engagement

Exploring information technology effectively in the classroom
Guest Contributor: Kenneth J. Sousa, Ph.D., Bryant University.

“In this business, you can never wash the dinner dishes and say they are done. You have to keep doing them constantly.” (Mary Wells Lawrence)

Business strategy continues to evolve. Through careful planning and analysis, businesses react to changes in market, competition, and the economy. But also to the advances and adoption in information technology.

I have always believed that there is a difference between teaching and educating. Teaching is focusing on communicating in one direction. This method seeks to avoid developing the innovative problem solving skills using the topic at hand. Read More…

Is student engagement a top priority in your classroom? If you’re like many instructors, your answer will be a resounding “Yes!”

Many factors play a role in student engagement, including the course content you choose. Given students’ high interest in technology and tech tools, many instructors are turning to digital learning solutions, and overall, they’re seeing a great deal of success. Of the instructors surveyed in Cengage Learning’s recent “Digital in the Classroom” survey:

• 74% report that the move towards implementing digital technologies in the classroom has increased students’ academic performance, and
• 73% say it has improved students’ engagement with their courses.

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During Cengage Learning’s 2014 TeamUP National Student Success Conference, held June 12-13 in Chicago, we asked instructors to share their answer to the question: What’s your passion? They described a number of things—from their goals as teachers (and learners), to the activities that refresh and inspire them, to the people who mean the most to them. Below, we’ve shared their responses; see how many of them resonate with you! Read More…

As students progress through their college experience, they’ll receive numerous opportunities to collaborate, learn, and share ideas with their classmates. For Steven Doung, student at Middlesex Community College and a runner-up in Cengage Learning’s “Instructor for a Day” video contest, the process of collaboration presents students with a solid opportunity to learn and grow. When he’s asked to share his tips for getting engaged in class, he says: “two minds are better than one!” He advises fellow students to find and connect with a peer or friend who can help them out. Partnering with others brings about the reward of solving challenges together. And as Steven Read More…

What does it take for students to stay engaged in their classes? According to Nathan Le, student at Houston Community College and a runner-up in Cengage Learning’s “Instructor for a Day” video contest, the key is to be focused! In the below video, Nathan shares his tips for being, and remaining, focused in class. His first recommendation: if you bring your tech tools to class, avoid the temptation of clicking on distractions such as cat videos and your social-media pages, and keep your attention on those important topics your instructors are covering. (Temptation still strong? His suggestion: Leave the laptop at home, and take notes with pen Read More…

The college campus has long offered students a place for community, identity, and engagement. It’s where they go to make and meet friends, take part in meaningful extracurricular activities… and, of course, acquire the knowledge and skills they need for future success.
Though this type of activity continues to thrive on campuses across the country, many institutions recognize the challenge of replicating this experience for their online students. Given the strong connection of community to student engagement and retention, these institutions also recognize the need to provide these students with this kind of collaborative, engaging space. To support achievement Read More…

At the Engaging Minds blog, we’ve shared students’ thoughts on a variety of topics related to their college experience, from their most successful study habits, to their strategies for achieving their academic goals, to the role their instructors play in motivating them to succeed in their courses. Their perspectives provide us with a fresh look into the life of today’s college students. In that same spirit, Cengage Learning recently ran the “Instructor for a Day” video contest, which prompted students to show us how they would engage their students if they were an instructor for a day. We received over Read More…

To engage the students in online courses, you need to adopt teaching strategies that differ from those you’d use in a traditional classroom. Given that you lack the face-to-face contact that’s present in an on-ground course, you must find ways  to foster collaboration and communication among students sitting at their own desks across town—or perhaps even across cities and states. In addition, you need to incorporate a variety of activities and assignments that can bring about the same degree of student engagement and active learning that students would experience in an on-ground course. In a recent webinar, “Strategies and Tips for Teaching Online,” Pat Galitz Read More…

In this Trends article, Belverd E. Needles, Jr., Ph.D., CPA addresses some characteristics that will help us understand what motivates students today, how we can meet students on their own ground, and how we can improve the accounting learning process.

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In teaching accounting principles courses, I have successfully utilized Supplemental Instruction in order to assist and empower my students in comprehending and learning the concepts and terminology covered in the course. Supplemental Instruction (SI) is a cooperative learning method in which students work in small groups (6-15 students) outside of the class, in order to improve course performance and retention. Typically, three one-hour sessions are held per week for a three-credit course. SI is proactive, not reactive. It assists students before they encounter academic difficulties in the class and not just after. Specifically, SI is designed to increase students’ knowledge and command of the course material by improving their learning, organization, and problem-solving strategies, and enhancing their critical-thinking, reasoning, and study skills. A trained SI leader facilitates the SI sessions.

In this article, the author describes how, in his experience, SI has proved to be a successful method in not only improving students’ academic performance in his accounting principle courses, but also in improving their attitude and motivation with respect to the course, and in providing them with tools, skills, and strategies necessary for their personal, academic, and professional development.

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