Student engagement and interest is prerequisite for any meaningful learning. Generating and maintaining students’ interest in your subject can be a bit challenging for educators at times. Student engagement depends on a variety of factors and even if your class is lacking in just a couple of key variables, student interest in your subject may decline. Your first aim should always be getting to the root of the problem. Difficulty in focusing, problems in the family, low IQ or learning impairments can all manifest in the form of lack of interest. Boredom and the restlessness that comes with being a teenager can also be the reason behind the low level of student interest in your class.
The field of education has evolved to a great extent, over the years. In recent years, a greater emphasis has been put on modern modes of teaching such as online classes, smart classes, hybrid learning, and likewise. Especially since the coronavirus pandemic, when schools and college campuses were shut down locking millions of students and educators across the entire nation out of the classroom, modern teaching methods have become widely popular. Using modern teaching methods that resonate with the students of the generation Z, such as teaching via creating and sharing tutorial videos through video conferencing API, using AR/VR/MR for making learning more interactive and AI/ML-based personalized learning tools, is a great way of enhancing the level of student engagement in your class. Here are the top ways to increase the student’s interest in learning….
Increase the Fun Quotient-
The most effective way to generate students’ interest in learning is by making learning a fun activity for them. Sometimes, teachers have to teach a boring subject. However, there are ways of getting around that by using creative teaching strategies. Gamification is an excellent teaching strategy that instantly improves the students’ level of interest in the class and gets them to focus on learning. Using illustrations, animations and video lectures is yet another way of making your classes more interactive and fun. The more fun and engaging your lesson is, the more your students retain from it.
Importance of an Active Learning Environment-
An active learning environment makes the student a participant in the teaching and learning process. Unlike a traditional classroom that uses an instruction-based teaching approach, where the sole focus is on following the teacher’s instructions to the dot, students get a greater say in the learning process in an active learning setup. With greater say, comes greater responsibility. Therefore, an active learning environment drives up student engagement in the classroom as they are themselves a participant in the teaching process. Educators can transition towards a more active learning environment by asking students for their inputs on the subject, how and what they wish to learn, and asking their opinion on other factors concerning their learning.
Personalized Attention-
Every student is different and so are their methods of grasping, processing, and retaining information. Until recently, traditional offline classrooms never gave due importance to personalized teaching. However, the advent of modern teaching tools has simplified the process of providing personalized attention to individual students. As an educator, you should focus on spending time with each student, getting to know their likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses, ambition, family problems if any, and other factors which might affect their interest and engagement in the class. Providing personalized attention to every student is an excellent way of driving up student engagement in your class.
Relevance of the Subject-
As educators, it is our duty to let the students know the importance of what they are learning in the class. When a student knows that the subject is relevant to their future career, they will automatically put more focus on understanding and mastering the subject being taught. Most students and their parents are focused on getting a job after completing their education. Therefore, letting them know the importance that the subject holds, is a great way of getting more out of the students and driving up the level of student engagement in your class.
Student engagement is one key aspect of teaching which determines the student academic achievement in the class. The tips mentioned in this article might come in handy for educators looking to increase the level of students’ interest in their class.
