By Dr. Fred Mayo, CHE, CHT

The more you establish your expectation of participation and help students reach it, the better the learning experience for all.

One of the most challenging aspects of teaching is getting our students involved in class discussion and other class activities. Sometimes, they are shy or reluctant because of fear of not being articulate or making errors; other times their cultural backgrounds limit their willingness to participate in active discussions. They may also be anxious about appearing stupid or afraid they may not understand. Since we know that students who use ideas and discuss them tend to learn and remember them better, this issue of Mayo’s Clinics provides four suggestions about this dimension of teaching.

By Dr. Fred Mayo, CHE, CHT

Even good students need to review to ace tests. Here’s how to help them.

During the middle of a semester and, more typically, at the end of a term, students often are overwhelmed with preparing for and taking tests. In some schools and colleges, tests come in clumps at mid-term and finals or in thirds throughout the semester. In the best of all possible worlds, students would be studying and reviewing material as the semester progresses, but they often have to learn a lot of new material and do not take the time to review. Therefore, even good students need to review in order to do well in tests.

By Dr. Fred Mayo, CHE, CHT, New York University

Each of these strategies can help your students get ready for class and build their enthusiasm for the topic of the day.

The best way to motivate students and help them get ready for learning new material, reviewing old material, or trying out new skills remains starting each class session with a sparkler. A sparkler connotes something that is typically bright, draws attention, and brings everyone’s focus to one thing at one time. It can be a way to get students to focus on terms and concepts they need to learn and skills they need to develop or practice.

There are a wide range of sparklers that you can use to begin your classes.They include quotes, numbers, images, anagrams, provocative questions and outcomes. The rest of this article highlights some examples and suggests ways that you might use them.