Written by Well, I have been struggling with engaging my student’s with curriculum because they are distracted by the use of the computers in the classroom @rcampolucci. I had to set a plan of action to get them engaged. Instead of constantly lecturing and discovering that some are not following along, or some student’s are shy to actively participate I had to quickly come up with other strategies to get the curriculum across in a fun way to combat the distraction of the computer during class.
I decided that I would try it out with our Accounting unit. After teaching the concepts of the Balance Sheet and Income Statement and having the class go through some problems, I realized that some actively participated and others would rather ask a friend for the solutions. These results were displayed quickly when the class got their test results back.
After talking to the class on their learning experience, I let them know that we are going to play monopoly and at the same time learn the effects of each transaction by recording their entries at the end of each roll of the dice. Each student now had to properly engage in the game and understand how each play on the board could affect their entry. Everyone had to be involved. I learned quickly that those who possible did not participate during the lecture had to be attentive during the game. My student’s had so much fun and enjoyed this way of learning how to record transactions and the understanding of the accounting system. They did not want to stop playing which ended up with us playing for 2 weeks. But the idea here was for them to understand the debit, credit and how every transaction is connected.
So now when the assignment was introduced, deeper accountability and focus has been seen as my student’s work on their accounting assignment. They are now preparing Balance Sheets and Income Statements and analyzing their Net Worth, Profit or Loss and if they would invest in their company based the results from their transactions. Let see what the results will be. I foresee more:
I am glad you found a means of getting the students who were “hiding” engaged in your class. What are your plans for capitalising on this momentum as you move forward? It sounds like your students had a lot of fun with this activity, and I hope that they’ve gained from it not just an understanding of course content, but also of the benefits of being engaged and accountable, so that they all feel motivated to continue to do so.