Welcome to the "Rethinking Student Engagement" Learning Path! This is your all-access pass to a variety of sessions and materials designed to boost your classroom dynamics. Each session offers unique insights into making your teaching more engaging, from fundamentals of active learning to interactive polling techniques. The components are arranged in a logical order to help you build your skills progressively. Starting from the beginning will give you a comprehensive foundation, but, feel free to explore the components that pique your interest. Attendance isn’t mandatory at every stop—hop on and off as you wish! This path is laid out buffet-style; sample what you like and come back for seconds whenever you’re ready for more!
Your guide for engaging with this Learning Path:
In this Learning Path, we use a variety of engagement methods to ensure flexibility and cater to the different ways you absorb and process information. Each component is marked by specific terms to guide you:
- Attend: Join live workshops where real-time interaction is key.
- Attend (Tech Onboard): Onboarding workshops to help integrate a technology tool into your courses.
- Read: Access text-based resources to explore at your own pace.
- Watch: Engage with video content to visualize and understand concepts.
- Practice: Take part in hands-on activities to apply what you've learned.
- Share: Join sessions to exchange ideas and experiences with others.
Attend (Tech Onboard): Using Peerceptiv Peer Review to Increase Collaboration and Engagement | Aug 19 & Sep 4
Peerceptiv is a peer collaboration tool designed to enhance student engagement by facilitating peer review and team member evaluation assignments and is now available for all UC Berkeley classes as part of a pilot. Through Peerceptiv, students give and receive actionable feedback on assignments, which supports learning for both the giver and receiver of feedback. This peer assessment technology improves writing and critical thinking skills by engaging students in the role of the teacher. In this live session, you will:
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Explore various ways Peerceptiv peer assessment is used to increase student engagement and reduce grading time.
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Learn how it integrates with bCourses
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Understand how to set up an assignment in bCourses and in Peerceptiv, enabling you to add peer review to an existing or new assignment in your course.
View details and register for this workshop. This session is also offered on September 4 at 10:00 AM. Click here to register for the second session.
Watch or Attend (Tech Onboard): Using Polling Tools to Enhance Student Engagement | Aug 20
Polling tools are excellent resources for increasing student interaction during classes. They can quickly gather student opinions and knowledge, enabling real-time adjustments to teaching and increasing student involvement in the learning process.
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Watch: View these short video tutorials on using Berkeley sponsored polling tools—iClicker Cloud and Poll Everywhere. These videos will guide you through setting up an account, starting a poll, etc. You can also receive customized assistance by emailing studentresponse@berkeley.eduor by scheduling a 1:1 consultation
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Attend: Join this live session as we will review the basics of Berkeley-sponsored polling tools—iClicker Cloud and Poll Everywhere. You will learn how to set up your account, create and run your first poll, choose from a variety of activities, such as multiple choice polls, Q&A, and open-ended responses, and sync your polling tool with bCourses. View details and register for this workshop
Attend: Setting the Stage: Fostering Student Engagement Throughout the Semester | Aug 26
Kick off the semester with a dynamic approach to teaching by joining us for 'Setting the Stage: Fostering Student Engagement Throughout the Semester.' This workshop is designed to empower you with the tools and strategies needed to create an active learning environment from day one. We will explore how active engagement through peer discussions, questioning, and exploring various possibilities can transform your teaching approach.
Read: Choosing the Right Active Learning Strategies
Read this guide on Types of Active Learning Strategies and explore various active learning strategies to help you select the right mix for your specific classroom contexts and teaching styles If you have any questions about these strategies or would like to discuss them with a CTL colleague, please feel free to email teaching@berkeley.edu, or schedule a consultation.
Read: Space Matters! Maximizing Active Learning Classrooms for Student Collaboration and Engagement
Berkeley’s Active Learning classrooms (ALC) are teaching and learning spaces that allow the instructor to customize the physical learning environment to meet pedagogical needs. In an ALC, the room design, flexible furniture, writing surfaces, and technology allow for multiple pedagogical activities. ALCs have been intentionally designed to encourage and foster the use of active learning strategies - except, they don’t come with a manual about how to make that happen! Engage with the resource "Space Matters! Maximizing Active Learning Classrooms for Student Collaboration and Engagement" to learn how to get the most out of your classes in ALCs.
For any questions about ALC or strategies, feel free to reach out to us via teaching@berkeley.edu
Attend: Active Learning in Large Classes: What’s Possible? | Sep 12
This workshop addresses the unique challenges and opportunities of implementing active learning strategies in large, introductory lecture settings, which are crucial as they often mark the beginning of a student's journey into a specific discipline or way of thinking. Research in educational pedagogy supports the effectiveness of active learning, particularly in large classes. However, students in large classes might feel skeptical about engaging in active learning, given that large classes often rely primarily on lecture. In this workshop, we will explore strategies for incorporating active learning into large classes, as well as some techniques for engaging large groups of students in your rationale for using active learning.
Share: Faculty Perspectives on Adapting to Active Learning | Oct 1
Join us for a dynamic discussion featuring several of our own faculty members who have successfully integrated active learning strategies into their classrooms. Each panelist will share their unique approach to active learning, including specific strategies, tools, and real-life examples from their courses.
Practice: Rehearsing an Active Learning Activity | Oct 8
Sometimes, active learning activities don’t play out the way we expect. Scholars of instructional development believe that practicing these approaches with colleagues can help us better prepare to use active learning with students. In this practice-basedactivity, you will have a chance to engage in an active learning rehearsal. The moderator will open by modeling an active learning strategy that he would like feedback on. Then, attendees will be broken up into small groups to participate in one another’s active learning activity, with the goal of providing feedback for how it went to the presenter.
Attend: Collaboration and Peer Support: Introduction to Ed Discussion | Oct 9
Discover how Ed Discussion can boost student participation in your classes through this live session. You'll learn to set up and manage online discussions effectively, using features like customizable categories and thread templates to keep conversations organized and high-quality. We’ll cover strategies for facilitating meaningful dialogue, ensuring all students can share their ideas and interact outside regular class time. Join us to discover how Ed Discussion can transform your classroom interactions, making it easier for students to engage deeply with the material and with each other, ultimately creating a more inclusive and dynamic learning environment.