Last October I received an email from a professor asking me how to engage students who will not speak, ask questions or participate in any way. I responded with suggestions here.
I recently heard back from her:
Happy New Year...I used all your suggestions and......they talked! The small group approach worked especially well. I guess "safety in numbers!"...Thanks Again...
Putting students into small teams and assigning them something to discuss helps create a comfort zone as well as emphasizes that you expect participation.
Have you tried "jigsaw" assignments? I going to experiment with them this coming semester, and I'm curious to hear from someone who has used them in a university-level class.
Posted by: richard | January 10, 2008 at 02:19 PM
No, I haven't but I'll do a post on this and see if we can find someone who has. It looks like an interesting approach to getting students to take responsibility for their own learning.
Posted by: Dr. Delaney Kirk | January 10, 2008 at 02:39 PM