i tend to embrace more techniques that are pretty structured. I think sometimes we feel like as teachers who need to control everything, and we need to know exactly what the outcomes are going to be. But i think there can be quite a lot of space within an assignment of how they tackle that work and how they do that. And that's much more motivating. One of the things i've learned through my teaching career is that students sort of wait me out. They don't naturally walk into my class thinking, here's an opportunity to be creative and open and curious.
Peter Felten discusses the research on engaging learners on episode 216 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast.
Notes from the episode
Shape what our students do and what they think in the most efficient ways possible.
—Peter Felten
Learning results from what the student does and thinks and only from what the student does and thinks. The teacher can advance learning only by influencing what the student does to learn. (from How Learning Works by Ambrose et al., 2010, p. 1)
Five Things Students Need to Do:
- Time
- Effort
- Feedback
- Practice
- Reflect
Three Things Students Need to Think/Feel:
- “I belong here.”
- “I can learn this.”
- “I find this meaningful.”