This presentation is designed to help university teachers create an effective classroom environment for all learners, catering to different learning styles and keeping students engaged and enthusiastic.

1. Student Engagement and
Learning Needs
DR EMMA KENNEDY
EMMA.KENNEDY@QMUL.AC.UK

2. Learning Outcomes
This session will look at some of the problems we encounter as teachers in trying to inspire
and maintain students’ engagement with our discipline. We will look at issues of teaching &
learning style and also of session planning, asking how to identify and respond to student
needs.
By the end of this session, you should be able to
 Identify likely student needs in a given learning situation
 Analyse how teachers can respond to those needs in order to maintain engagement
 Evaluate the utility of different learning styles and teaching theories in responding to
identified student needs

3. Learning Needs:
what students need in order to learn.
Influences
• Cultural background
• Disability
• Skill level
• Previous experience.
• What is being taught
• When & where
• Intellectual & professional context

4. Learning Styles - VARK
 “Learning Styles” refers to the idea that different people learn better when they receive
information in particular ways.
 For a good review see Kozhevnikov et al. (2014) – PDF on QMPlus.
VARK – Visual, Auditory, Read/Write, Kinetic.
Neil Fleming ( Fleming, Neil D. (2014). "The VARK modalities". vark-learn.com). Claims that people
who are ‘visual learners’, ‘kinaesthetic learners’ etc. learn better when information is presented in
their preferred way.
What is the best
way to present your
information?

5. Learning styles – Experiential Learning
Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as
the source of learning and development (Vol. 1).
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall
David Kolb developed the Experiential Learning Model
According to Kolb the model on the right shows the different stages of
learning from experience.
The best learning & teaching will incorporate all four stages (blue), but
people tend to fall into one of the four quadrants (yellow).
Some subjects make more use of one stage in particular than others
(theory vs. practice)

6. Can learning styles help us meet
learning needs?
Impossible to identify learning styles of each student. But
can we use learning styles theory to inform how we teach?
Present info in different ways
(VARK): diagrams, reading, audio
Allow students to experience things
differently (Kolb): time for planning,
acting, observing and reflection

7. Tools to meet learning needs
• Think about the content that you will be teaching and the different ways you will present it.
Does a visual style work better than an auditory style, for example? Or are you teaching a
practical skill that students should be able to practice doing (kinaesthetic style)?
Presentation and
teaching style.
• If you have identified particular learning needs you can plan your lesson in response to them.
For example, if you are teaching late in the day students may need a break where they would
not normally. Dyslexic students may appreciate extra time for reading, or the chance to listen to
a passage rather than just reading it.
Lesson Planning
• Sometimes we can sense that students are not responding but struggle to tell why, and what to
do about it. Collecting mid-course evaluation – through Post-Its or an online poll – can give vital
information that we can then use in planning the next session.
Evaluation

8. Student Engagement
‘In education, student engagement refers to the degree of attention, curiosity, interest,
optimism, and passion that students show when they are learning or being taught, which
extends to the level of motivation they have to learn and progress in their education.
Generally speaking, the concept of “student engagement” is predicated on the belief that
learning improves when students are inquisitive, interested, or inspired, and that learning
tends to suffer when students are bored, dispassionate, disaffected, or otherwise
“disengaged.” ’
From http://edglossary.org/student-engagement/
Two possible meanings:
1. We engage students
2. Students engage (themselves)
Students engage themselves – but we can encourage & help them

9. Types of engagement – and signs that
students are engaged
• Students comply with
ground rules and
behavioural norms, and
don’t behave disruptively.
Behavioural
Engagement
• Students experience
positive reactions such as
enjoyment, interest or a
sense of belonging.
Emotional
Engagement
• Students are invested in
their learning, seek to go
beyond the stated
reactions and enjoy a
challenge.
3. Cognitive
Engagement
3 dimensions of engagement taken from Trowler (2010) literature review – see QM+.

10. Are your students engaged?
 Take a minute to write down some possible signs that students are
engaged. It could be examples of behaviour that you have observed in
your own students, or just what you think an ‘engaged student’ would look
like to a teacher.
 Now think about what a disengaged student would look like. Have you
experienced any of those? Write down some examples of behaviour that
you might expect, or have seen, from disengaged students.

11. Lesson Planning
Delivery
• Variety of activities:
are the students
taking notes for an
hour?
Content
• Difficulty level?
Mechanism to check
understanding?
Environment
• Stuffy lecture room?
Low-energy time of
day?
Individual needs
• Students with
particular needs –
cultural, disability,
other?

12. Teaching Methods
Interactive Teaching
• Ask for informal feedback
• Take a vote using clickers
or hands up
• Get students to feed back
after a group exercise.
• Build in a fun or active
element: drawing on the
whiteboard, finding
answers online.
Checking engagement
• Ask a question
• Stop and ask everyone to
say how they are feeling
(“up for a challenge” vs.
“completely lost”)
• Large class: hands
up/check in with
neighbour
Inclusive atmosphere
• Small group work is less
challenging for shy
students than speaking
in front of whole class
• Never mock students
• Establish ground rules if
you think you will need
them – then refer back to
them when you need to

13. Interaction with students
• Eye contact helps maintain attention and shows that you are
speaking to students, not at them
• Body language – what does your body language show to
students? – are you always behind a desk? Do you sit in front
of the students or with them in a circle?
• Humour - light touch; don’t mock students; laugh at yourself.
• Tone of voice – do you speak clearly?
• Attitude – this depends on your own personality, but
remember: if you enforce harsh rules you must stick to them.
Keep an open
line of
communication
and be
approachable:

14. Thanks for your time!
Now please look at the rest of the resources on QM+ and reflect on the
questions to get ready for the Blackboard Collaborate discussion.