Engineering Commons^™

Increasing Student Attentiveness And Engagement In Growing Mechanized Systems Management Courses, Derek M. Heeren

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Conference Presentations and White Papers

Background Growing enrollment in undergraduate MSYM courses has carried increased class sizes and then made it more difficult for students to remain attentive and engaged during lecture. In fall 2014, I maintained a dynamic lecturing style in MSYM 354, Soil Conservation and Watershed Management. Readiness tests, an active learning tool, continued to be helpful, but the mode of delivery was still largely a traditional lecture. Team based learning was utilized which divided the class into diverse learning teams for both the lab and the lecture. Students completed readiness tests both individually and in their teams. The objective of this activity …