{"id":229549,"date":"2026-04-13T10:17:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T10:17:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/229549\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T10:17:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T10:17:07","slug":"professors-and-students-need-to-work-to-make-class-more-engaging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/229549\/","title":{"rendered":"Professors and students need to work to make class more engaging"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>I\u2019ve noticed a severe lack of student engagement during class, and it needs to be addressed. ORACLE PHOTO\/DYLAN SABOL<\/p>\n

In my first class back from spring break this semester, I noticed something odd. One of my classmates decided that during the lecture was the perfect time to catch up on season three of Jujutsu Kaisen<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when it really hit me that a lot of USF students just aren\u2019t engaged in the classroom.<\/p>\n

Obviously, not every student has this problem, but my Jujutsu Kaisen-watching classmate isn\u2019t the only example of lack of engagement I\u2019ve seen.<\/p>\n

I have seen students scrolling the web, playing games and even swiping on dating apps in the middle of class.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t even claim innocence \u2014 there have been times when the only thing I got out of a class was an attendance grade because the lecture just didn\u2019t engage me.<\/p>\n

As students, we pay for our classes, and wasting that money by not learning anything and just passing the class is not an intelligent thing to do.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Related: OPINION: USF students should knock on professors\u2019 doors more often<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Corvin Greene, a senior chemistry and biology major at USF, said students who don\u2019t pay attention to class often affect those who do.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf anything, it makes me do worse in class, because my classmates don\u2019t care,\u201d Greene said. \u201c[In group work], I\u2019m not only responsible for my grades, but theirs too.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

When working in groups, students who don\u2019t pay attention often hold back their classmates who do.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At that point, it\u2019s not only a decision that affects them, but also their classmates when they\u2019re made to collaborate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Whether it\u2019s a lab or a group presentation, the dead weight those who don\u2019t pay attention bring isn\u2019t welcome and shouldn\u2019t be tolerated.<\/p>\n

But I think professors are just as responsible as students for the class environment. It\u2019s their job to teach, and a major part of teaching is keeping students engaged.<\/p>\n

Jordan Battle, an adjunct instructor of Africana Studies, said he sees the issue of students not paying attention as a multifaceted problem that falls on both the students and professors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI try to hold myself to a higher standard,\u201d Battle said. \u201cI need to show up better and connect these dots for them and make the material more relevant, so they want to pay attention.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the same time, Battle said he views technology as the main reason for students not paying attention in class.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would also say that another side of it is having technology in the classroom,\u201d Battle said. \u201cIt for sure is problematic to students. I like them having their laptops out so they take notes in class, but it doesn\u2019t always feel like that is what is on everyone\u2019s agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n

The advent of the internet and technology has definitely contributed to students\u2019 lack of engagement in class.<\/p>\n

Short-form content, such as TikTok and Instagram Reels, has been shown to reduce users\u2019 attention spans, according to the National Library of Medicine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Related: OPINION: Discussing politics in the classroom shouldn\u2019t feel unsafe <\/a><\/p>\n

With technology affecting students\u2019 attention spans, extra effort is needed to reel them back in.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Greene said that, as a student, they\u2019ve paid more attention in class when the professor involves them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether that\u2019s like a clicker question or mini quizzes or trying to answer something vocally, something like that,\u201d Greene said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Battle said he has some methods to get students to participate and take the burden of making the classroom engaging off himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a grade that my students get, and it\u2019s for attendance, participation and taking notes,\u201d Battle said. \u201cI make that be weighed a little bit more heavily. Then students tend to show up and raise their hand and participate.\u201d<\/p>\n

In that same vein, Battle said he finds ways to hold himself accountable as a professor.<\/p>\n

\u201cShowing up with energy, making my material relevant, reworking through some of the old PowerPoint slides and rethinking some more readings to make things feel connected to their everyday life,\u201d Battle said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

These are all good steps to improve student engagement and create a better, more lively class environment for both students and professors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As long as we keep this direction and both students and professors make an effort, we\u2019ll see much more engagement in the classroom.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I\u2019ve noticed a severe lack of student engagement during class, and it needs to be addressed. ORACLE PHOTO\/DYLAN…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":229550,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-229549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229549\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/229550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}