Bloom's Sixth

Something has been happening with class attendance. Actually, there are several somethings, which I’ll get to shortly. First, though, consider, this: Since the start of the pandemic, many students have treated class attendance as optional, making discussion and group interaction difficult. Online classes tend to fill quickly, and students who enroll in physical classes often ask for an option to “attend” via a video connection. Many K-12 schools report record rates…

Student motivation is one of the most vexing challenges that instructors face. Students can’t learn if they aren’t engaged, and serious classroom material often fails to pique the interest of a generation that has grown up with the constant stimulation of smartphones, social media and video on demand. Some instructors argue that motivation should be up to students, who are paying to come to college, after all. Most certainly, instructors can’t make students learn. Students have to cultivate that desire on their own. Instructors can take many steps to stoke that desire to learn,…