How to Engage Students, Part 1: Flipping and CPR in the Classroom for High Student Engagement Printer friendly format
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Paying attention to the student experience and constantly improving on it is just as important to teachers as the customer experience is to corporations. We must learn to engage students and teach them the way they prefer to learn. This article presents two creative teaching methods for high student engagement: Flipped Classroom and the CPR Method.

     1.     Consider flipping your classroom 

The traditional method of classroom lectures combined with doing homework alone around the kitchen table is no longer effective for today’s high-tech, high engagement students.

 

Students spend several hours a week with mobile devices in their hands, online, watching videos, and interacting with social media. You can tap into your students’ preferences by bringing what they love to do into your instructional method.

 

“Flip teaching” allows students to learn new content the way they like to interact: by watching video lectures in the comfort of their homes online on mobile devices, and then working problems (old-school homework) in the classroom in small groups.

 

Flip teaching, also known as a flipped classroom, allows instructors to be more interactive with students in the classroom. It also gives instructors the opportunity to offer needed guidance during problem solving on activities that were traditionally assigned as homework.

 

In flipping your classroom, you simply have students learn content at home online and then work on problems, case studies, and discussion questions in the classroom. 

 

     2.     Learn CPR for the Classroom 

Try the 3-step engagement model that successful corporate trainers use to keep adults engaged in training - CPR:

                    •     Content

                    •     Practice/Discussion 

                    •      Review 

Here’s how CPR works. Take every major topic of your instruction and deliver it using the 3 steps of CPR. Start by introducing a discussion on your topic; in essence, you “teach the topic” briefly. This is the Content (C). 

 

Next, offer an interactive opportunity that gets the students involved with the content. This is the Practice/Discussion (C). You might provide a case study or show a video clip, and then discuss what was presented, have a small group discussion, etc.  

 

Finally, have students review the content in a meaningful way. This is the Review  (R) phase of CPR. An engaging review might ask students to write down the 3 best ideas they are taking away from the discussion. Another idea is to offer a quiz as a means of review.

 

The CPR Method keeps students engaged because it gets them involved in the process of learning. Short lectures are followed by small group discussions or activities, and all major content is reviewed in a meaningful way. 

 

Consider the use of flip teaching, CPR, or a combination of both methods in your classroom. When you do, your students will retain more content and enjoy your class far more.

 

 

Sources Cited

 

Pike, Robert W.. Creative training techniques handbook tips, tactics, and how-to's for delivering effective training. 3rd ed. Amherst, Mass.: HRD Press, 2003. Print.