Making Teaching More Engaging

This week, instead of a SoTL article, I would like to share a recent article from the Chronicle, entitled "How to make your teaching more engaging" by Sarah Cavanaugh. In this article, she reminds us that "engaging does not mean entertaining" and addresses:

• Brief arguments for why academics should care about engagement;

• Explanations of four key principles of engagement;

• Concrete suggestions on how to put each of those principles into practice; and

• Evidence from instructors in different disciplines who have used the principles.

Her quote sums up the need for these strategies, "“Some teachers are naturally compelling and intuitively spark a zest for learning in students. But most of us have to work at it.”

She highlights strategies such as Think/pair/share; Jigsaw; Fishbowl; Concept mapping; Polls; and Peer teaching in her Four Principles of Engagement:

1. Cognitive Resources are Limited (Chunk, Relevance, Unknowns, Interrupt, Humor)

2. Your Persona and Performance Matter, Like It or Not (Observation, Immediacy Cues, Communication, Risks, Jazz, Sleep)

3. We Are Intensely Social Creatures, Motivated by Community (Names, Contribute, Collaboration, Strategies, Community, )

4. Stories are Our Most Natural Form of Thought (Own Stories, Discipline Stories, Create Stories, Holistic Journey, Student Stories)

Cavanaugh, S. (2016). The Spark of Learning: Energizing the College Classroom with the Science of Emotion. Sarah. West Virginia University Press. ISBN 978-1-943665-33-4