Sunday, December 18, 2011

Module 1: Project Topic and Justification

Learner Engagement

Engaged learning is the process of students actively and successfully participating in their own learning experience.  Students should be motivated and encouraged to set their own goals and assess their academic progress.  Students are also energized about their learning and possess a lifelong passion that leads to higher-order thinking, understanding, and problem solving.  Students must know how to transfer knowledge to creatively solve problems and collaborate with others Jones, Valdez, Nowakowski, and Rasmussen (1994).
In order to improve learning engagement, educators must:

(1)    Select activities that are at a correct level of difficulty and are motivating and interesting to the learners.

(2)    Create a safe and comfortable learning environment which allows students to voice their opinions and views without being judged or criticized.

(3)    Implement effectively strategies that are flexible and responsive to the needs of their students.

(4)    Possess good classroom management skills and be consistent at all times.

(5)    Develop creative lesson plans, activities, class discussions, etc. that address the needs of all their students.

(6)     Encourage collaboration amongst the students and challenge them to become higher-order thinkers and problem solvers.

(7)    Communicate with parents to ensure their input about their child is valued and respected.

(8)    Collaborate with administrators, team members, and other staff members to ensure the all students have an opportunity to be successful in their learning process.

References

Jones, B., Valdez, G., Nowakowski, J., & Rasmussen, C. (1994). Designing Learning and Technology for Educational Reform. Oak Brook, IL: North Central Regional Educational Laboratory.




4 comments:

  1. Is this resource a peer-reviewed resource from the last five years? I agree that students must be engaged in their own learning process. How will you engage those students?

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  2. I am excited to see what you uncover about engagement because I agree that it is one of, if not, the most critical element in student success. I have seen classes and entire schools torn apart because students were not engaged. We can all learn from this topic.

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  3. Durff,
    I retrieved the information from resource listed above. I must first find out what my students' interest are, and then I will use this information to create student-centered activities. Students tend to become more engaged in their learning, when topics interest them. How do you engage your students?

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  4. Luke,
    I am very excited about my topic of ressearch. I look forward to sharing all of my information with you as well.

    ReplyDelete