DARP Spotlight - English

English DARP Spotlight

 About the professional development leads for English

The English DARP has been organized by PD Leads Zahir Small and Clay Arnold with the help of the English DARP workgroup, who have worked tirelessly on this project.

The English DARP workgroup includes Brittney Swanson, Michele Lee, Allen Thomas, Danielle Mercier, Paige Fowler, Kathie Russell, and Ann Weigl. 

Spotlight Video

Additional Resources

Examples of Engagement Activities

Ice-Breakers/First-Day Activities

Fishbowl Questions – Superpowers

  1. First, I asked students to briefly write their response to this prompt: "What would be your ideal superpower. Why?"
  2. Next, students got into small groups and shared their writing. 
  3. I asked for a few to share with the class their superpower and reasons for choosing it.
  4. Then I asked students whether they would change their choice of superpowers after hearing from others. Several students shared their answers and reasoning for changing or keeping their original superpowers. 

 After students had shared, I connected the activity to 1101 skills/outcomes such as generating ideas; considering the best evidence for the situation; supporting claims with evidence; reading other responses, evaluating their evidence, and responding to them, and so on.

General Activities

Top 5 Concepts from Assigned Reading

I enjoy creating opportunities for group engagement and reflection. Rather than leap right into a classwide discussion of a day's reading or a quiz (which can be stress inducing for many), I'll ask students to form small groups and choose their "top 5" concepts/terms from the assigned Norton chapter(s) I have asked them to read. This is effective during the first few weeks when some students haven't received/ordered their textbooks on time and helps remove stigma and guilt. We discuss and compare each group's "top 5" and, of course, I can touch upon anything I feel they've overlooked. 

Course Content Related Activity

Reading an On-Campus Painting

If you are close to the outdoor paintings over by K and L (the “copies” of famous paintings), send students out to look at them, choose one, and then come back and complete a research task about the painting. I do this in ENC1102.

Activities Related to Student Perception/Feeling

Share What You Like

Bring up something you are reading/streaming/a movie you saw/something cool you did in Gainesville/something funny your cat/dog/snake did. Find ways to ask them what they like!

Instructor Practices

Arrange Desks into Circles

This one is an oldie but goodie (and they’ll call you a hippie), but I like to teach with desks in a circle. If you stand outside the circle, it defeats the purpose (which is to displace yourself as the controlling authority figure in the room). Simply forming the circle wakes people up, gets them to talk to each other, gives them the chance to make eye contact with each other, etc.

Fall 2024 Student Survey Results

The surveys we conducted in F24 showed that we already generally create welcoming classroom environments, with room for improvement. We conducted the first survey early in the term, with generally positive results. At the end of the term, we gave the second survey, which showed even more positive responses. These bar graphs illustrate the rise in positive responses from early in the semester to the end of the semester, suggesting that our engagement activities are having a positive effect on our classes.
The initial surveys in F24 returned generally positive responses, with most classes reporting a welcoming classroom environment:

survey_results_24.png

The second surveys at the end of the semester showed improvement in the positive responses:

f24_survey2_results.png

Fall 2024 Instructor Reflection Summaries

In addition to student surveys, we also collected reflections from instructors who implemented the engagement activities in their classes. While these reflections provided insight into some of challenges instructors encountered and helped us identify areas for improvement, they offered even more evidence of common successes. These are just a few of the themes that emerged in the instructor reflections:

  • Increased Student Engagement and Interaction
  • Humanizing the Instructor and Creating a Welcoming Atmosphere
  • Facilitating Deeper Learning and Understanding
  • Promoting Active Learning and Critical Thinking

Faculty reported these observations about students based on verbal or other (non-survey) feedback from students:

  • Students expressed appreciation for instructors who were kind, supportive, and genuinely cared about their well-being.
  • Students valued instructors who created a welcoming and encouraging learning environment.
  • Instructors noted that students were eager to continue learning from them, indicating a strong positive impact.

Instructors noted the following about the effects of the activities in their classes:

  • Faculty consistently observed that engagement activities fostered a stronger sense of community and connection among students
  • Faculty observed a positive correlation between student engagement in activities and academic performance
  • Building stronger connections with these students was seen as a key factor in promoting their sense of belonging and engagement
  • Activities such as conferences and group work were seen as valuable tools for promoting student learning and success.
  • Some faculty were able to track specific data that showed an increase in assignment completion
  • Personal connections were seen as a large factor in students feeling a sense of belonging