With so many potential distractions, including multiple devices and social media platforms, class and work schedules, and family responsibilities, engaging students in college courses can be challenging. Today’s learners are being pulled in many directions and have huge amounts of information available to them at any moment in time. Because of this, students can easily access facts but are not necessarily learning the tools to apply and critically evaluate all the information that is so readily available.

To support a more engaging learning experience, I focus on intentional course design and curated course modules that include multiple opportunities for engagement. While this approach takes some work up-front, having the course laid out with purposeful opportunities for engagement allows student to not just memorize facts, but apply the course content.  Regardless of whether my class is 20 students or 500 students, I approach engagement in the same manner. Each chapter/unit is set up with the same module approach… because I have found this works for me and my classes!

  1. I start with my core course content that includes the textbook reading and associated SmartBook® assignment. Through the adaptative reading assignment, students are gaining the foundational knowledge necessary to progress to Application-Based Activities.

  2. Next, rather than recording full lectures, I have taken the approach of recording mini-lectures that are 5-8 minutes long. These are based on frequently asked questions, current topics in the field, and challenging topics in the course. Each unit will have 2-4 mini-lectures. With this approach, I have found that the students are more likely to engage with the lecture content. I encourage students to send me any topics for the mini-lectures, and I can quickly record and add in real time, which students appreciate (and it does not take me long).

  3. The middle of the module includes discussion—for my in-person class, this is done in class and, for my online class, done through the LMS discussion board. I have found the key to a quality and engaging discussion is picking a topic and developing a prompt that lends itself to engagement and discussion, not just listing out facts. Expecting specific examples and having the discussion graded with detailed criteria enhances the quality.

  4. The last part of the module focuses on Application-Based Activities. This includes autograded interactive homework assignments (assignable in McGraw Hill Connect®), such as culinary medicine and assess my diet assignments. As well, dependent on the modality of the course, students engage in the course content through my own instructor-created assignments and activities. For example, the in-person class works together on real-world, scenario-based case studies, and the online class completes Application-Based Activities such as going to the farmer’s market or supermarket. I always provide lots of options so that students can select what works for them to engage with the course content.

As instructors, we are busy and oftentimes pulled in multiple directions. With that in mind, my four key suggestions to support engagement in the classroom are (1.) be intentional with your course design, including opportunities for engagement in different ways; (2.) curate course modules, such as in your LMS, that are structured the same for each unit, and include multiple different types of activities—no one thing that takes too long, focus on quality rather than how much time it takes to complete; (3.) take advantage of digital tools that are already available and, in many cases, can be autograded; and (4.) lean into your own interests and what excites you about the discipline, keeping in mind that engagement can be accomplished in many ways, and does not have to be time-consuming or cumbersome for the instructor to create and/or grade and provide feedback.