The Engaging Strategies of Instructors

When considering the question of what engages me, the first thing that came to mind was instructors. Which professors are able to present information in a captivating way and how are the able to do this. Regardless of material, some teachers just seem to have an extra something that keeps my attention.

One of the best teachers I've ever had could have taught a class on toilet plunging and I would have gladly attended. The actual classes I had with him were in highschool called international relations and AP European history. I think the single greatest cause of his success was passion. It is difficult to hear someone speak about a topic that they are extremely and expressively passionate about and not also find it intriguing. By showing this personal interest in the material and letting his audience feed off of his interest, this teacher was able to teach an extremely difficult course while remaining one my favorites.

Another great instructor I had was during my freshman year in a class on American government. The element that he brought to the table was humor. This professor was able to take a topic that was at times dry (even to a person interested in politcs such as myself) and make the class enjoyable through the avenue of humor. He didn't stand up infront of class attempting some sort of standup rutine but rather was able to break up the hour and fifteen minute lecture enough to keep it enjoyable and stimulating. This allowed for him to balance the necessary ethos of a professor with keeping the class interesting.

Yet another individual who fit this mold of a successful instructor, I had for a criminal justice case my sophomore year. Her lecture style was to present information as is fairly standard, but then to always make sure to relate that information back to the audience. Although this seemingly shouldn't be terribly difficult to do I have found that few lecturers make the consistent effort to do so. By making this effort she was able to keep students actively involved in the lecture which encouraged them to pay attention.

Clearly there are many different strategies for keeping people engaged and inherently some people will be better than others at this. However, each of the aformentioned instructors do an exceptional job at demonstratting one way to do this. Passion, humor, and relation to the audience were each particularly successful at keeping me engaged.