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Best Practices for Engaging Students Online & In Class

  1. Early Engagement

Think about ways to have students engage in the material before they begin a section/assignment (for online students) or before they come to class so that everyone is ready to learn. Smartbook readings, for example, provide this learning opportunity in many of our classes while ensuring students are absorbing the material through LearnSmart assignments.

  1. Reverse Engineer

Pay attention to how students are working through assignments. Are they doing well on homework but not quizzes and exams? Are they just following the procedures in online homework with different numbers each time? Look for ways to disrupt this: pool questions, randomize, rearrange them, short answer, etc.

  1. Required Explanation

Look for opportunities for students to explain their results and explain their thinking. Remember Bloom’s taxonomy? Aim for the higher level each day of class.

  1. Build Their Confidence

Create an opportunity for ungraded or small point assignments. Provide students with the opportunity to have low risks in learning to build their confidence for the bigger tasks ahead. It is a challenge especially in the online classroom: students tend to do only what is required. So, maybe 5 points for practice as compared to 40 for homework?

  1. Utilize Formative Assessments

As you are teaching, make a point to find out if students are really getting the concepts.  Create entrance slips to test an out-of-class prep assignment, video, reading, or see what students already know. Towards the end of the class after finishing a chapter, section, or any other material of interest give exit slips (with one or two essential questions) to find what worked or didn’t work as well as you’d like. These assessments can provide a wealth of opportunity to plug holes in learning.

  1. Create Short Videos

Short videos in online classes based on most-missed practice questions can be extremely beneficial. This will show you care enough to dig into their understanding, and you may just be surprised class to class what they are struggling with.

  1. Remember Metacognition

Ask “What was difficult in this unit” or “How well prepared are you for this test”. Put the learning responsibility on the student while showing you care and want to help where you can.

  1. Ask Your Publisher

What tools can they provide to help you make the above happen in your classroom, online and face to face? What have they found works well for other instructors in your field? New tools are coming out every year that can make this job easier while making learning more impactful for students.

About the Author

Lisa Rombes is recently retired as an instructor and chair of the Mathematics Department at Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She graduated with honors from Bowling Green State University in Ohio and Penn State University with degrees in Math Education. Her focus in school was Number Theory, and she always looks to convey to students that there is beautiful math other than that found in the Calculus sequence. She taught teaching developmental and first-year college math for 30 years, at the middle school, high school, and community college level. As chair, her focus was on student success, access, and quality of instruction. An early developer and instructor of online math courses, she is passionate about student success in this environment. Online course design is a real interest: Lisa also served on the college committee working to review the quality online courses in all subject areas. She loves looking at the "student view" and helping instructors see what their students see.

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