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Webinars

How to Improve Student Engagement in Your College and University Courses by Using K-12 Teaching Techniques

Thursday, February 4, 2021
11:00 am – 12:00 pm (Eastern Time)

What can we learn from excellent teaching in elementary and secondary education?

How do we build the capacity of students to be more engaged and able to self-direct their learning?

What can we do as faculty and instructors to facilitate culturally responsive teaching?

Explore with Dr. Varner how:

  • Open-ended questioning with total participation techniques not only work but also ensure everyone is engaged and can participate.
  • Reflective activities designed to get students to find out what actually gets them to learn are vital. This includes engaging students with the concept of metacognition.
  • Flexible grouping of students with norms and protocols is key.
  • Exploratory activities with hands-on materials engage college students as much as a group of kindergartners.
  • Explicit instruction on when to be engaged with technology and when not to be is important.
  • Self-created projects based on clear course objectives can bring a class to life for students as they conduct their individual research as well as share their learning with others.

Three Key Takeaways:

  • Develop successful strategies to engage learners in self-directed learning activities.
  • Learn how to change the mindset of students from passive to active learning.
  • Consider how planning through a lens of access and equity can increase student learning for students of all ages.

Host:

Janet Wood Varner
Visiting Professor, St. Mary's College of Maryland
Dr. Janet Wood Varner is a visiting professor in the educational studies department at St. Mary’s College of Maryland and as a part-time adjunct professor for McDaniel College and as a part-time adjunct professor. She is a US National Board-Certified teacher with 22 years of varied experiences in both K-12 and higher education settings. Dr. Varner continues to serve as a veteran teacher for St. Mary’s County Public Schools in the role of part-time math coach for special education teachers. She just completed teaching a course she designed called Social Justice in the Mathematics Classroom, and wrote an insightful article for Inside Higher Ed on the topic explored in this interactive webinar.