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karen
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Do you participate in class?
October 15, 2007 - 11:11 PM
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What's the most innovative strategy a teacher/professor has used to elicit your participation in class?
Explain specifics about the project/content area and how the instructor got you motivated, invested and engaged in what you were learning.
Describe how your interaction in that example made the context of what you learned really stick and stay in your brain verses other methods of teaching and learning.
This post was edited on: 2007-10-24 at 08:36 PM by: karen doktor
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Ashley
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Re: DO YOU PARTICIPATE IN CLASS?
October 18, 2007 - 12:24 PM
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I was never big on participating in class... but I did love debate! I had a teacher in highschool who would first teach a lesson in a more traditional way (lecturing) about a given topic. But he would eventually organize a debate over a related controversial topic. Maybe it was the sense of challenge or competitiveness but it always got me talking!
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Nikki
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Re: DO YOU PARTICIPATE IN CLASS?
October 18, 2007 - 03:04 PM
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I definitly particpate in class. In fact I think I may particpate a little bit too much, becuase then if I miss a class it proves to be a real problem. My problem is that no one else seems to ever want to participate, then I feel bad for the proffessor or the teaching assistant and I then make sure that I participate hping others will follow suit. That rarely happens so I am afraid that I may come off as an addendum to the teacher.
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Jo
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Re: DO YOU PARTICIPATE IN CLASS?
October 19, 2007 - 11:31 AM
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I love participating in class! I like expressing my ideas and engaging in discussions. Class participation helps my mind stay sharp and alert to the ideas that are being taught. I also like testing the professors, why let them have all the fun of testing us? I find that I always benefit from class discussions because I can get my ideas across, built upon or even critiqued. Participation is a good way to learn for me since I learn by doing.
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~Mary*Anne~
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Re: DO YOU PARTICIPATE IN CLASS?
October 19, 2007 - 01:14 PM
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I used to participate a lot in class when I was in highschool, but college is very different and I don't participate as much. Anyhow, one of the funnest things my teachers did was to play "around the world", where one person would stand next to another, and the teacher would ask a question. the person who got it right would go to the next seat, until eventually we reached the last person in class. last man standing got candy.  the group games, where the class was divided in half, and people had to run up to the board to answer a question were also pretty good, because the winning half also got little prizes, and it got everyone involved and thinking. those strategies were used for many classes so I can't really say what subject it was for, because it was for anything that you could be objectively quizzed about.
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cherry
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Re: DO YOU PARTICIPATE IN CLASS?
October 20, 2007 - 03:30 PM
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I love participating in class. It is my way of letting the instructor know that I exist and that I am interested and willing to learn more about the subject. 
Most of the time, professors give out rewards to encourage students to participate. In college, the most effective reward, I think, is in the form of bonus points in a difficult exam.
Once, my geology instructor gave extra credit in an exam for those who would stand infront of the class and sing a song with geological terms such as rocks, earth, etc in its lyrics. It was fun and everybody sang.
Working in groups is also very effective. In a communication class, we worked in groups and conducted our own workshops, presented a fairy tale with a twist, performed dyad activities, had a group discussion, a group speech and built a tower made out of plastic straws, paper clips, tape, etc. Those group activities not only encouraged class participation but enhanced communication skills as well.
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S
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Re: DO YOU PARTICIPATE IN CLASS?
October 20, 2007 - 06:16 PM
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I do participate in class but not as often as I should. I need [or like] to structure what I want to say in my head before I say it. However that approach has actually hindered my ability to participate freely in class. Now, I participate based on whether I believe I have something worthwhile to say, which should translate into me participating all the time (hehe)...but I'm still getting there!
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Kimia
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Re: DO YOU PARTICIPATE IN CLASS?
October 20, 2007 - 08:33 PM
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My level of participation in class definitely depends on the teacher's approach to conveying information... as we all know, some teachers take a more interactive approach than others. And of those who encourage participation, there are some teachers who find a creative and inclusive way to involve all students not just the outspoken ones.
I think it comes down to self-taught learning or popular education methods which are really effective. In popular education, the students are the main contributors to a discussion or lesson, and the teachers merely ask the right questions. When students feel that teachers are looking for a specific answer they are less likely to speak out, but if the content matter is taught in a participatory fashion where student are technically leading the discussion, then all students feel like contributors and the information is absorbed better.
Effective teaching methods have to incorporate some form of play as well as storytelling i would say. Role playing is really popular, to learn about a world event for example, because it is fun and shows students how each actor in a situation has a different perspective on the cause/effect of what took place.
Also, in the era of ICTs, teachers should harness the power of multi-media to better engage their students - show videos, encourage online investigations and games, involve photography and other forms of imagery. Arts-based learning should be used to a greater extend to teach students various subjects and not just within the visual arts. It encourages us to express ourselves, to take a visual approach to learning, and this form of learning is more personal in that everything you are taught builds off of your personal perspective on the theme at hand. This connects students to the issue/topic and will most definitely capture their attention and encourage their active participation.
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Acornucopiaoflove
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Re: Do you participate in class?
January 15, 2008 - 08:27 PM
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Teachers really have to establish trust within the class, I know that if I feel comfortable with the people around me, I'm more likely to share my thoughts. Because teachers often being class with little "get to know you" games and leave it at that I never feel comfortable enough to share my opinions. Once trust is established, it's important that there are peer discussions, I'd rather students posed questions, and made comments to me and the rest of the class, instead of looking to the professor for validation.
My public speaking professor said that trust allows you to reveal your true thoughts, and I've found that to be true. Does anyone feel similarly?
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Megan
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Re: Do you participate in class?
February 16, 2008 - 05:47 AM
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In some classes we participate more than others, usually it corresponds with how well we understand.
The best way i've seen of motivating students is to slip them up into their strengths, some people work in different ways and its good to share ideas with people who have a similar thought pattern.
The most motivating teacher i have day is my earth and environmental teacher, we write alot of notes but we do hands on things like fossilisation and excursions to mining sites, this really breaks up the way we learn and its good to get a hands on perspective on what the textbook is telling us. Another teacher that stands out is an literacy teacher i had a few years ago, he had a genuine enthusiasm to teach the class, he wanted us to learn and we were the highest ranking class.
Motivation and ways of study work in different ways for different people, I suppose thats what makes a teachers job so demanding, having to cater to all types of learners.
I participate passionately in group discussions and it class, and that comes from many years of quietly achieving and not gaining recognition for my efforts. The best way to understand a topic or question is to verbally discuss it with someone, or ask for help.
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lucidlove
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Re: Do you participate in class?
March 4, 2008 - 12:19 AM
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This one teacher at our school is amazing at engaging everyone to participate in class. Instead of him going off in a rambling lecture manner he gives us the topics and material to throw around in discussion with each other. He makes sure that everyone voices some sort of an opinion. I'm really into discussing things and learn a lot from working with others to gain understanding of topics. I think that every teacher should give their students at least a chance at something great like this.
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Aniekan Ekah
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Re: Do you participate in class?
March 4, 2008 - 05:43 AM
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I am beginning to see why most of my classmates didnt do well in school. Most of our teachers didnt understand different learning/teaching techniques that could make their teaching effective and learning fun for us.
Participating in activities while in school really helps one have an idea of what is going on and thus, more desireable results can be yielded because everyone can figure out in their own way, different ways of solving a particular problem.
Having our young people participate in class discussions; having their opinions respected (even if they are not so good) and building up confidence to speak out will help our young people become good leaders. Or what do you think??
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Daniela
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Re: Do you participate in class?
March 11, 2008 - 06:09 AM
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nallison36 - I completely agree with your answer! I cannot stand uncomfortable silences when a poor teacher is begging for a student to answer one simple question. So I always speak up and then the teacher ends up questioning me on everything! Haha, you just can't win 
Personally, one of my favourite teachers in high school acted in more of a facilliatator role than an authoritative one - he wouldn't give us answers, per say, merely giving us a topic or issue and then allowing the class to discuss the topic and make their own conclusions. I found this really forced the class to learn, analyse and engage with the topic and each other.
It was an intimidating strategy but it pushed us all to interact and to really lift our game. And, invariably, all his students did really well because they weren't just talked at, they were taught think on their own.
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hekatea
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Re: Do you participate in class?
March 27, 2008 - 12:03 PM
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kmdoktor2 wrote:
What's the most innovative strategy a teacher/professor has used to elicit your participation in class?
Explain specifics about the project/content area and how the instructor got you motivated, invested and engaged in what you were learning.
Describe how your interaction in that example made the context of what you learned really stick and stay in your brain verses other methods of teaching and learning.
This post was edited on: 2007-10-24 at 08:36 PM by: karen doktor
I like it a lot when my teacher asks me to report or present in front of the class. I like it more when she does not feed us information but rather makes us think and formulate our own questions. I like it best when I can convince my teacher that my answer is equally sound and good as hers although we come from a different point of view.
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Jae
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Re: Do you participate in class?
April 13, 2008 - 10:47 PM
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Participation. Class.
That certainly isn't me. I hardly ever participate in class. Throughout high school I would engage in class debates but to go up in front of the class or just answer questions in class most of the time is not my style. even if I am very sure of the answer. I would always want to read in literature class though... sociology classes got me excited for the most part. I dont know if its the setting but it just didnt encourage me to participate as much as i could have.
University .. that was even worse. i completed university just last year and I am able to say how much lectures I have truly engaged myself in. You never hear my voice .. and most times they bore me to death. so i sleep.
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