Cheraton Love, Ph.D.lovecf@wssu.edu

Winston-Salem State University

Lilly Conference, Feb. 2012

Examining the Effectiveness of Student Engagement Methods

Why engage?

Traditional “sage on the stage” lecture style of teaching doesn’t reach 21st century students Passive

Students that participate in active learning techniques are more engaged in the material (Rivard, 2000; Wilke, 2001) Class discussion, student presentations, collaborative

work, critical reading, writing

Material that can be linked to an emotion or holds personal relevance has more potential to be stored in long-term memory (Sousa, 2001)

Human Biology and Disease

General Education requirement

Alternative to Biological ConceptsSmaller class sizeMore interesting topicsMore autonomy (for both instructor and student)

Incorporating student feedback into course development

Student survey

Timeliness Ensures students are still interested in course

material Gives instructor more knowledge about the

demographics of class

Up to you to implement what you learn from the survey into class Students enjoy having their opinions counted Also notice when they’ve been ignored

Student survey

In-class, anonymous Scantrons

Gave approx. a month into the semester

What will I learn from the survey? Study habits of students Methods in which students believe that

they learn best

Student Study habits:Examining the data

May prompt you to have class discussion and self reflection Freshmen level course v. upper level course What expectations do you have for your students? (i.e. what

do you value most from the course content or student skills?)

How often (and how long) do you study / attend tutoring?

On average, at the end of class, how much of the material do you understand?

If you are having difficulty, whose advice would you seek out?

In your opinion, how willing is your Professor to provide more explanation on a confusing topic?

Favored mode of instruction:The Students’ Perspective

Lectures by Professor (includes class discussion, videos, use of technology)

Group activitiesTraditional lectures by ProfessorStudent presentationsCase Studies and/ or Problem Based

Learning (PBL)

The Students’ Favored mode of instruction: Faculty Feedback

Lectures by Professor (includes class discussion, videos, use of technology)

Group activitiesTraditional lectures

by ProfessorStudent presentationsCase Studies and/ or

Problem Based Learning (PBL)

What works well in your classroom? Why?

What hasn’t been effective in engaging the students? Why not?

Any suggestions for improving the delivery of these modes?

Engaging them is fine, but will they do the work?

Engaging students is important Students need to be active participants in their own educationStudying, preparation for assessment, asking for help

What motivates students?

If you learn an interesting topic in class, how willing are you to prepare at home ( including reading, writing, research) for class?

a) Very willing, I will do all that I need to be prepared

b) Somewhat willing, I will at least look at the materials the Professor gave me to prepare

c) Not very willing, I probably won’t do much preparation on my own

d) Not at all willing, I will not prepare for class at home

50%

36%

14%

How much time would you devote to preparing for class, if the topic was of interest to you?

a) 4-6 hoursb) 2-4 hoursc) 1-2 hoursd) I would not devote my own time

to prepare for class.

9%

45%

36%

Do you hold yourself accountable for your own learning?

a)Absolutelyb)Sometimesc)Not very muchd)Never

91%

9%

Examples of engaging methods

Univ of Buffalo case studies http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/collection/ Salem witch trials But I’m Too Young! Cancer case study

Videos You tube: How do bacteria cause disease?

Hydrogen bond activity How many drops can fit on a nickel?

Journal entries

Group work- identify the stages of mitosis/ meiosis

How many water droplets can you fit on a coin?

H2O Activity

How many droplets can you fit on the nickel? Take turns with a partner.

How does this activity illustrate the cohesiveness of water?

Do hydrogen bonds contribute to cohesiveness of water? How?

What do you think? (entry slip)

Does the flu really come from being out in the cold?

Why or why not?

Is there a time when flu infections are seen more frequently?

Why do you think this happens?

Student Journal entry

Does the flu really come from being out in the cold?

No, the flu is highly contagious and spread primarily by coughing and sneezing. An infected person can directly pass the virus to an infected person……

Is there a time of year when flu infections are seen more frequently?

Flu season is prominent October through May. This is because people are nidoors more often, they are in close contact more often and this promotes transmission from person to person.

What does this figure represent? Label the areas that have been marked out with boxes. How are these stages

different (i.e. what do they accomplish? What event occurs during the stage labeled above with an asterices?

***

Examining the effectiveness of student engagement

How do we measure effectiveness?Student performance on

assessmentsImprovement in student 21st

century skills? (e.g. writing, critical thinking, student inquiry)

Are there other ways to determine the effectiveness of engaging teaching practices?

Did the use of engaging techniques improve overall

student performance on exams?

Exam 1 (Bio introduction, Basic chemistry and molecules) Avg: 70.4% ± 10.1

Exam 2 (Immunity) Avg: 79.1% ± 22.2

Exam 3 (Cell reproduction. Genetics) Avg: 69.8% ± 13.7

Exam 4 (Cancer) Avg: 76.8% ± 13.3

Did students perform better on exam questions that were

based on engaging techniques used in class?

Exam 1 performance: Engaging activities v. Traditional lecture

Salem’s Secrets case study (scientific method)

Water drop on coin exercise (hydrogen bonding)

Traditional lecture (atomic structure, macromolecules)

Questions related to engaging activities (n= 4) Avg: 81.5% ± 16.4

Questions related to traditional lecture (n= 28) Avg: 67.6% ± 24

Exam 4 performance: Engaging activities v. Traditional lecture

“But I’m Too Young!” Cancer case study/ Collaborative activity

Traditional lecture (Genetic basis of cancer)

Questions related to engaging activities (n= 4) Avg: 77.6% ± 16.5

Questions related to traditional lecture (n= 28) Avg: 76.1% ± 30.1

Exit surveys

Gave open-ended survey anonymously, last day of class

Topics that students found interesting: diseases, cancer,

Activities that students enjoyed: group work, student presentations, case studies, class discussion, variety

Activities that students did not enjoy: listening to lectures, taking notes (“boring”), watching videos (“tune out”)

Conclusions

Exam scores did not vary (by statistical significance) Students may have performed better, on average,

on topics that they more were interested in

Students performed as well , or better ,on exam questions related to in-class engaging activities compared to exam questions drawn from traditional lecturing

Students appreciate the use of engaging techniques in the classroom, can focus better on material presented in a variety of ways compared to traditional lecture.

Questions or comments?

Thank you for your attention.

Cited Sources

Rivard LP and Straw SB. The effect of talk and writing on learning science: an exploratory study. Sci. Educ. 84: 566-593, 2000.

Sousa, David. How the Brain Learns. 2nd Ed. California: Corwin Press, Inc. , 2001.

Wilke RR and Straits WJ. The effects of discovery learning in a lower-division biology course. Advan. Physiol. Educ. 25: 62-69, 2001.