Running head: A MORE ENGAGING CLASSROOM

A More Engaging Classroom: Keeping Students Involved and Focused Stephanie Bixby Madonna University

A MORE ENGAGING CLASSROOM Abstract College classes are often full of long lectures that only involve the professor talking at the students for hours. The problem with this style of classroom is that it does maintain attention or involve the students in any way. As a solution, classrooms could focus their time around a discussion that would allow each person to give his or her thoughts and opinions on the subject. This would allow the students to be involved and keep them focused on the topic. Although

some might argue that discussions would take away from the necessary information being taught, the professors would still be giving the students any facts and examples that might be important to know for an exam. Professors could alternate discussions with lectures, but this still leaves a long lecture that fails to interest the students. Therefore, college classrooms should attempt to improve learning by focusing the class on discussions that will involve students and allow them to think critically.

A MORE ENGAGING CLASSROOM A More Engaging Classroom: Keeping Students Involved and Focused Students file into an expansive, theater-style hall and sit in chairs with small desks

attached. An older man with glasses walks to the front of the room and sets a briefcase down on the podium. He pulls out some notes and begins to give a lecture, stopping occasionally to write a word or date on the chalkboard. Several students proceed to pull out laptops, only to play games or surf the Web. A few other students have laid their heads down and seem to have fallen asleep. Some students actually try to take notes from what the professor is saying, but struggle to pay attention in the dull environment. This scene is what many people imagine when they think of a college classroom, and in some cases, this is mostly correct. Although some professors have tried to make their classes more modern and have more visually interesting presentations, many college classes only involve students sitting and listening to a teacher speak for an one to three hours. Even if the lecture features a PowerPoint, students can still become bored quickly and miss much of what the professor is teaching. Therefore, in order to promote better interest and memory of the subject, lessons would be taught more effectively if classes were discussion-based and involved more interaction with the students. The main problem with a strictly lecture-based class is that it loses the attention of the students. Young people, especially in todays culture, are more interested in a topic when they are not bombarded with too much at once. Considering modern technology like texting or tweeting, students like information given to them in short bursts that are to the point. Some researchers say that people only remember the first fifteen minutes and last fifteen minutes of studying, and the same is usually true of a classroom lecture. Teachers often lose students during the middle of the class due to boredom or lack of interest. Without anything to keep their minds

A MORE ENGAGING CLASSROOM stimulated, students will not learn the material as well. Furthermore, if a student does not put serious effort into paying attention, he or she will not do as well on tests and may not pass the class. Passing college classes is necessary to earn a degree, and most students need a degree to get a job in their career field. Therefore, it is important for their future that students do well in

their classes. Ultimately, lecture-based college classes are not an effective way to keep students attention and teach course material. Instead of having a professor lecture for multiple hours, college classrooms should be focused around a discussion that all students can participate in. Many classes allow for some discussion, but it is minimal and not a main goal of the class. Although it might not be practical for some math or science classes, many other academic areas allow for more free-thinking and opinion from students. If it is possible, professors should encourage students to question the material and bring up opinions and beliefs to talk about as a group. This would allow for a classroom that is led somewhat by the students themselves, providing an engaging and stimulating environment to learn. Students could even be given a chapter or section that they are to read ahead about and present to the class. Professors would still teach the material, but students would be freer to be involved in this process. Many students find that having interactive classes helps them remember the information better, as their brain will have some kind of situation to link with the memory. Therefore, more student involvement in lessons would create a more interesting and engaging classroom, as well as improve the memory and test scores of the students. Creating a discussion-oriented class would hardly cause any trouble for the professor or the school. The professor may have to adjust his or her method of teaching, which could require some time and effort. However, allowing for discussion or student-led classes would probably

A MORE ENGAGING CLASSROOM require less time for the professor to prepare. Instead of planning a two-hour long presentation involving notes and a PowerPoint, professors could create a smaller presentation and some

interesting questions to discuss with the class. Additionally, this solution would not cost anything financially for students, professors, or schools. Overall, having a class that focuses on discussing the topics and involving students would be worth the little time or effort required to adapt teaching styles. Some people would argue that students would not be learning the necessary material of the course if the classes were based on discussion. Without a straight lecture, students would not be fed as much information needed to understand the topic. Discussions would prevent the material from being taught fully, as the professor would only be teaching for a short amount of time. Discussions could also become very off-topic, and students could lose the meaning of the material. If discussions become controversial, arguments could start and students could be hurt in the process. Despite these ideas about the negative effects of class discussion, a student-involved classroom would be much more beneficial. Even with a discussion of the topic, students would still be learning all the material, as the professor would be involved and would give the facts and examples that are necessary for the students to know. The only difference would be that students could express their opinions of the topic more freely and get a more interactive approach to the subject. It is important that students be allowed to openly communicate their beliefs, especially during the critical time of college; however, they often feel uncomfortable speaking up during a formal lecture or are told to wait until after class to ask questions. A discussion based class would allow for an open environment for students to speak their minds. The professor would still be there, and he or she would keep the discussion on topic and prevent any major problems from occurring.

A MORE ENGAGING CLASSROOM If the idea of the class being entirely discussion based is too much for some professors,

another option is to provide specific days for students to be involved and talk about the material. The professor could give the lecture and teach all the information one week, and the next week could be a discussion of that material. With this method, professors would still be able to cover all the details of the topic in a traditional format, and students would be given time to be involved and interactive. However, this solution could become awkward for both the students and the teacher. Having alternating styles of classes could become confusing, and students could forget the material they are supposed to discuss when they have a whole week of other classes and events to distract their memory. They may not remember a thought or question they had, leading to a less effective discussion. Also, this solution still leaves one class to be a full, traditional lecture, and the original problems would still be in place. Students would still be bored or lose interest during the long lecture, and the problem would not be fixed. College classrooms are meant to be a place of free-flowing thought and creative knowledge. The standard lecture-style class does not provide this kind of atmosphere, as students often get bored and stop paying attention. It is nearly impossible to stay focused on someone talking for hours on end, unless the subject is extremely interesting. Therefore, creating a classroom that focuses on having discussions would improve the students interest in the subject and allow them to express their opinions openly. Students could occasionally lead the discussion of the chapter, allowing them to be more actively involved. Some might say that the information would not be properly taught or the discussion would become off topic, but the professor will still be guiding the class and providing students with all the necessary material. If a professor does not want to have all his or her classes do involve discussion, he or she could alternate lectures and discussions each week. However, this does not solve the original problem of failing

A MORE ENGAGING CLASSROOM to maintain the students attention, as a long lecture would still be taking place. In the end, it is essential that college classrooms put aside the traditional lecture in favor of a class discussion that would allow students to be involved and active in the learning process.