Getting Students Involved: Examining HS Teachers’ Techniques for Encouraging Student Participation

According to education scholars, student participation enhances intellectual development, motivation, and communication skills (Connolly, Flynn, Jemmott, & Oestreicher, 2017; Czekanski & Wolf, 2013; Eliason & Turalba, 2019; Fassinger, 1995; Prince, 2004; Rocca, 2010). However, it can be very difficult to get students to raise their hands and participate in class. In order to address this issue, this study examined various experienced teachers’ techniques for encouraging student participation. For the purposes of this study, participation was defined as students responding to questions posed by the teacher. Data was collected by observing eight different high school teachers and taking anecdotal records of the events that occurred during their lessons. Records focused on the techniques that teachers employed to encourage student participation in their class and students’ responses to those techniques. Some common techniques that were observed include (a) forming positive relationships with students, (b) devoting specific time during lessons for students to respond to questions, and (c) asking broad questions with more than one correct answer (i.e. “Who can tell me about one of the types of signaling?”). The observations from this study provide an opportunity for pre-service and first-year teachers to examine and learn from the practices of more experienced teachers.