10, 2020, from https://www.chronicle.com/article/how-to-make-your-teaching-more-engaging
3. Tulving, E. (2002). Episodic memory: From mind to brain. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 1–25. Retrieved July 16, 2021, from annualreviews.org

Strategies to Promote Equity and Engagement (Tanner 2013)

1. Wait time: This simple strategy gives students time to think and increases verbal participation. After posing a challenging question, pause intentionally—take a sip of water, allow silence, or count silently to 60. Let students know you are happy to wait, and participation often increases.
2. Allow time for writing: Offering quick writes, one‑minute papers, or brief reflection time helps students process their thinking. This scaffolds participation and complements wait time, especially for students who need additional time to articulate ideas.
3. Think–Pair–Share: After posing a question or problem, give students time to think individually, then discuss with a nearby peer before sharing with the class. This strategy promotes equity by allowing students to verbalize ideas, compare perspectives, and build confidence before whole‑class discussion.
4. Do not try to do too much: Attempting to implement every strategy at once can lead to instructor burnout and student confusion. Select a few approaches and integrate them intentionally, focusing on concepts or skills that are most difficult to learn.
5. Hand raising: Be explicit about expectations for hand raising and establish clear class norms. Consider inviting students who have not yet participated to raise their hands.
6. Multiple hands, multiple voices: To broaden participation, wait for several hands before calling on a student. In larger classes, consider a “one and done” approach, where students who have contributed once step back to make room for others.
7. Random calling: Use name cards or similar tools to invite participation equitably. Set clear expectations and allow students to pass if needed. Once a student participates, remove their name until the next round.
8. Assign roles for group work: When working in groups, assign roles such as facilitator, reporter, timekeeper, or note‑taker. Rotate roles regularly to promote equitable participation and balanced group dynamics.
9. Whip around: In small classes (fewer than 30 students), ask each student to share a response in 30 seconds or less to ensure all voices are heard.
10. Monitor participation: Track who is contributing and intervene if discussion is dominated by a few voices. Use strategies such as wait time and multiple hands to support broader engagement. In larger classes, enlist teaching assistants to help monitor participation.
11. Learn student names: Using students’ names strengthens connection and engagement. In large classes, keep names accessible during class to support equitable participation and random calling.
12. Integrate culturally relevant examples: Use examples that reflect students’ lived experiences and diverse backgrounds to increase relevance and inclusion.
13. Work in stations or small groups: Break large classes into smaller learning communities through group work or learning stations to increase interaction.
14. Use varied active‑learning strategies: Providing multiple ways to engage with content supports different learning preferences and promotes equitable access to learning opportunities.
15. Be explicit about access and inclusion: Explain why you make certain instructional choices and invite students into conversations about classroom inclusion and equity.
16. Ask open‑ended questions: Instead of “Are there any questions?”, ask prompts that invite multiple perspectives, disagreement, or reflection, and encourage students to share opinions.
17. Do not judge responses: Respond neutrally to student contributions. Acknowledge ideas, invite others to build on them, and address misconceptions thoughtfully without penalizing participation.
18. Use praise thoughtfully: Praise can be encouraging, but over‑emphasizing one response may discourage others. Be intentional and balanced in offering positive feedback.
19. Establish classroom community norms: Co‑create norms with students early on and revisit them regularly. Examples include respecting all ideas and supporting peers who are learning.
20. Teach from the moment students arrive: The first day sets expectations for learning. Model learning frequently and briefly introduce metacognition to help students understand how learning works.
21. Collect assessment evidence from every student: Use brief, recurring formative assessments—such as polls, quizzes, or reflections—to monitor understanding, support learning, and inform instruction.

References 

1. Tanner, Kimberly D. "Structure matters: Twenty-one teaching strategies to promote student engagement and cultivate classroom equity." CBE—Life Sciences Education 12.3 (2013): 322-331.

Using Technology to Promote Online Engagement

Synchronous Engagement

Zoom is a great tool for synchronous engagement and provides many useful functions like:

1. Chat feature: Students enter a brief response upon entry or exit using an instructor-provided prompt (for example, “What concept do you understand clearly?” or “What remains unclear?”).
   • Use chat icons, such as thumbs up or thumbs down, to allow students to respond quickly to checks for understanding.
2. Breakout rooms: Use breakout rooms for small-group work or discussion. More information is available at https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/206476093-Enabling-breakout-rooms.
3. Polling feature: Functions like embedded quizzes or clicker questions and can be used for periodic engagement and formative assessment. More information is available at https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/213756303-Polling-for-Meetings.

Asynchronous Engagement

CatCourses provides a good place to put asynchronous content that students can access at their convenience. Some ways of engaging students in CatCourses include:

1. Keep an eye on Who’s Slipping Away
   • Within CatCourses, you can use course analytics to monitor student engagement in the course. Using Analytics in CatCourses. This is critical now that we are in a remote environment. Pay particular attention to students who have slipped away, are inactive, and/or have failed to turn in assignments.
   • See our guide to Mid-Semester grades and interventions for some template emails and advice on connecting with students in need of support.
   • Provide guidelines with due dates (or by end of the semester) for getting missed assignments turned in. The change to remote instruction takes everyone some time to acclimate. If your students are struggling to submit assignments on time, consider removing penalties for late work or extending due dates.
   • Make sure students understand that even if they have opted for a P/NP grade, they must complete all work AND do so at a C- level. Incomplete work or failure to complete assignments and exams will automatically result in a zero grade – this could significantly decrease overall points in class, and therefore, one’s ability to pass the course.
2. Discussion Board Feature – This actually provides students with more time for reflection and the development of their thoughts/responses.
   • 10 Tips for Effective Online Discussions | Educause Review - Tips to help educators ensure that online discussions are engaging and beneficial for students. Explore the list here
3. Group assignments can be used for small group work like problem-solving. Capturing group work on a GoogleDoc can be useful

Case Studies and Examples from Disciplines

• 51 Student Exercises from Sociology Through Active Learning
• Sociology Activity Examples | Adaptable for Online
  • Explore these sociology exercises from Stanford Sociology
• Digital Labs and Simulations for Science and Math
• An online resource that generates interactive simulations. Access it here.
• From physics to biology, and beyond, this website provides information regarding digital labs and simulations. Read it here.
• UCLA has created a curated list of resources for migrating labs to an online format. Read it here.