Utilize Engaged, Active Learning Strategies

• Moving from the "sage on the stage" to "guide on the side". Get students involved in discussions and participating with each other.
• I have used project-based learning to promote student engagement. I use "real" datasets from my research projects, and teach different geochemical and petrologic techniques focused on studying a single subduction zone complex, for example.
• Metacognition builds engagement. Teaching students how to learn.The Role of Metacognition in Learning »

• Do things that get students away from the screen and out into the world.
• Taking Pictures and Field Trips to upload
• Service Learning Projects
• Providing different "kinds" of activities is helpful to keep students engaged. Individual assignments as well as group assignments, video/audio lectures in addition to PPT slides or reading material, animations and interactive activities discussing geologic processes and features, hands-on activities, opportunities to get out in their local community (e.g. build a scale model of the solar system in their backyard, check the closest stream for stream features, get involved in a service learning activity, visit the local landfill or water treatment plant or quarry, etc).
• Challenging assignments. Weaker and busier students may not like them in-the-moment but they can drive engagement - with material, with instructors, with fellow students. Engagement should not be a struggle, but struggle (if not overwhelming) can foster engagement - and deeper learning.
• Another important point for engaging and motivating the students is to make the course interactive.