engaging students Archives – The Teaching Professor

Engaging and Motivating Students Through Undergraduate Research Experiences

Suzanne F. Lindt and Sarah M. Straub April 13, 2026

Teaching and learning scholars have widely recognized undergraduate research experiences (UREs) as high-impact practices that substantially influence student retention, learning, and professional outcomes (Lopatto, 2004; Williams & Xu, 2020). Though much research about UREs has focused on experiences in the sciences, UREs provide a foundation

Here’s an Idea: Let’s Trust Our Stuff

Nichole DeWall February 12, 2024

What’s the cringiest word in higher ed? Lecture? Nuh-uh. Engagement? Nah. Assessment? Nope.

Three Effective Ways to Start a Class

John Orlando January 21, 2020

All communication begins with grabbing your listener’s attention, something that everyone instinctively understands. A marriage proposal does not begin with the speaker opening a PowerPoint presentation, providing an outline of topics to be covered, and a schedule with time for each topic—including time at the

Light Student Engagement with Adobe Spark

John Orlando January 13, 2020

Online faculty have numerous options for creating graphic, video, and website content. But Adobe Spark stands out as a single system that can create all three types of content. Spark is really three systems in one—Spark Post for graphics, Spark Video for videos, and Spark

Write with Your Students to Promote Writing-as-Thinking

Gary R. Hafer January 4, 2018

The single greatest strategy that I know to stimulate classroom learning is to write with students at the beginning of class.

Consider your own pre-class ritual to see if writing with your students might profit you and them. In my classes, students funnel in to

Reflections on Teacher Power in the Contemporary Classroom

Jennifer H. Waldeck, PhD November 11, 2017

Teacher power has to do with the ability to influence student behaviors and, ultimately, what they learn and how much. My colleagues and I often lament that it is more difficult to influence student behaviors than it used to be. Much of what we know

Building Rapport: Moving Beyond Teacher Characteristics to Actions that Promote Learning

Maryellen Weimer April 19, 2017

When it comes to connecting with students, good relationships and good rapport go hand in hand. The desired rapport develops when faculty are friendly, approachable, respectful, and caring toward students. And how do students respond to professors who’ve established good rapport? They “like” those professors,

The First Days of Class: Building Authenticity and Community

Jorg Waltje PhD and Aubree Evans MA January 11, 2017

Regardless of whether you’ve been teaching for 15 years or 15 minutes, how to act and what to do on the first day of class seems to be something many faculty are constantly revising. The impact of the lasting nature of the first impression may

Teacher With College Students chatting in classroom

Communication Strategies to Engage Students and Encourage Learning

Jennifer H. Waldeck, PhD January 10, 2017

When I first began working with teachers who represented different disciplines, I learned that a lot of college professors are very stuck on their own content. And they believe that it, along with the pedagogy that they use for presenting it to students, is what

Professor smiling, students hands raised

Humor in the Classroom

Maryellen Weimer November 2, 2016

Humor is one of my favorite teaching tools. I rely on it—when the room feels tense, when I sense learner drift, if I aspire to make a point more memorable. Humor doesn’t cause learning, but it does help create conditions conducive to it. It doesn’t

engaging students