HKU_Newsletter_Issue43_0128

A sk F lorence Dear Paul, This is an important question as research has shown that active and engaged learning leads to better long-term learning outcomes. However, in almost all classes some students will resist participating and before devising strategies for dealing with this, you need to understand why it is happening. Some students may be shy and feel awkward in speaking up. Some may prefer to work alone or only speak up in a group with other students they know well. Others may not speak up because they feel they have nothing of value to contribute or they are simply not interested in the topic. Some may be more concerned with making a mistake in public. As a teacher you need to be aware of your own assumptions and think about your student population and your classroom culture and seek to identify the barriers that limit student participation. Getting students to speak up will require a range of different teaching strategies. Asking each student to make a comment may help. Getting students to speak in small groups before responding to the entire class may be helpful. A quiz at the beginning of class may support class participation. Asking students to work in pairs and share ideas is a useful strategy. The most important consideration regarding students speaking out in class is to create a safe classroom that encourages them to take risks. There are many reasons a person may be hesitant to speak in class and helping those students to participate first requires identifying why they are not speaking out. Kind regards, Florence Dear Florence, Can you suggest some methods to use to encourage students to speak up as they usually keep silent or give only a limited response when asked questions by teachers or mentors? Thank you. Paul Ask Florence is a column in which students, clinical instructors and nursing teachers can write in with a problem or issue around clinical learning about which they would like advice from ‘Florence’, who is an experienced facilitator of student learning. We expect to receive queries about how to deal with student difficulties in clinical settings, how to give effective feedback to students, the strategies that are helpful for supporting unsafe students, and many other topics including those that students may raise. All questions will be dealt with anonymously. We will not publish your name or any details about you. If necessary we will modify questions slightly to ensure total anonymity. If you have a question for ‘Florence’, please send it to askflorence@hku.hk 6