Keeping Students Engaged

Nowadays, schools put a large amount of focus into testing and grades. This leads students to become fixated on high test scores, and this can really take away from the value of learning. Because of this, the excitement young children feel when starting school unfortunately does not last and fades away. Research is showing that a large number of children lose their interest in school and learning. Educational psychologists are finding ways to increase student engagement in school and increase their desire to learn and perform. They have come up different methods to once again capture the attention of students and keep them motivated and engaged.

• Changing the students’ mindset: This is done my praising the student for effort, rather than just good grades. Having a mindset only fixated on good grades can cause students to lose motivation when they receive a bad grade.
• Expecting they can do well, and valuing learning: This is done by showing students how what they learn in the classroom is relevant to their lives. If they believe what they learn bring relevance to their life, students will value learning more.
• Engaging students by doing more hands-on activities.
• Creating personal connection: Teachers and students creating a deeper connections and a positive teacher-student relationships.
• Focusing less on grades and more on mastery: Focusing more on mastery ensures that students are learning, and this is done by giving students a chance to revise the work they have not quite mastered. This also decreases the chances of students cheating because they are more focused on learning and mastering information, rather than focusing on the grade they will receive.
• No comparing of students: Comparing their differences can lead students to fixate on others’ accomplishments, rather than their own. It can make students who learn differently feel badly about themselves, and in turn, make them less motivated.

The idea is to make school and learning a fun environment again, where less focus is on test scores and grades, and more focus is put on ensuring students are actually learning, mastering what they learn, and taking what they learn and applying it to their lives. Students have to be shown that there is more to school and learning than test scores and grades.

For more details and information on this topic, you can visit this page:

http://www.apa.org/monitor/2015/06/grabbing-students.aspx