Ariel Loucks' Portfolio Page

Navigation links: ETAP 623 Spring 2023 (Zhang) | Ariel Loucks' mini-course: Engagement Strategies for Student Success

About Me

Hi everyone!

My name is Ariel Loucks and I am from Averill Park, NY. I graduated from SUNY Oneonta in May of 2022 with a Bachelors of Science degree in Adolescent Education (7-12) Social Studies with a 5-6 extension.

I was a student-athlete and captain of the women's tennis team while at Oneonta. In my senior year, our team won the SUNYAC conference for the first time in Oneonta's history and we got to compete in the NCAA tournament.

After graduation, I was hired as the Assistant Tennis Coach for the men's and women's teams which I will be doing for the 2022-2023 school year. I am also a long-term 5-8th English substitute at a private PreK-8th grade school and work at Jiminy Peak Ski Resort while the ski season is in session.

My Topic and Purpose

Student motivation and knowing how to engage your students in their learning can be difficult tasks for educators. When there is so much focus on learning the information and implementing that information on state exams, the material can often become dry and dull with students only learning the bare minimum. Incorporating engagement in education gives students the extra drive and motivation to see value in what they're learning about and have fun while they learn.

My topic focuses on how we as educators can incorporate instructional designs that create an engaging classroom environment for all learning preferences. This course will focus on strategies for implementing student engagement and how the four learning styles of learning are essential pieces of student engagement. We will also examine different parameters to monitor and measure student engagement, how to incorporate student interest, and how you can make an instructional design.

Scope of Learning Outcomes and Content

In this course, you will learn about what it means to access student engagement through different lesson activities, and learning styles. You will focus on specific learning procedures and routines, setting clear expectations and focusing on where the students feel comfortable with the content.

Throughout this course, learners will:

Describe key elements of a lesson that engage learners
Identify how to set clear expectations in a lesson plan that can engage learners from the start
Identify and describe the four learning styles
Analyze how the four learning styles correlate to student engagement
Learn how confidence, lesson materials and texts, and teacher involvement can affect students' engagement
Identify the benefits of centering lessons around student engagement

Needs Assessment

The educational opportunity: In this mini-course, participants will have the opportunity to learn about the ways that student engagement affects your classroom and how you as an educator can help control and develop that necessary motivation in students. Participants can examine all the ways they can get to know their students' interests, experiences, and backgrounds and how using those factors has a major effect on their engagement in the classroom. Educators can use those factors to their power, but only if they take the time to get to know their students and create lesson plans that are designed for the students' benefit in particular.

The learners: Anyone who has an interest in learning how to create lesson plans that help encourages student engagement. A background in education is not required but recommended.

Existing efforts: More schools and educational programs are starting to incorporate more information on student engagement by teaching future and current educators the importance of utilizing student interest and the different learning styles of education. Especially now with more technology in the classroom, there are many educators who have been in the field forever but have a difficult time accepting this new normal. The generational gap can be evident in classrooms, and that is not always for the better because students learn mostly with technology now and not with a pen, paper, and textbooks. This course will help participants to step out of that familiarity and experiences something new that can be incredibly beneficial to their students.

Intent statement: This mini-course will help the learners address their needs by knowing how to recognize where to incorporate different learning styles and resources to keep lessons engaging for students. Participants will feel more comfortable using resources they have not used before and will have a better understanding as to why sometimes it is better for educators to use unfamiliar resources to help better their students' learning and engagement in the course.

Analysis of the Learner and Context

This course will be delivered asynchronously so all the activities and readings will be done at the participant's discretion and their own speed.

Participants: Learners of this course will want to learn about how to make their lesson plans and instructional designs more engaging for students. They will want to know more about the four learning styles and their connection to student engagement, and how they can use student engagement to add relevance and value to the student's learning.

Suggested Characteristics of Participants: Anyone is welcome to take this course, however, a background in education is recommended to make the activities and vocabulary easier to understand. Participants must also be willing and able to use resources outside of their comfort zone and create lesson plans that are to benefit the students and not the educator's preferred method.

Goals: The goal of this mini-course is for the participants to have a better understanding of how to use student engagement in their classroom. Participants will know the importance of setting thorough objectives so that the students will understand, and recognize each student's learning style so they know what resources to use. By the end of this course, the participants should feel more comfortable stepping outside of their comfort zone for their students' learning, and they can recognize the important characteristics and interests of their students to use in their lesson planning.

Performance-Based Objectives

At the end of this course, learners will be able to:

Describe what makes student engagement essential in instructional design
Identify how to incorporate different learning styles throughout their lesson
Analyze how engagement affects students' higher-level critical thinking skills
Identify how to get to know your students and use their interests as a way to access engagement
Create an instructional design that centers around boosting students' confidence and includes texts that the students are interested in

Task and Content Analysis

Pre-requisites and prior skills needed in the course:

The following skills and knowledge are considered to be prerequisites for this mini-course. Although they are not required, they are highly recommended to get the most out of the mini-course.

Background in education; i.e. in the process of obtaining a teaching certificate, a background working as an educator, etc.
Knowledge of the four specific learning styles
Interest in creating designs that are designed for students engagement
Flexibility in changing lesson plans and instructional designs to fit students' needs
Flexibility in using new texts and activities, including online modalities, to access student engagement

Module 1: What are student engagement and the four main learning styles?

During this module, learners will learn about the basics of student engagement including what it is and why educators should put more focus into creating lesson plans that will engage their students. Learners will also examine each of the four learning styles and how to create an instructional design with these learning styles. As they learn about the four learning styles, participants of the mini-course will learn about the connection between each learning style and fostering student engagement.

As an activity for this module, participants will be required to read a selected reference, complete a KWL chart on their prior knowledge of student engagement, write about the learning style(s) they prefer, and think back and describe what strategies and educational practices increased their student engagement when that learning style was implemented.

Overview of what student engagement is and its influence in the classroom
The importance of getting to know your students
The different types of engagement (ABCs of student engagement)

Description of the four learning styles:
- Reading/Writing
- Visual
- Auditory
- Kinesthetic (Hands-on)
Using the four learning styles in instructional design
Lesson plan examples of using each learning style and centering those around student engagement

Module 2: What are the benefits of student engagement?

In this module, participants will focus on the benefits of student engagement and why it is an important factor in their instructional design. Learners will examine how these benefits have an effect on their classroom, the relationships they have with the students, and the students' classroom community.

As an activity in this module, participants will read the provided references that describe in detail the benefits of student engagement along with studies to help support their work. Participants will also summarize the benefits of student engagement and how those benefits will affect their instructional design, and begin creating an outline of a potential instructional design they would implement to increase in student engagement.

The benefit of student engagement includes but are not limited to:

Increase in the development of higher-level critical thinking skills
Student-teacher relationships and respect
An increase in attention and focus, in turn, also benefits classroom management
Foster interaction and a classroom community

Module 3: Creating an instructional design that centers around student engagement

In the last module of this mini-course, participants will learn about how to set clear expectations and objectives from the start of the course and how these objectives can make a difference in a student's engagement from the start. We will also discuss the importance of making the content relevant to students in a way that they will find valuable and worth their time, which in turn boosts their motivation. Learners will also learn about the importance of using texts and resources that are different and may be out of their comfort zone, and why this flexibility is crucial in lesson planning. This includes learning how to use online resources that have a great benefit to students' learning. Lastly, we will discuss strategies for implementing student engagement and how to create an instructional design.

As a final activity, participants will pick two out of the four learning styles and two engagement strategies, and then create an instructional design activity that centers around the information and methods they learned from this course.

Setting clear expectations and objectives from the start
Making the content relevant and valuable to students
How to be flexible in using texts and other resources to increase student engagement
How to create an instructional design
Engagement strategies to benefit students' learning

Module 4: Putting it all together

This module is primary for uploading the final instructional design model.

Curriculum Map

File:Curriculum Map for Student Engagement .pdf

Navigation Links to mini-course:

Home Page:

Engagement Strategies for Student Success

Modules:

Module I: Introduction to Student Engagement

Module II: The Benefits of Student Engagement

Module III: Creating an Instructional Design for Student Engagement

Module IV: The Product

References and Resources

Axelson, R. D., & Flick, A. (2011). DEFINING STUDENT ENGAGEMENT. Change, 43(1), 38–43. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23568219

Corso, M. J., Bundick, M. J., Quaglia, R. J., & Haywood, D. E. (2013). Where Student, Teacher, and Content Meet: Student Engagement in the Secondary School Classroom. American Secondary Education, 41(3), 50–61. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43694167

Parsons, S. A., Nuland, L. R., & Parsons, A. W. (2014). The ABCs of student engagement. The Phi Delta Kappan, 95(8), 23–27. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24374604

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