Tbers, 

The posting below gives ten simple suggestions on maintaining student
interest in the classroom.  While written with engineering classes in mind,
much of it is relevant to all areas.  It is by Phillip Wankat and Frank
Oreovicz from the September, 2004 issues of ASEE Prism, Volume 14, Number 1.
<http://www.asee.org/prism/>. Copyright © 2004 ASEE, all rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission.


 A PERFECT 10  -YOU CAN SCORE BIG WITH YOUR ENGINEERING STUDENTS BY USING
                   THESE TEACHING TIPS.

By Phillip Wankat and Frank Oreovicz

Do you find yourself teaching to a room full of zombies? The class seems
enthusiastic at first, but their attention inevitably wanes. And the apathy
is contagious. Even you lose interest. Here are 10 proven steps that can
bring you and your class back to life.

   1. Prepare a list of educational objectives. They will help students know
what to study and what they'll be able to do after completing the class.
Studies show that students learn more when provided with this information.
Use the well-known Bloom's Taxonomy to develop objectives.

   2. Teach inductively. Undergraduates generally learn new material best
when it's introduced with simple, specific examples. Once these are
mastered, more difficult ones can be presented and a general procedure
developed.

   3. Avoid MEGO ("my eyes glaze over") by dividing lectures into segments
separated by activity breaks. The maximum attention span of most students
seems to be about 15 minutes.

   4. Practice active learning during the activity breaks. Ask small groups
of students to undertake activities such as brainstorming, developing
questions for the instructor, or solving a problem. This activity will
energize students for the next lecture segment.

   5. Be enthusiastic. The reason most of us became professors is because we
love the material we teach. Share that enthusiasm and explain why the
material is important. Enthusiastic professors have enthusiastic students.

   6. Learn students' names. Knowing the names of students is absolutely
necessary for developing a rapport with them. By doing so, you'll reduce
discipline problems and cheating.

   7. Come early and stay late. Coming early allows you time to set up the
classroom and sends the message that you want to be there. Staying late is
the best way to answer questions.

   8. Increase student work time. Students who study more learn more.
Encourage study groups for homework and projects. Have one question on the
test that is closely related to homework so that its benefits are obvious.

   9. Reduce or eliminate time pressure on tests. The purpose of a test is
to distinguish between students who know the material and those who don't.
Students need time to show what they know. Reduce the length of tests or
provide more time.

  10. After the first test, ask students how you can help them learn. Give
them five minutes to fill out 3" x 5" cards. You will get a number of useful
responses. But for this to work, you must follow up on some of them. In
large classes we're usually asked to tell students to shut up. By reading
such requests out loud, it makes it OK to ask students to be quiet.

Phillip Wankat is head of interdisciplinary engineering and the Clifton L.
Lovell Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at Purdue University.
Frank Oreovicz is an education communications specialist at Purdue's
chemical engineering school. They can be reached by e-mail at
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