How do you keep students motivated and engaged in large online classes? Many instructors worry that students in their large classes feel disconnected and disengaged. Amanda Woerman, Assistant Professor in Biology tackled this issue by providing students with a variety of ways to actively participate during the synchronous portion of the class and through asynchronous engagement activities. Read more about her strategies, tips, and next steps.

What prompted you to adapt your online teaching?

My strategies for keeping students engaged are based on my own experience attempting to take an online course several years ago. I found it difficult to stay motivated to watch the asynchronous lectures or to remain engaged with the material when I did. When we made the transition to remote learning in March 2020, my goal was to create a virtual classroom experience that supported learning and kept my students excited about the material we were covering.

 

What is it that you are doing to actively engage students in your large enrollment class? What considerations or tips do you have for other instructors?

I implemented five core strategies to help accomplish those goals.

 

In-Class Strategies

  1. ​Incomplete study guides. This strategy is something I adopted before the switch to remote learning, and it has become more valuable during the pandemic. Before each lecture, I post an incomplete copy of my lecture notes that provides a general outline for the students, as well as copies of any figures I am going to use. I leave space for the students to fill in their own notes, including areas where I know I am going to draw in diagrams. I would much rather have my students paying attention to our discussion and the concepts I cover in each lecture, rather than scrambling to note every word or screenshot every image. These notes then serve as a study guide for my students; I have already outlined the concepts that are going to be covered on each exam. I repeatedly hear from my students that these study guides help them remain engaged with lectures and, after the move to remote learning, they helped with Zoom fatigue.​
     
  2. Mid-lecture breaks. The more I participated in virtual conferences and seminars over the summer, the more I realized how challenging it is for students to stay engaged with remote lectures all day. My class is 75 minutes long, so I would break it up and give my students a 5-minute break halfway through the class, to walk away from their computers, stretch, etc. My students shared that, by the afternoon, they were often experiencing Zoom fatigue and the 5-minute break made a big difference for how well they were able to focus and engage during the second half of class. I also tried using breakout rooms during the break to give my students an opportunity to interact with one another, but they preferred to use that time for a quiet break.
     
  3. ​Incorporate student interests into lectures. BIO 564, or Human Physiology, typically attracts students who are interested in pursuing post-undergraduate professional or graduate programs in the biomedical sciences. At the beginning of the semester, I ask my students to complete a survey, including information about their post-graduate career goals, organ systems they are interested in, and interests outside of the classroom. As much as possible, I try to bring in examples, write homework and exam questions, etc. that are built around these interests. I frequently hear from my students that the material they felt a personal connection to is the material they found the most interesting. Drawing those connections during remote learning has been really helpful in supporting student learning.

 

For a bonus, I inject a little fun into class by changing my Zoom background to match my lecture topic for the day. My backgrounds often become points of conversation during office hours, and sometimes even during the short break in lecture. For example, I made a collage of science communicators for a day we did peer review of a paper assignment, which led to a great discussion about who each person was and the type of science they write about. I found these fun backgrounds were also surprisingly helpful for visual learners.

 

Out-Of-Class Strategies

  1. Weekly participation questions. These questions started out as a way to get extra credit points when we first moved to remote learning in spring 2020, but the feedback on the Forward Focus survey was so positive that I now use them for “participation points.” Each week, my students answer a couple of questions on Moodle based on material from the previous week. I ask them to tell me the most interesting thing they learned from each day of lecture (to make sure they are keeping up with the material) and to submit two questions they have about that material (to make sure they are engaged with the course).

    In the spring, after I implemented this assignment, my students reported that they felt more familiar with the material and had less review to do before an exam. In the fall, I found this strategy was useful for addressing questions from students participating in class asynchronously, and it gave students an opportunity to ask questions if they did not feel comfortable speaking up on Zoom. Both semesters, these questions helped me identify material that I did not present clearly enough early on. I had the assignment due on Monday mornings, so I had plenty of time to read through responses and decide what clarifications I needed to make before my first lecture of the week on Tuesday. After consulting with CTL during the fall semester, I also started selecting a handful of student questions to answer at the start of class. I received feedback that the students really enjoyed hearing each other’s questions.

    Answering each question does take some time, so one option to consider is using a forum discussion approach for this type of assignment. This is easier to implement if you have a teaching assistant to help you monitor the discussion, but letting the students answer each other’s questions is a great way for them to learn, as well. This strategy is also better for larger classes (100+ students).
     
  2. Schedule office hours at a time that works for your students. Before the semester started, I surveyed my students to find a time for office hours that most students would almost always be able to attend. Based on their responses, I held office hours much later than I usually would, at 5-7 pm, and I had incredibly high attendance. This helped me better address student questions as they came up, rather than right before exams, which helped students remain engaged.