9 Best methods to increase Student Engagement

Both online and offline, educators now have various active student engagement strategies available to help them. Ranging from inverted classroom models to scaffolding, these strategies promise to grab the attention of failing students.

Let’s dive right into the list of engagement strategies I’ve prepared for you online instructors.

Peer Review

Peer review in learning means receiving constructive feedback from peers/classmates and working with them to accomplish tasks. Teachers and students can plan their review sessions, view and comment on the work of others.

Flipped Classroom Model

The flipped classroom model is another most widely practiced engagement strategy. The gist of this model is to provide students with text or teaching material that they assess on their own, then meet for a discussion session to discuss their thoughts.

The technique is very effective with students, with 94% of users stating that it is better at achieving the stated learning goal. Class time is organized around student engagement, inquiry, and assessment, allowing students to approach, apply and process the course concepts.

This technique is the perfect solution to ensure that the entire core program is completed while guaranteeing the students’ interest. Not only do students learn at their own pace, but they can also join a cohort.

Discussion Forum

Another effective strategy is the discussion forum. It’s perfect for shy and calm learners who would perform better in online chats. An online discussion forum is like a discussion thread focused on a specific topic. Here the teacher leaves clues, and the students have to study the learning material to find the answer.

For class assessment, teachers can also rank or not rank these discussion boards. This way, you can easily manage discussion threads and online courses simultaneously from one place for the price of one platform.

Think-Pair-Share

Like in the traditional teaching model, this method is where students are paired and tackle the task together, creating solid relationships.

Quick Writes

As the name suggests, quick scripts are all about encouraging students to jot down their comments, questions, etc., quickly as they go through the session, then ask at the end—a quick and perfect strategy for improving critical thinking.

Project-based Learning

Project-based learning is an intelligent strategy among technical online courses, e.g., coding and graphic design boot camps. This forces students to use all of their learning and come up with a plan. Such a strategy is ideal for young professionals learning because it allows them to contribute to their portfolios.

Simulations

Simulations are a lesser-known strategy for developing students’ presentation skills. Teachers can set up situations or give them the freedom to invent one according to the themes.

Affinity Mapping

Affinity mapping is ideal for developing collective learning. Students are presented with a situation in which they will write down and categorize them and compare the points. Students can think and organize their thoughts well critically.

Assess-Diagnose-Act

This activity is used to develop critical thinking and problem-solving capabilities. The students are presented with a challenging setup and are asked to:

1. a) assess the situation and isolate the critical problem,
2. b) diagnose it by Finding out the main reason for the problem,
3. c) act and design a solution or action for the problem.

Conclusion

Whether you are a tutor struggling to make your courses fun and engaging or a student looking for extra tips to improve performance in class, these strategies have something for all of you. Make sure to give some of them a try and see what works for you.