In a classroom setting interaction among students is the norm. How do you replicate that informality, spontaneity, and focus online? This book provides you with a framework to think about the different kinds of engagement you want to foster -- whether participation, collaboration, or quick feedback -- and then introduces you to available online…

Engagement is an essential factor in successful outcomes for students. Several studies have shown that the use of Twitter in the higher education classroom has the potential to increase student engagement. Student engagement increases students' academic success, because they are interacting with the course content, peers and the course instructor…

Science classrooms in the United States have become more diverse with respect to the variety of languages spoken by students. This qualitative study used ethnographic methods to investigate the discourse and practices of two ninth grade science classrooms. Approximately 44% of students included in the study were designated as English learners. The…

Some concepts to help teachers adhere to classroom instruction in the target language are presented and discussed. These include ideas related to the teacher's speech (visual cues, speed, and repetition and rephrasing), student speech (teacher-assisted and student-dominated communication), out-of-class assignments, and teacher assessment of…

A technique for increasing student interest and participation which provides some of the benefits of individualized instruction includes daily homework assignments and short daily compositions. The daily homework assignments are only looked over, not corrected or graded. For the short daily compositions (three sentences for first-year classes, and…

This article presents ten strategies instructors can use to get their students to take more responsibility for their learning. Suggestions are given about the importance of getting students to verbalize why they are taking the course, helping students get into the proper mindset for each class, and structuring assignments so students will be more…

Techniques for college teachers to use in managing student resistance to critical thinking include proactive strategies (creating a cooperative environment, establishing rapport, creating high expectations, and countering resistive behavior) and reactive strategies (avoiding personalization of resistance, inviting students to explore resistance,…