The Importance of Student Engagement
The education sphere is inundated with a plethora of information on how to increase student performance. While findings do vary, one key conclusion continues to endure – there is a direct relationship between student engagement and augmented performance. Put simply, students that are involved, connected and dynamic will categorically perform better than those who are removed, isolated and disparate.
So how can you increase student engagement within your educational institution? Read on for our guide to stimulating engagement for students of all age groups.
Create a culture of achievement
Learners thrive on success and positive reinforcement. This means that classrooms should reflect these constructive attitudes at all times. Teachers play a pivotal role in defining the classroom experience, so training your staff to create achievement oriented environments is a must.
Develop interactive lessons
Unfortunately, learners are generally burdened with short attention spans. For younger students this is all too true. Keep students interested and engaged by developing interactive lessons that stimulate the mind and spark curiosity.
Take a technical approach
Did you know that the bread and butter of the way teachers present material also plays an important role in boosting student engagement?
- Adopt the 10:2 method – For every 10 minutes of content presentation, allow students 2 minutes to process and respond to what they’ve experienced. This can be achieved through asking them to write down what they’ve learned, ask questions or engage in discussions.
- Teach in bite sized snippets – When it comes to retaining information studies have shown that students learn better when fed bite sized snippets.
- Encourage movement – The simple act of asking students to write on the board, move to the front of the classroom or stand to answer a question can work wonders for engagement.
- Offer ‘think time’ – When asking a question let students know that they have 5-7 seconds of ‘think time’ before offering an answer. This will encourage them to really contemplate their answer, as opposed to coming up with the first thing that comes to mind.
- Incorporate 3-2-1 summarisation – After lessons ask students to summarise using the 3-2-1 method. This involves them writing down three things they learned, two things they found interesting and one question.
Go digital
From an organisational perspective, digitalisation is a sure-fire way to boost your student engagement strategy. More and more classrooms are now incorporating interactive technology such as tablets, which can help students engage. As children grow up in a digitised culture, it makes sense for them to learn how to use this technology in an educational way.