By Anita Saleem
Active participation of students in class activities is pivotal for effective teaching-learning. However, it can be a challenging task for many teachers, with students often expressing boredom, discomfort, and even drowsiness during social studies lessons.
I faced a similar situation as a social studies teacher. I had two choices: (a) become demotivated and leave teaching, or (b) view it as a challenge and seek a solution to promote active student engagement. Between these two options, I chose the latter, embracing it as a challenge to ensure students actively participated in class activities.
In the first place, I thought I should workout he underlying reasons for students’ lack of motivation. For this reason, I created a questionnaire to identify learning styles of my students and got them filled by students.
The data gathered from the students revealed that 84% of the class preferred individual work, 11% preferred group work, and 5% expressed a preference for working in pairs.
Employing case studies in teaching cultivates a habit of posing questions, not only within the classroom but also at home and in various social settings
Anita Saleem
The findings suggest that the majority of students had developed a habit of working in isolation, which has now turned into their preferred mode of learning. During discussions with the students, I also discovered that they perceive Social Studies lessons as uninteresting. Furthermore, they struggle to see any relevance between what they learn and their everyday life. Many students even raised the question of how the social studies subject would benefit them in their future practical life.
These findings pushed me to explore engaging methods that could inspire students to take part in classroom activities with enthusiasm rather than experiencing boredom. I also felt it was essential to experiment with diverse strategies to capture students’ interest in class activities.
According to Killen 2003, it is essential to ensure active participation from every student as a means to develop their interest in class discussion. Teachers need to prepare students for the lesson by sharing the practical relevance of the topic in their daily life. This approach fosters discussions that enable students to relate their knowledge with their everyday experiences. The students must engage in discussions, reflective writing, relating the knowledge to their own experiences, hands-on learning, and practical application (Dr. Kumar, et al, 2012).
For this purpose, I embarked on a research journey, delving into various strategies. After a great deal of literature rereview and discussion with fellow teachers, I decided to employing ‘Case Studies’ would be an effective approach to enhance student involvement in Social Studies lessons. I chose this method because, according to Tellis, 1997, it explains both the process and outcome of a phenomenon through complete observation, reconstruction, and analysis of the cases under investigation.
Choosing a case study was no less than a challenge for me, as it necessitated substantial effort to plan and apply in the class making it relevant to the real-life situations of the students. It demands creation of engaging and thought-provoking tasks as an integral part of lesson planning. The difficulty increased significantly when working with primary-level students.
Incorporating case studies into teaching necessitates the development of captivating and intellectually stimulating tasks as an integral component of lesson planning
Anita Saleem
According to Ullman 2011, an effective lesson should encourage students to think, promote interaction, facilitate questioning, tap into their prior knowledge and foster learning of new skills. Similarly, to further enhance their abilities, it is crucial to create questions that stimulate discussion (Killen: 2003, 248). All of this requires a substantial commitment of time and dedication, esp. for a teacher grappling with a huge workload in race against time.
To streamline the process, I implemented rubrics to document both my own observations and those of students’ observations during discussions. During our case study discussions, following assessment of the following key aspects were emphasized:
- The extent of students’ active participation in the discussion.
- The proficiency of vocabulary demonstrated by the students.
- Students’ ability to act as active listeners during class discussions.
In total, I designed 10 different lessons, each lesson incorporating 4-5 diverse case studies. I evaluated each of these lessons by utilizing rubrics and field notes to assess student participation and progress. Following the implementation of these case studies, I also conducted an assessment to measure their impact on the students’ learning outcomes.
Assessing the effectiveness of the strategies employed throughout the entire process is crucial, as it allows for the collection of feedback from learners, facilitating ongoing improvement and identifying any additional support they may require, as suggested in Teal Center Fact Sheet #8:2010. These rubrics and field notes proved invaluable in analyzing students’ performances.
By implementing this strategy, I observed a significant transformation in my students’ thinking and behavior. They had developed a habit of asking questions not only in school but also at home, and this was confirmed by their parents’ observations. These discussions not only helped students develop their critical thinking and verbal abilities but also reflected in their improved performance in assessments and written assignments. As a result, students achieved good results in both internal and external examinations.
While I achieved success in fostering student participation in classroom discussions, I also encountered notable challenges during the implementation of this strategy, as illustrated in the diagram below.
Thus, students began taking the initiative in classroom discussions, demonstrating a sense of responsibility by respecting each other’s viewpoints. They started applying logical reasoning and were capable of proposing potential solutions to address issues under discussion.
My next objective was to empower students not only to participate in discussions but also to take lead in initiating discussions and engage in critical debates, supported by sound reasoning and justifications. This goal became more attainable after successfully fostering enthusiasm among students for participating in social studies class activities as part of the initial target.
References
1. Barraso, K. and Pon, S. (2010) Effective lesson planning.Teal Centre Fact Sheet no. 8.
2. Davis, C. and Wilcock, E. (undated) Teaching Materials using Case Studies. UK: Centre for Materials Education.
3. Killen, R. (2003). Effective Teaching Strategies, Lessons from Research and Practice.Thomson: Social Sciences Press; 3rd edition.
4. Pope, C. (2000) Analysing qualitative data.BMJ Qualitative research in health care, v. 320(7227):114-116.
5. Ullman, E. (2011) How to plan effective lessons.Private Eyes, 53/10.
6. Zayapragassarazan, Z and Kumar, S. (2012) Active learning methods. NTTC Bulletin, 19(1):3-5.
7. Zaidah Zainal (2007) Case study as a research method Journal Kemanusiaan bil.9.
The contributor of this post is a former social studies teacher who is currently associated with Aga Khan University Examination Board as specialist Himanities. She can be reached on anita.subhawaria@gmail.com
