You might have noticed an article in The Chronicle a few weeks ago regarding "disengaged students." These students are sitting quietly in their classes, not asking questions, tuning out instead to their technology, to television, to cell phones. These same students sit not so quietly, or passively, in the library; they connect to one another, engage in conversation, and build social relationships, yet they ignore the costliest one of all - the relationship with their academics. The article dresses the age-old "What are we here for?" question in new clothing that draws attention to that constant struggle students experience between academics and personal development (priorities between which student services and student affairs often vacillate). Indeed, who could expect any faculty member with non-responsive classes to feel that his students recognize any purpose to academics, if seemingly students are merely meeting the minimal obligation of attendance, and rushing out at the end of class to check their messages?
I might be able to persuade you very easily that students are bored or disengaged because they expect to be entertained. Technology - from videos to PowerPoint - allows us to create a multimedia experience. Though this is often great for providing interest, context, and perhaps in breaking down complicated material, there is something about using such techniques that we forget. In their application, a class becomes very much an audience: lights are low, flashy color appears - a special viewing atmosphere is created. Suddenly the demand is for entertainment, and anything short of their expectations is not worth their time.
Students need to be in class before they can be disengaged in class, don't
they?
Have you ever watched someone other than yourself flip channels on a television?
I'll bet if this other person was flipping rather quickly you'd get some sense
of disorientation at the very least, possibly accompanied by seasickness or
helplessness at the inability for your eyes to adjust to the picture before
you can make a decision about it. It can be maddening.
I was leading a study skills workshop which a good-natured and well-intentioned colleague attended. Since it was a relatively small group, I had the luxury of making eye contact with each person in attendance to draw everyone in. When I asked my first question, I stared at the students, waiting for them to answer. But they weren't staring at me… they were already looking at my cheerful colleague with her hand up. The next question I barely had time to finish before her hand went up. Internally I was grimacing, clenching every teaching bone in my body… because my well-intentioned colleague had unintentionally caught the attention of my audience. Immediately, the students' attention flew from me to my colleague's eager hand - and their focus on answering the question was lost entirely. With each hand raised their necks almost snapped as their eyes caught the motion and forced the head to catch up, resulting in quiet cases of whiplash.
Like, hello! I'm trying to watch a program here!
I lost all hope to getting a response out of students after that. The expectation - and confirmed knowledge - that someone else will surely respond or tell me the answer created the invisible fourth wall.
The fourth wall - an audience that is present for a performance yet not a participant. Acknowledged, involved, engaged - but not active.
This becomes a problem in the classroom when students become conditioned to play a game of chicken with the professor. Or maybe it's a game of blink? A game of staring? Who's going to give first? The professor asks a question, and the students politely wait. Are they bored? Maybe. Are they listening? Maybe. Are they disengaged? Let me put it this way - would you call a game of chicken disengaging? No, they're not disengaged. They just know that if they wait just long enough, the professor is going to answer his or her own question. Faculty are under tremendous pressures, too - to forge ahead, to keep on schedule with their curriculum, to grade that stack of papers. The last thing they want to do is spend a few seconds of their time staring at a bunch of undergraduates, waiting to see who will blink first.
Sometimes tutors fall into the category of jumping too far ahead when they
should be biting the bullet. It's that silence that we all hate, the silence
so easy to break by not giving the student enough time to figure it out or to
give it a shot. It's the scariest, strongest, and most foolproof tool in a tutor's
toolbox; if the tutor can master the patience needed to properly administer
it. Such "wait time" can even be more useful in a smaller tutoring
setting rather than class, since there is less pressure on the tutor to give.
There's a reason it's called the waiting game.
Just how long is long enough? Surprisingly, anywhere between 3 and 30 seconds. The importance of wait-time (or as some prefer, "think-time") is highlighted by the decreased attention span of students. Waiting to qualify a statement, to clarify a formula, to even clear your throat is critical to allowing students the time they need to focus, process, and think. Any action you might take during that time that might be perceived as a "giving in" is enough of a trigger to abruptly end this process. Used consistently and wisely, wait time can help students take control of their learning.
30 seconds is just long enough to thoroughly wash your hands, and to sing
happy birthday to you two times. (If you need a 20-second song, try a verse
of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.") A training tip given to me when
I became a tutor, and which I pass on to my own staff, is to literally sit on
your hands when working with a student. This technique prevents the tutor from
taking over the session, forces communication between tutor and tutee(s), and
is a reminder that though it may be temporarily painful, a student's dependence
is in the long run more costly.
Bauerlein, M. (2006). "A Very Long Disengagement." The Chronicle
Review. 6 Jan 2006. B6-
B8.
Stahl, R. (1994). "Using 'Think-Time' and 'Wait-Time' Skillfully in the
Classroom." A to Z
Teacher Stuff. http://atozteacherstuff.com/pages/1884.shtml
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What kind of experiences have you encountered with students not responding
to questions? What are your experiences with wait time?
What tips do you have for getting students to become active, whether
in the classroom, during a presentation, or during a tutoring session?
Questions or comments? Contact the author at j.scibet@usip.edu.