by James A. Baumann
"What really engages students? What feels authentic and what feels fake? How are our best intentions interpreted? Especially in 2020, as we have all struggled with less bandwidth, we have seen firsthand the importance of really listening and understanding the student experience.”
Raise your hand if any of that sounds familiar.
Odds are every residence life professional has uttered some variation of one or more of those questions. Those quotations, however, are taken from the foreword of the new book Keeping Us Engaged: Student Perspectives (and Research-Based Strategies) on What Works and Why, a book designed to provide faculty with practical strategies for increased classroom learning. The book, written by Christine Harrington, an associate professor in the Department of Educational Leadership at New Jersey City University, with input from 50 college students, is a quick read, but it is filled with lessons and examples that will stay with the reader a long time.
Though it may not have been the original intention, the book also serves as a vibrant example of ways in which the metaphorical walls between the classroom and student affairs are becoming all the more permeable. Just as residence life, student activities, and the like are more and more identifying learning outcomes, so are academic faculty moving away from a pure “sage on the stage” delivery. Harrington shares real-world examples of professors who successfully utilized tactics such as icebreakers, relationship-building, networks, authenticity, and personal experiences to increase student engagement and, in turn, student learning. The lessons and tactics she prescribes, though, could have a wide variety of applications.
The Talking Stick reached out to Harrington to ask her more about the blurring of lines between academics and student life, lessons each side could take from the other, and the possibility for additional collaboration.
That’s right. There are many different types of engagement. Because the context here is academic in nature, I like to focus on cognitive engagement. To me, students who put forth high levels of attention and effort to learn and complete tasks are cognitively engaged. Several of the student stories focused on how meaningful activities or powerful questions encouraged them to put forth higher levels of effort. Because we are social beings, it is not surprising that our engagement will be highest when we are working with others on tasks. As you can see from the student stories, many of the stories highlighted the value of relationships and others in engagement.
Student engagement can still be high in virtual environments. In the book, you hear from students in fully online programs speak of being fully engaged with the content and one another. The pandemic led to a significant rise in synchronous online activities in our academic and personal worlds. Zoom lectures, when done well, can promote high levels of engagement. The breakout room feature, for instance, allows everyone to be actively involved and engaged in the conversations and tasks. Collaborative strategies such as using Google docs added value. Faculty are incredibly flexible and creative; there were endless stories online about what faculty were doing to engage their students in this new virtual world.
The same was true in terms of social events. Most of us were Zooming with family and friends, and colleges created tons of Zoom programming to engage students. I think we all miss the live, in-person events, especially the spontaneous conversations before or after class and events. Perhaps the greatest challenge was the many distractors we all faced. Faculty, staff, and students were trying to do their work in a space shared with other family members. In many cases, children or parents and grandparents needed to be cared for, making it difficult or impossible to give attention to academic tasks. It is also much easier to get distracted and engaged in non-academic tasks when on the computer as there is so much out there that tempts us to shift our focus. Engagement requires effort, and during the pandemic many of us needed our effort for more pressing and perhaps more important tasks.
Housing and student affairs professionals know how to engage their students. Faculty who want students to get excited about class activities can learn a lot from the student affairs side of the house. The truth is, we can all learn from each other, and the more we engage with our colleagues, the better equipped we will be to engage our students. Student affairs professionals, for instance, can provide faculty with tips on how to help students feel comfortable and welcome in a new environment through icebreakers and other activities. As several students discussed in the book, creating a welcoming environment sets the stage for engagement and learning. We also need to engage students outside of the classroom, and faculty who have good relationships with professionals in student affairs will be best positioned to do this. For example, faculty can inform students of opportunities on campus hosted by student affairs.
This is another great question. Although backward design is typically talked about in terms of the classroom, it has relevance in student affairs too. Student affairs professionals can develop learning outcomes for their programs and determine how to best assess whether these outcomes were achieved. These assessments likely will not look like academic assignments or assessments, but it is still important for student affairs to engage in assessment to find out if goals were met. After these are determined, they can figure out the best way to help students achieve the desired goals. Faculty can be a great resource throughout this planning process.
Meaningful assignments have real-world value. They either have immediate value to the student or others or the future value is very clear. For example, education majors will see the value in learning how to write lesson plans even if they are not currently engaged in teaching because this skillset will be needed in their career. Several students shared examples of how creating products for organizations really engaged them. They appreciated knowing that their work was being used by others. On the other hand, when the purpose or value is not obvious, students will often view the assignment as busy work.
If you look at student engagement research, it shows that the best predictor of persistence for college students is a relationship with someone on campus. Although there is a ton of literature on the value of student-professor relationships, a relationship with anyone on campus can truly make a difference. For students living on campus, RAs can often be a great source of support. The key is that students want to feel a part of the college and want to know that others care about them.
This is easy. RAs can learn each student’s name and a few facts about them. Checking in with them periodically and asking them how they are doing are simple, but very powerful ways to show you care. Building on student interests will make it easier for RAs to plan floor events that build a great sense of community. As you know, students will be more likely to reach out for guidance or support when they know you care and are there for them.
James A. Baumann is Talking Stick editor in chief. Dr. Christine Harrington is an associate professor in the Department of Educational Leadership at New Jersey City University. Prior to that she worked at Middlesex County College for 18 years as a professor of psychology and student success, the director of the Center for the Enrichment of Learning and Teaching, coordinator of student success, and a counselor. She also served a two-year term as the executive director of the Center for Student Success at the New Jersey Council of County Colleges.
