It's a boring topic, so of course the evaluations are going to be lower.
In evaluating the success of various courses, low course evaluations are often explained away by asserting that the faculty member was teaching a boring subject. I have heard this logic at more than a handful of institutions in my ten years in academia and am disappointed that some of us are satisfied with that answer.
I certainly had my idea about what subjects were boring when I was an undergrad. Now, as a lifelong learner, I can't find a topic that can't be made interesting by a teacher who has a passion for the subject and brings it to life.
Here are five ways to make a seemingly boring topic interesting.
Introduce an experience
Speaking of topics I found boring as an undergrad, science can definitely be among those topics that professors find challenging to generate interest in for many students.
Dr.Chrissy Spencer at Georgia Tech uses engaging and creative techniques to help her students actually experience the learning in her courses. This Active Learning in Biology video shows her “teaching evolution by turning her students into chili peppers.”
Despite the over 200 students in that large lecture hall, they are each getting to share in an experience that will help them remember the lessons learned for a long time to come. It is no surprise that she wound up winning a prestigious teaching award from Georgia Tech, based on her innovation in the classroom.
Bring in humor
My sales students were learning about how you don't want to present a solution to a client as soon as you think they know what they need, but to hold off until you explore the challenges further and understand their impact. The textbook author describes the studies done on children where they were given a marshmallow and told that if they waited for five minutes that they could have two more marshmallows.
I showed this video of kids who participated in the marshmallow study. It brought the reading alive in a new and humorous way. I also showed Stephen Colbert interviewing Walter Mischel, the author of a recent book about the marshmallow studies.
These humorous segments brought energy into the class and invigorated the discussion.
Invite some friendly competition
As long as it is done in a way that won't embarrass those who aren't understanding the material as well as others, competition can be a way of bringing interest and energy into the classroom.
Do a quiz using PollEverywhere, or play the HeadsUp game.
Have students create something new from what they have been learning and then have the students vote for their top three new creations. There are all sorts of way to invite a little friendly competition into your classroom.
Reinvigorate your own passion
Perhaps if the topic seems boring to you, it's time to invest in reigniting your interest in the subject. I've found that having a well-established personal knowledge mastery system set up helps to keep breathing new life into what I teach.
If your organization offers professional development funds, perhaps it's time to attend a conference or to start exploring some interdisciplinary teaching and learning opportunities.
Approach the topic from a child-like perspective
To keep my students from memorizing words that don't actually mean anything to them, I often have them explain something as if they were talking to an eight year old.
I also use ridiculous analogies for difficult to comprehend subjects, such as when I use a trip to CostCo to buy toilet paper in an example on the accrual method of accounting.
Astrophysicist Roberto Trotta was quoted on NPR [arguing] that we don't need jargon. In his new book, The Edge of the Sky, Trotta tells the story of how the universe was created without using complicated descriptions. In fact, he conveys his message while restricting himself to the 1,000 most commonly used words in English.
[reminder]What approaches do you use for making seemingly boring topics more interesting?[/reminder]
You’ve made some interesting points and I have in fact tried some of what you mentioned. However, this semester, I am teaching Family Law which is a really boring subject because it virtually discusses a statute (section 1 is this.. section 2 is this.. etc). What I have to do is to explain the sections in the Act. I have tried engaging the class by asking them to read the sections and explaining what they’ve read but somehow the students are not that interested. Do you have any suggestions for my situation? Thank you in advance.
The challenging part about teaching these kinds of courses is that it can be hard for students to recognize the relevance of what you’re attempting to teach, until they’re faced with a situation down the road in which they’re able to realize why what they’re learning is important. Two thoughts come to mind in what you posed:
1) I would want to build the curriculum for these family law statutes into case form. I suspect I am not the first person to ever come up with this idea, so are there textbooks / other resources that you could incorporate into the course. As they read a case, they would need to be able to identify which are the relevant cases, etc. They could also be asked to predict what they thought happened in a given case, and to support their predictions with the relevant statutes/sections.
2) This also seems a good use for a flipped classroom model. They could take modules (including a test for understanding), prior to coming to class, and then the class could be more of a time when they put their learning into use. Are asked to solve problems, make predictions, apply the learning in some way. In my experience, students are not interested in reading a textbook and then doing what is often called a “teach out” of the material, back to the course. I’m not saying that this never works, or that I would never use this method, but just that I typically have those cases when they’re sharing back to the class be an opportunity for them to both take what they’re learning, but also share their own background/interests/etc. in some way that makes it a more relevant (and interesting) sharing time with the class.
Hope this is helpful. I’m so glad you’re asking questions like this… I continue to do so, as well, even after teaching for 13 years in higher ed. I hope I never stop asking.
“I appreciate this post immensely. I teach various Communications courses at a Post-Secondary institution in Canada. Oftentimes students find this content “boring”, but I attempt to curb this in many of the ways that you suggest in the article. Something else I find works well is helping students to understand the concept of Transferrable Skills. Yes, maybe you are not going to be a writer after school, but as a nurse you will be using skills W,X,Y, and Z in your profession. This course allows you to tailor those skills in order to be more competitive when you get to the job market, for example. I find that this helps students to “buy into” the course and invest more of their time and effort.”
you need to engage them in some group activity. Studies show that students learn better when working in a group environment. As a teacher for 16 years and counting, I understand the struggle in making them pay attention and how hard it is to get ideas through their heads. Hands on work is also very affective because they are able to visually see what they are learning about. I hope this helped you. -Mr.Pegg