I had one wonderfully engaged class last semester, and one less so. I asked my engaged class, Intro to Media Studies (pictured above via an AI-assisted sketch), what we did well. I wanted to know what helped them to have consistent attendance, focused attention in class, and dynamic discussions with active participation from most students. Here’s what they said.

For context, this was an undergraduate course that enrolled 21 students. Most were Media Studies majors or minors, but some weren’t. Students ranged from their first semester of college to seniors. Several were international students.

1. Help everyone to learn each other’s names.

Students shared that my knowing their names, and that they knew one another’s names, both made it easier to engage in class discussions.

I facilitate this a couple ways. One is with blank nameplates. I cut cardstock in half ahead of class time on the first or second day of the course, and bring a bunch of brightly colored markers. At the start of class, I instruct students to fold their sheet in half lengthwise (so it makes a little tent on their desk) and to write their first name in a color of their choice. I often encourage them to also add a small doodle of something that they like or that defines them in some way. We then go around the room and introduce ourselves by our name and our doodle. I use the nameplates as an easy attendance measure. Students pick them up as they enter the classroom and deposit them as they leave.

We also spent one full day of class getting to know one another. As a small, no-points homework assignment, each student made an introduction slide in a Google Slide deck that everyone had access to. Students were encouraged to “use whatever design, style, fonts, colors, images, etc. you like to reflect you” and to include:

• Your name (& pronouns, if you like)
• A photo of you that you like
• Where you’re from
• Your major (or your aca-interests)
• Anything you’re involved in on campus (e.g. sports, clubs, orgs) that you want to share with us
• Media you love (e.g. favorite show, podcast, movie, website, TikTok account, etc.)
• Something you want to learn in this class (this could be a skill, idea, or a particular topic/reading on the syllabus that interests you)

To further a lively feeling in our class and create social connection, as each student presented an intro slide, everyone was invited to snap their fingers if something the student presented resonated with them.

I also arrive to each class about 10 minutes early so I can greet students by name as they enter the classroom and say goodbye to them as they leave. I always call on students by name during class.

2. Capture & nurture the first brave sparks of engagement.

It can be awkward, nerve-wracking, or even scary to be the first person to speak up in a new group. My students said faculty can help drive that engagement by being especially encouraging and supportive of the first brave students who start the discussion. Even if a response isn’t perfectly correct or complete, I can always relate a student’s comment back to our core content or frame it as a starting point for other students to add to.

3. Encourage everyone to speak early in the semester.

Students said it helped to hear everyone’s voice early on in the semester. We did this with a couple of different prompts during our first few classes, in addition to our intro slide day. For example, during the second week, every student was prompted to rate how their first week of class went and to share any details (good, bad, or weird) that they wanted to.

Even when not directly about course content, these discussion exercises that were more social and silly helped us to build rapport. This paid off in our more vulnerable and nuanced conversations later on about, for example, social media and mental health, the state of journalism and politics, and sportswashing.

4. Explain engagement’s various elements.

Students understand the expectation to speak up in discussion, but it can be useful to talk through the other ways we show engagement in the classroom, such as:

• Communicate intellectual engagement through our body by sitting in our desks with as much energy and posture as we can muster.
• Make eye contact with the professor and classmates, if we’re able to.
• Nod along when something said resonates with us.
• Arrive to class on time, or even better, a few minutes early.
• Stay off our phones.
• If we use a laptop or tablet, use it solely for class purposes.

These aren’t just how we express and enact engagement. These are how we show care, consideration, and respect for everyone we’re learning with.

5. Teach discussion skills.

Students shared that our workshop day (when we explicitly covered how to actively engaged in class discussion) was helpful.

We covered these basic tips for how to engage in a class discussion:

• Explicitly build on what someone else has said. 
• Ask a question that encourages someone to clarify or elaborate a point.
• Make a comment to link two people’s contributions.
• If you found another person’s ideas interesting or useful, describe why.
• Summarize people’s contributions, taking into account a recurring theme. 
• Find a way to express appreciation for the insights you have gained from the discussion. Be specific.
• Respectfully disagree in a constructive way. 
• Aim for clarity and brevity. (You can even write your question/comment beforehand.)
• Share discussion space with classmates.

We also covered how to phrase one’s entry into discussion with example scripts:

• “I appreciate your point, but could you clarify [x]?:
• “Ah, your point resonates so well with what [x] just said because [y].” 
• “That’s so interesting / I agree because [x].” 
• “Building on what [x] said, I think [y].” 
• “Both [x] and [y] have pointed out [z], which reveals key theme [w].”
• “I’m confused about what you mean about [x]. Could you explain a bit more?”
• “I learned a lot today. I especially appreciated [x].” 
• “Respectfully, I disagree with [y] because [z].”

6. Practice discussion with something bonkers fun.

After we covered the basics for how to engage in a discussion, we practiced. We first tried a silly discussion topic to get us warmed up and then a discipline-specific topic (“Are e-sports sports?”). My silly prompt was: “Which part of the Kool-Aid Man is sentient: the pitcher or the liquid?”

Admittedly, I’ve used this prompt with multiple classes and this was the first group who LOVED it and discussed it with significant energy. They could have debated Kool-Aid Man’s liveliness for the entire class period! This was a stroke of luck for me. But what the students shared that is more universal is that facilitating a discussion where students are thinking, caring, laughing, being creative and maybe even weird, and truly engaging with one another is what matters.

7. Create opportunities for students to share that class participation is difficult for them.

Students shared that being able to let me know that discussion felt difficult or very anxious for them was helpful so that I understood where they were coming from if/when they spoke up.

I facilitate this with the first low stakes assignment in my classes: a Letter of Introduction. One of the prompts reads:

State your goals for this course (e.g. sharpen a particular skill, earn a particular grade, to participate actively, etc.), and how you plan to meet them. Include if you anticipate needing any accommodations, help, or support from me and/or classmates. And I always love to know if you’re the first in your family to go to college and/or if you work a job alongside your studies, provide care giving for someone, or have other significant responsibilities or challenges beyond your studies alone, so I can keep that in mind this semester.

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Engagement—that combination of attendance, attention, participation, and active learning that makes the college classroom a truly magical place—is harder to come by post-pandemic. It was such a pleasure to have this class excel in these measures. I’ll practice more intentionally some of these elements the students emphasized.

Best wishes to all faculty and students working together to build worthwhile and memorable learning experiences!