RUNNING HEAD: Creating Engaging Learning Environments 1

Creating Engaging Learning Environments

Audrey Ingersoll
Arizona State University
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When asking my students whether they liked working individually or collaboratively

better the results were about 50/50. I think it is important to practice both independent work as

well as group work in the classroom. Group work has students practicing collaboration skills that

they will need to utilize for the rest of their lives and it allows them to hear different viewpoints

which helps them to grow their knowledge. However, having students practice working by

themselves is also important because it makes students take responsibility for the work they

produce and not rely on their classmates to do the work for them. Students from my survey also

mentioned that they like working collaboratively when everyone is putting in equal effort but

would rather work alone if people weren’t pulling their weight. “The transition to learning online

presents an opportunity for teachers to make sure that everyone in the class community knows

each other and forms relationships with their peers online that will make their interactions more

respectful and rewarding” (Tucker). This is extremely important because if the students haven’t

been given the opportunity to get to know their classmates and create good relationships with

them it can create an isolated feeling and not allow the students to make the most out of a

collaborative activity. I have even experienced it in college where I was placed into a breakout

room where no one knew each other and no one spoke. If this is happening in a class with all

adults it’s extremely likely to occur in a class of 13 year olds.

I also asked my students whether they enjoyed picking their topics for projects or being

assigned a topic. Almost every student stated that they liked picking their topic rather than being

assigned a topic. “The motivation for students to read and write outside of school seems to be

threefold: (1) the topic needs to be something they feel is important to communicate about; (2)

the topic needs to be something they feel strongly about or are interested in; or (3) the reading or

writing needs to take place when they want to do it, or “just in time” (Irvine). I think this
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statement couldn’t be more spot on. It’s not that students are lazy and hate school. Students need

to be shown the importance of what they are learning and how it connects to their everyday lives,

otherwise, why learn it? I plan on allowing my students to create their own experiments or giving

them options because I believe in order for a student to enjoy learning it needs to be a topic that

they take interest in. I also plan on having my students explain their topic so that I can approve it

and give them guidance on what I am expecting. This will dissipate any stress the students may

encounter when choosing their own topics.

When asking my students whether they’d benefit from a digital word wall of science

terms almost every student said yes. I think that reviewing difficult vocabulary words is

especially important in science. “for some middle and high school students, their decoding and

basic fluency skills are too limited to read grade-level textbooks”(Irvine). If we as teachers aren’t

taking the time to address difficult vocabulary and give our students the tools to practice these

terms then it is going to be extremely difficult for our students to comprehend readings that we

assign to them. I think in the future when I implement a word wall for my science classes I will

do one that is in person and a separate online one that the students could access from home.

One last thing I think is extremely important when having in person and online students

is you get to know your students and the environments they are working from. Make sure that

you are aware of any technology issues your students have. For example in my survey I asked

questions such as “Is there any technology issues you have that I should be made aware

of?”(Ingersoll, 2020), and “Is your home a difficult place for you to concentrate while attending

class or doing homework?”(Ingersoll, 2020). From asking these questions I was able to gather

that a lot of my students have slow wifi issues at home and a couple students have trouble

focusing at home. Knowing this information I would be sure to give my students multiple days to
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finish all assignments and wouldn’t never make things due the day that they are assigned. This

allows the students multiple days to turn in the assignment if their wifi is being slow.

Link to Survey:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSccTqjkBl_uegUyzdlUbSnHkLxahxsIDorOY7zIz5r

LDJUGDg/viewform?usp=sf_link
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References

Ingersoll , Audrey. “Student Survey.” Google, Google, 2020,

docs.google.com/forms/d/1wVLdXO4lsMqlBaE7Y-

3zY4TLy4nf7cuv_HXsohvdxK4/edit.

Irvine , Judith. “Chapter 1. Student Motivation, Engagement, and Achievement.” Student

Motivation, Engagement, and Achievement,

www.ascd.org/publications/books/107034/chapters/Student-Motivation,-Engagement,-

and-Achievement.aspx.

Tucker, Catlin. “Successfully Taking Offline Classes Online.” Successfully Taking Offline

Classes Online - Educational Leadership, www.ascd.org/publications/educational-

leadership/summer20/vol77/num10/Successfully-Taking-Offline-Classes-Online.aspx.