Fostering Curiosity
“You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink.” Mary Ellen Weimar (2002) expands on this metaphor and suggests “the horse who has had salt put in his oats does not have to be forced to drink” (p. 103). She goes on to ask the question: Do you make your students thirsty, or do you tell them they are thirsty? Put another way: Do you tell your students why it is important to be on time, or do you offer them experiences that motivate them to attend class at the appointed time?
While we cannot engage every student, it is likely that we can capture the attention of the majority of our students by offering captivating learning experiences in the first five minutes of the class, or as Jim Lang (2016) would say, “prepare their brains for learning” (p. 191).
What does this look like in practice?
Elicit student interest or emotions
Use compelling examples of a short video, reading, or image that relates to the content of the day.
Example 1: Teach students about the Bystander Effect – preview the video The Murder of Kitty Genovese.
Example 2: Show students “how practitioners in the field, or the skills you are teaching them, help make a positive difference in the world” (Lang, p. 191).
Give students something to wonder about
Example: Offer a real-life application of the topic you plan to discuss in class.
Use polling software
Ask questions related to an outside reading or video to engage students in an active learning exercise. This learning strategy reinforces the retrieval of information. See this evidence-based article that describes the benefit of retrieval practice, as well as these additional resources:
Additional resources
- Lang, J. M. (2016). Small teaching: Everyday lessons from the science of learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
- Weimar, M. (2002). Learner-centered teaching: Five key changes to practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
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