Teaching Guide | Student Engagement

Self-Determination Theory

Self-determination theory (SDT) focuses on human motivation and development and how social conditions can facilitate or hinder students from learning. This theory helps us to understand how students succeed and persist in various educational settings.  

According to the Self-determination theory, students have three basic psychological needs to stay motivated in their studies – autonomy, competence and relatedness.  

Additional Resources 

University of Rochester Medical Center – Self-Determination Theory – Use this resource to learn more about the self-determination theory and specific strategies. 

Vanderbilt University – Self-Determination Theory from Motivating Students Teaching Guide – This is a detailed account of self-determination theory including specific instructional strategies. 

Community of Inquiry

The Community of Inquiry framework looks at the importance of interaction when creating a collaborative learning community in the classroom. This framework explains the process of creating meaningful learning experiences through the interdependent elements of social, cognitive and teaching presence. All elements depend on each other. If one is missing, then learning suffers.

Additional Resources

In an interview for the Reflective Teaching in a Digital Age podcast, Dr. Randy Garrison describes the history of the Community of Inquiry framework, including its role in the thoughtful design of online education, and practical ways of helping students learn through active participation and shared meaning-making. Click here to listen to the interview. 

Garrison, D. R. (2016). Thinking collaboratively: Learning in a community of inquiry. Routledge. Retrieved June 8, 2023, from https://uncg.on.worldcat.org/oclc/910847870 (Please note that this link requires UNCG log-in credentials.) 

Student-to-Student Engagement

Students need to feel a sense of belonging and connection with their peers and instructor.  

Possible approaches that boost student’s sense of belonging: 

• Send a survey before the semester starts asking students to share information about themselves. 
• Talk to students in a caring and respectful way. 
• Share personal stories with your students including your educational journey and passion for your field.  
• Get to know your students through class activities and chats before/after class. 
• Use students’ names and pronouns. 
• Incorporate group activities during class sessions to encourage students to work with a variety of classmates.

Student-to-Instructor Engagement

When it comes to student persistence, instructors “are the front lines of student retention efforts”. (Tinto) Students having a relationship with the instructor is crucial to student success. Fostering belonging and mattering for students starts in the classroom.

Student-to-content Engagement

Telling is not teaching. Students learn more through exploration and struggling with problems than being provided with the answer. Students not only engage with their classmates and instructor, but they need clear ways to interact with the course content. Student-to-content engagement creates active learning opportunities for students to assimilate the content instead of passively absorbing the material. It is more than just reading a book or watching a video. It’s giving students additional ways to learn the course material. 

Engagement in Group Work

Having students work together in groups is a powerful student engagement strategy using active learning approaches. Working together requires students to develop their ability to work with others while addressing gaps in their understanding of the course content from their peers.  

Students are sometimes resistant to group work based on their past group experiences. Some group members may not have done their fair share of the work or groups have conflicts that create communication hurdles.  

Considerations

• Don’t assume that students know how to work in groups effectively. Take time to discuss how groups should work together. Ask students to share their past experiences working in groups and what strategies work best to encourage collaboration.  
• Explain how to assign group roles such as leader, organizer, editor, researcher, writer, brainstormer and presenter. Ask group members during their first meeting to create a timeline, decide how they will share resources with each other, connect with each other outside of class and divide the work between group members.  
• Be sure to explain the rationale for the group activity. Students don’t always see the benefits of collaborative learning nor understand the pedagogical purpose.  
• Explain the overall goal of the group activity clearly including steps in the process and what the final goal will be. Provide samples of past student group work if possible. 
• Ask students to spend some time getting to know their group members before their work begins.  
• Scaffold group assignments requiring students to check-in throughout the process. Give individual group members ways to report group issues to you. Require individual group members to submit their own work to ensure that everyone is participating fully.  
• Ask students to create a group contract during their first meeting to set clear expectations for each other. Here’s a sample group contract for the University of California Irvine.

Additional Resources 

Read this article from Faculty Focus called Students Riding on Coattails during Group Work? Five Simple Ideas to Try for more group work facilitation ideas. 

Lecture Breakers is a podcast series by Barbi Honeycutt, PhD, that shares innovative instructional strategies with college instructors. Learn more about Lecture Breakers and subscribe to her series here. The following resources are specific Lecture Breakers episodes focused on group work. 

• Episode 97 – Making Team Projects Work (Part 1) with Dr. Tim Franz and Dr. Lauren Vicker 
• Episode 98 – Making Team Projects Work (Part 2) with Dr. Tim Franz and Dr. Lauren Vicker 
• Episode 142 – 2 Fun Activities to Prepare Students for Active Learning, Problem-Solving, and Collaborative Learning 

Lessons from Students

The UTLC facilitates two programs with students to gather information about their perspective to share with UNCG instructors.

VOISES (Viewpoints of Inclusive Student Experiences) Student Panels

The UTLC and Office of Intercultural Engagement host conversations about key UNCG student experiences in the classroom and beyond. VOISES panels provide a venue for faculty to hear the perspective of students from marginalized identity groups on campus. These moderated panels give faculty the chance to ask questions while reflecting on ways they can support student success and learning. Learn more about VOISES and read recent panel summaries with key takeaways for instructors.

Student Focus Groups 

The UTLC works with departments across campus to facilitate student focus groups. We ask students questions focused on student success and strategy suggestions for faculty. Here are some takeaways from students regarding engagement shared with us during these events.  

• Students see the value in pre-course surveys sent by their instructors to ask individual students about their background, preferred name and pronouns, languages spoken, beliefs, significant holy days and holidays etc. and asking what they are comfortable sharing and not sharing with the class. 
• Students in large classes can feel no connection to the instructor or fellow students. Use group activities and asynchronous course tools like discussions to make connections in large classes. 

• Students love it when faculty members share their educational experience as a student. Share your backstory and inspire their journey.  One student told us “My teacher shared with me that he was also a first-generation college student, and it revolutionized the way I see my education.” Share your process. Students rely on instructors to help them develop a strong scholarly process.  
• Don’t fake it. Be authentic and genuine in class and in your interactions and do not assume you know and understand the student experience because you’ve read widely about it.   
• Each student is unique with different perspectives and needs so do not make assumptions or generalizations. Do not use the students in class for an opportune teaching moment or to fill your gaps in knowledge. It’s important for faculty to routinely do their own research about minority students as part of their duty of care and make sure materials used in class speak to everyone.  
• Expectations and boundaries need to be discussed. Do not judge or penalize students for their communication style. Instead, model best practices in communication etiquette especially emails. 
• Be transparent about the structure and requirements of the class. As one student told us, “Don’t teach the textbook to us. Class should be engaging and interesting with discussions that I can’t have on my own.” 
• Flexible instructors who “had their students back” and were genuinely interested in them personally makes the instructor approachable. Instructors who were transparent, who did not make assumptions and who gave clear instructions were valued. 
• Use student names and their pronouns. Pronouns make the classroom more accessible and engaging for all students. Avoid gendered language like husband/wife. Use partner instead.  
• Speak to students with respect. Don’t assume the worst in your students. One student told us, “When I am treated condescendingly, I drop the course.” Don’t talk “at” students, interact with them.  
• Students really want your feedback. Be specific in your comments to students so that they know how to improve for future work. Explain how students can find your feedback. For example, don’t assume that they know how to access your comments in a grading rubric. Provide text and or visual directions on how to access your feedback. If you are worried that students are not reading your feedback, consider creating reflection assignments that require students to share the feedback they received and how they plan to approach future work differently.  

Additional Resources   

To get more ideas for engagement approaches, use this resource from Vanderbilt University called Motivating Students. 

Yarborough, C. B., & Fedesco, H. N. (2020). Motivating students. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. https://cft.vanderbilt.edu//cft/guides-sub-pages/motivating-students/.