The Importance of Meaningful Student Engagement in the Classroom: The See-Do-Teach Approach

“What I hear, I overlook. What I see, I keep in mind. What I do, I perceive.”

“Inform me and I overlook, train me and I keep in mind, contain me and I study.”

These phrases are impressed by a passage written by the Confucian thinker Xunzi (Xun Kuang), and they’re well-known inside training. They emphasize the significance of a pupil’s engaged participation in their very own training. Slightly than merely watching another person do one thing or listening to another person clarify one thing, working towards by doing is the simplest technique of understanding. The relevancy of those concepts to training is evident. A aim of an educator is that, by the tip of a course, their college students have internalized and understood the fabric. Furthermore, the aim is that the coed can apply that understanding or these abilities past the course. If these are the targets of educators, then it appears worthwhile to implement these concepts in a single’s instructing.

When creating my very own instructing philosophy, I’ve mirrored alone private experiences as a pupil within the classroom. From the coed perspective, I’ve at all times most well-liked courses which organically fostered pupil engagement. This stage of engagement goes past sitting in my seat and elevating my hand to reply questions. Over time, my friends have expressed related preferences as properly. I’ve at all times discovered lectures to be extra helpful to my understanding when pupil participation was important and anticipated. Subsequently, these experiences have knowledgeable my method to instructing when it got here time to determine my instructing philosophy as an educator.

Throughout my undergraduate and graduate careers, I’ve had the chance to be an educator (Supplemental Instruction Chief and Instructing Assistant respectively). Since then, I’ve constantly mirrored upon my very own instructing philosophy, particularly as a instructing assistant starting my profession in greater training. As each a pupil and educator, I’ve reaped and seen reaped the advantages of a classroom that emphasizes significant pupil engagement in course instruction. Given the coed success that has resulted from approaches that implement these concepts into their framework, I believe you will need to discover strategies of making use of them within the classroom. I’m not alone on this conclusion based mostly off of my private experiences. The effectiveness of approaches that encourage significant pupil engagement is supported by varied research in training. Subsequently, I need to share a selected method right here which locations significant pupil engagement on the middle of instruction. I’ve known as this the See-Do-Educate method, and over the previous few years, I’ve refined and proceed to refine this method. My hope is that sharing these experiences gives a chance for others to brainstorm purposes of those concepts in their very own lectures and programs for the advantage of their college students.

“See-Do-Educate”

Reflecting upon my experiences as the coed and the educator, I explored an method that focuses on significant pupil engagement throughout the lecture. The See-Do-Educate method combines visible, auditory, and kinesthetic types of engagement. As well as, this method additionally implements scaffolding by growing the complexity and problem of fabric over time whereas concurrently constructing off earlier materials.

Previously tutorial 12 months, I used to be a instructing assistant for a course known as Ideas of Reasoning at Ohio College. This course focuses on formal and quantitative reasoning. The course varies relying on the professor, nevertheless it at all times consists of propositional logic, some quantity of both inductive or categorical logic, and extra topics associated to reasoning corresponding to ethical reasoning, psychology of reasoning, casual fallacies, and so on. In my weekly dialogue part, I adopted the See-Do-Educate method in most of my lectures.

In each semesters, there got here a time for college kids to study proofs in propositional logic. First, I walked by way of the primary proof on the board each writing and narrating my method to the query and my reasoning. That is the See portion of the method (I describe using just one query right here. Relying on the scholars’ stage of understanding initially of the lecture, extra of all these issues could also be crucial). This portion is, roughly, already in full bloom in logic programs. The See step helps to put the muse for the scholars, and that is essential previous to any expectations of the coed to exhibit their understanding.

Subsequent, the Do portion of the method provides the kinesthetic type of involvement. I’ve discovered that this portion may be facilitated in quite a lot of methods, however I’ve discovered a mixture of the next two alternative ways to achieve success. On this portion, the professor’s stage of help can fluctuate relying on the fabric and proficiency of the scholars. (1) Group work; college students work on the query collectively in teams. As soon as they really feel assured of their reply, they check-in with the professor. In a lecture on proofs, this is able to imply the scholars full a proof within the group and test their resolution with me or generally with one other group of their friends. (2) Alone and examine; college students test their understanding by trying to finish the query themselves (free to ask questions if they want), after which they examine their solutions with one other pupil(s). This enables college students to finish a self-assessment of their understanding of the fabric whereas additionally permitting college students to test their work with a peer somewhat than the professor. Previously, college students have reported to me that it’s far much less intimidating to test with their friends first. They’ve additionally reported that it boosts their stage of confidence of their reply if they’ve checked their reply with a peer previous to sharing their reply out loud to the category or with the professor. Inside this portion, college students at the moment are listening to explanations of the fabric from their friends in different phrases totally different than the professors, and the scholars now should justify their very own method based mostly on their understanding. Moreover, the element of scaffolding comes into play right here. I are likely to make these issues more difficult than the See portion to organize them for the extent of complexity anticipated on assessments. College students depend on their understanding of earlier, easier inquiries to method more difficult variations of the fabric.

Lastly, the third portion is crucial and helpful to the scholars for my part. The Educate portion, at its excessive, locations the scholars within the position of the educator and the educator within the position of the coed. This portion nearly at all times includes an off-the-cuff “presentation.” For this part, I place college students in teams to restrict the intimidation issue of talking to the category. College students both write their resolution on the board and clarify it to the category, or, in a non-problem-based course, the group would lead the dialogue of the query or passage being mentioned. Persevering with to undertake the tactic of scaffolding, these questions are the toughest or most advanced. They’re on the stage of evaluation problem or barely more difficult. The scholars can now method extra difficult or troublesome issues which will have appeared too troublesome or daunting initially of the category. That is the reasoning behind making use of scaffolding throughout the See-Do-Educate method. Moreover, as I now place myself within the position of the coed, I might play up the position of the coed relying on the group’s stage of understanding: “Why can I not use modus ponens?”, “Why does disjunctive syllogism apply right here?”. Though seemingly easy questions, the flexibility of the scholars to clarify the query and resolution in their very own phrases and reply questions concerning the materials demonstrates an internalization of the fabric and a stage of understanding past “I noticed it within the textbook. The textbook stated X.” Apart from pupil success, a bonus of this method is its adaptability and adaptability. The See, Do, and Educate parts may be stretched throughout a complete semester or over one lecture. The period of time spent throughout the See, Do, and Educate parts of the method can fluctuate based mostly on the fabric to be coated and the scholars’ stage of understanding coming into the lecture.

Why undertake these concepts within the classroom?

Pupil retention tends to extend with repeated and significant publicity to the fabric. By significant, I imply energetic (reflecting and processing what’s perceived) engagement versus passive. Although somebody can have interaction passively and actively with visible, auditory, and kinesthetic types of instruction, it’s far simpler to “zone out” with visible or auditory instruction versus kinesthetic varieties (doing the factor itself).

In my expertise, the success of scholars has been evident in each class efficiency in addition to based mostly on pupil suggestions. Whereas working as a Supplemental Instruction Chief at my undergraduate college for Ideas of Chemistry and Natural Chemistry and as a instructing assistant for Ideas of Reasoning as a graduate pupil, I’ve had college students report that they’ve left with a stronger understanding of the fabric than earlier than they got here to lecture. They felt assured of their potential to method the issues even when their execution was nonetheless considerably incorrect or mistaken. Some stated that this eradicated some discouragement and frustration with studying the fabric. In much less problem-based lectures, college students felt that the method to dialog constructed up their confidence when it got here to talking within the classroom. By the tip of many of the programs, college students reported that they felt not solely extra assured of their understanding of the concepts, but additionally extra assured to share their solutions, ideas, and opinions.

Apart from its utility in problem-based programs like a logic course, the See-Do-Educate method may be utilized in a extra reading-heavy, conversational course too. Take, for instance, a hypothetical course on Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. Assuming in all these instances that you’ve got learn the passage, you would watch the professor annotate and spotlight key passages of the textual content. You may take heed to the professor discuss the important thing ideas from these passages. Or, you may speak amongst your friends and the professor concerning the textual content and your understanding of the passages. Which state of affairs do you suppose would higher equip you to clarify the concepts from the passages in your personal phrases after the category? I’m inclined to suppose the final state of affairs. Why? Since you engaged extra with your personal concepts and the concepts within the passage. You needed to actively have interaction with the fabric whereas studying it to make some sense of it, try to clarify the passage and your ideas concerning the passage in your personal phrases, in addition to take heed to and replicate on the responses of your classmates. No matter in case your understanding was right or inaccurate, you needed to contain your self in a dialogue of the passage which required you to have the ability to clarify the idea in your personal phrases. This is a vital ability not solely inside philosophy. I had a mentor of mine at all times emphasize the significance of utilizing your personal phrases to exhibit your understanding. In the event you can’t clarify it in your personal phrases, then you definitely don’t actually have any understanding in any respect of what you realized.

For me personally, when I’m instructing, I need to share the fabric in a means that pursuits and engages them. Guaranteeing their understanding has a two-fold goal: they’ll obtain a sure stage of efficiency within the class, however extra importantly, it permits the scholars to take the data they’ve gained within the course past the classroom. I contemplate this particularly essential with a course corresponding to Ideas of Reasoning, a category centered on logical reasoning and argument. What the scholars have the chance to do themselves, they perceive higher, and when the educator includes the coed within the growth of their very own understanding of the fabric, they study.