University 203 Student Engagement Project

Our Initiative         

   The phrase "student engagement" has come to refer to how involved or interested students appear to be in their learning and how connected they are to their classes, their institutions, and each other.

   As part of a Leadership 203 group project at the University of Prince Edward Island, we have decided to try to encourage a stronger relationship between our students and the faculty. We hope to build a more powerful connection, with hopes that students and staff enjoy their experience while attending University. We have created a Facebook page open to student discussion on their student engagement experiences within the classroom. 

    As a added part of our project, we found a A to Z Employee Engagement Alphabet that we adjusted to meet the needs for our own faculty. Each little point is an encouraging reminder or suggestion that faculty and staff can sample within their classroom. We hope you enjoy reading our alphabet and you find some helpful tips to use!

The Employee Engagement Alphabet

     -Engaging students is as simple as ABC…

Authenticity: We hear it all the time, "Why do we need to know this stuff? When will I ever use this?" There is no doubt that successful learning is directly related to its relevance, purpose and authenticity. We are more motivated to learn if we see a clear connection to the purpose and use. If our desire is for students to engage, the work they do must be significant, valuable, and real. 

Brain: The brain is intimately involved in and connected with everything educators and students do at school. Any disconnect is a recipe for frustration and potential disaster. Every school day changes the brain in some way. We can influence and ignite that change when we understand the way the brain learns, and act accordingly.

Collaborative:  Collaborating with others in solving problems or mastering difficult materials prepares students to deal with the messy, unscripted problems they will encounter in life. Students are valuable resources for one another. If they have opportunities to engage and explore topics, assignments, and content in a collaborative way, understanding and engagement are natural outcomes.

Disengagement: Students are sometimes labeled as lazy, unmotivated, off-task, and disrespectful. These behaviors can and often are a direct result of disengagement. When learning involves wondering, dreaming, playing, interacting, communicating, exploring, discovering, questioning, investigating, creating – the disengaged become engaged.

Environment: Just as architects create the environments in which we live and work, teachers create the place and space that become home to learning. The decisions they make — from the arrangement of furniture to the feeling students experience — greatly influence conditions of learning.

Feedback: Feedback is a powerful force. It can be a stimulating motivator or a suffocating inhibitor. Feedback that is specific, non-threatening, and frequent changes performance, attitudes, and behaviors. So, the next time you say, "Good job", follow that with, "…and here’s why!"

Generative: Learning is about the creation of meaning, value and action on the part of the learner. Learning is not something you ‘absorb’; it is something you create for yourself – mentally or physically. Generative learning is the active process of linking, sharing, re-creating, and co-creating.  Engagement comes about when we encourage learners to construct and produce knowledge in meaningful ways by providing experiences and learning environments that promote active, collaborative learning.

Habitudes: You may have observed that the most successful individuals in life are not necessarily the ones who got the best grades in school. Successful people learn to be successful because they develop specific attitudes and behaviors to ensure their success in all aspects of life.  We can teach students the specific habits of preparedness, mindfulness, and persistence to use and apply when engaging in any task, challenging or otherwise. 

Joy: People are learning machines and have untold hours of play and joy… until… they are "educated" – educated to behave otherwise. If you want a better class of thinkers and innovators — people with explosive curiosity and creativity, bring FUN back into the classrooms. You need giggles and laughter, enthusiasm and excitement. School can become a place remembered for the love of learning, if for no other reason than it feels joyous!

Kaizen: Kaizen is the Japanese term for "continuous improvement", a concept to take to heart if you want students to achieve their personal and professional best. Small changes, if done every day, can make a big impact over time. By creating an environment of Kaizen, reflection becomes part of the daily work and conversations. Continuous improvement can only be achieved with continuous reflection.  And with continuous reflection, students will become more and more engaged in their growth and learning.

Listening: Both learning to listen and listening to learn are critical to literacy in the 21st century. Listening is a powerful and essential means of developing and mastering both old and new literacies. Listening is not only part of the engagement process, it’s the first step. In any culture or community, listening first will earn the right to be listened to.

Motivation: Motivation is essential to learning at all ages. Students have the primary responsibility to own their own learning, yet educators have a shared responsibility in the task. The environments they foster, the cultures they contribute to, and even the aura of a classroom all makes a difference.

Networks:  One mantra is Together we are Smarter. Students are connected to friends and family outside the classroom; creating a network inside the school makes sense too: school mates can become brain mates.

Outside: To really engage students you must bring and allow some of their outside into the classroom. Every student you teach has something in their life that is engaging – something they do well AND love. If you can identify the engaging and creative ways they do their work outside of school and find ways to bring that into the classroom, students may start to feel engaged.

Participatory: Students have come to depend on educators for learning to happen – sometimes. IN reality, most know they can rely on each other these days. They are becoming a community of learners. Encouraging participation fosters engaged student body. Engaged learning is active; it is hands-on, minds on, eyes on, and demands participation at all levels.

Questions: Questions that stretch student minds, invite curiosity, provoke thinking, and instill a sense of wonder, keep students engaged. Successful student engagement requires a classroom culture that invites mutual inquiry, and gives permission to investigate open-ended and suggestive questions.

Relationships: To grow ‘em you must know ‘em. Knowing students seems obvious, yet many students claim that educators do not "get" them. Students want and need a relationship with their teachers. They work harder and smarter when they know that their learning matters to them.

Self-Efficacy: Self efficacy is commonly defined as the belief in one’s capabilities
to achieve a goal or an outcome. Students with a strong sense of efficacy are more likely to challenge themselves with difficult tasks and be intrinsically motivated. Self-efficacious students also recover quickly from setbacks, and ultimately are likely to achieve their personal goals.

Teacher (as student): Students see the teaching part of your persona every day. But, do you stand before them as learners? What would that do to engagement, if you shared with students how you came to know, how you faced and conquered learning challenges, and most importantly how you can help them do the same. Teachers who stand before their class as learners first, are more successful teachers because of it.

Understanding: A wise saying goes, "seek first to understand and demonstrate that understanding before seeking to be understood." How do you demonstrate to your students that you understand and value them; in your words, with your actions, and by your expectations?

Variety: Variety adds spice to life and to teaching. This being said, use a variety of teaching methods. No matter how gifted a teacher you are, using the same method to teach each class can become monotonous- for you and the students.

WWW: The information super highway. It is not only the pathway learners in the 21st century seek out and locate information; it is a place where people engage in the creation, and co-creation of content and understanding.

Xtra: Educators sometimes say that there is no time for engagement, there is too much content to cover; giving students time to collaborate, create, talk, and reflect is just Xtra work.  We should turn "Xtra" into "Xpectation", so engagement is no longer an option, it becomes an expectation.

You: This alphabet list of student engagement from A to Z will only become alive if you take these thoughts and ideas and put them into practice.  Engaged learning requires leadership. Your leadership reflects the research and philosophies you believe in and promote. As a leader, you can coach, model, mentor and support colleagues in the process of creating and sustaining engaging classrooms.

Zeal: Energy and enthusiasm are contagious. When you show students your zeal and passion for what you believe in, you welcome them to share their own. Love what you do and present it with zeal every day! Even if it is the 100th time you have presented something, remember it is the first for your students!

As you can see, student engagement is as simple as ABC.  What are your keys to engaging your students?

References:

Maiers, A. (2008). 26 keys to student engagement. Retrieved from http://www.angelamaiers.com/2008/04/engagement-alph.html