classroom participation Archives -

3 Ways to Turn Memorizers into Inquirers

3 Ways to Turn Memorizers into Inquirers It can be tempting to rely on traditional lecture methods, especially when your students seem to be doing well on their exams. But are your students really learning, or are they simply memorizing? It happens to the best of us. In fact, Harvard Professor Eric Mazur describes when →

3 Ways Anonymous Student Participation can Improve Learning

Every teacher knows that no two students are the same. As easy as it is to judge a class based on its most responsive participants, it is equally difficult to work on the introverted students. For such students to participate and take back from a class discussion, why not give them tools to have a →

3 Reasons to Embrace Text Responses

Students have different learning styles: auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. Unfortunately, professors tend to teach only to two. But don’t get caught up in tradition—you can cater to the kinesthetic learners and audio-visual learners alike by using text comments. Text responses let you check understanding, enhance discussion, promote debate, and express perspective. Fortunately, nClass lets you →

Games in the classroom – here are 3 you can play with nClass

Whether you’re introducing a new subject or it’s time to review before an exam, students love learning when it’s fun and competitive. These games are more fun when students can respond instantly on their own devices—nClass can do just that. Here are a few ways to make class more fun with nClass:   1. Analysis-Off →

Why tablets and smartphones are the new pencils and pens

We’re all used to taking notes with ink and lead, but maybe it’s time to update this technology. After all, pencils and pens can’t take pictures, can’t look up information on the internet and definitely can’t improve your students’ social skills and participation level. Worst of all, if your students lose, rip, or forget their →

4 steps to better classroom engagement through social technology

Traditionally, we’ve told students that the key to success is to sit still and be quiet in class. This certainly forces students to pay attention (that is, until they start doodling), but does this really teach them? More importantly, we live in a world fueled by social connections, long- and short-range communication, and teamwork. How →

4 Reasons to ditch clicker hardware

Classroom clickers: they’re clunky,easy to lose, and just plain problematic. While clickers can be great classroom tools, there is simply no reason they need their own hardware.These days students can do the same plus more just by downloading an app on their smartphones.   1. They cost your students money Each semester, students shell out →

To Call or Not to Call on Students

Every teacher encounters a quiet classroom at least once. You’ve waited minutes while students refused to volunteer answers or listened to the same couple of students speak. How do you get the rest of them engaged? Some teachers choose to call on students randomly, but does this really increase engagement, or does it just increase →

5 Myths about Smartphones in the Classroom

1. They’re nothing but trouble One of the worst mistakes a school can make: telling students NOT to use the powerful computers they keep in their pockets. At a time when schools struggle with budgetary restraints, it just makes sense to allow students to use their own tools to collaborate, quickly look up facts, graph →

Ways to Approach Controversial Topics in the Classroom

Whether it’s a hot-button political issue in a social science class, a probing hypothetical in a philosophy course, or ethics in a science class, teachers often find themselves discussing controversial topics with their students. Best case scenario, students come from diverse backgrounds, offer a variety of calm, constructive opinions, and frame all disagreements in a →