Cultivate engagement through community and collaboration

As the Fall semester approaches, you may be thinking about how to create a classroom environment that motivates students and supports meaningful learning.

In Distracted: Why Students Can’t Focus and What You Can Do About It (2020), James Lang argues that we need to cultivate attention in our classrooms. When students feel connected to the course, to their peers, and to you, they are more likely to stay focused and engaged.

Read on for practical strategies to foster student engagement by building community, promoting active participation, and supporting collaboration with the help of instructional technologies. Explore upcoming workshops or dive into on-demand resources to put these ideas into practice. 

Strategies to foster student engagement

Start with community to spark engagement

Students focus more when they feel they belong. A strong learning community fosters trust, motivation, and shared purpose from the start.

• Co-create community agreements to establish norms and shared values. Watch the TeachingTalks videos on community agreements and make space, give grace for inspiration.

• Learn and use your students’ names with the help of You@Columbia in CourseWorks.

• Use icebreakers and low-stakes activities to help students connect with one another early on. Explore examples in the CTL’s Community Building in the Classroom resource and participate in the “Building Community and Belonging in the Classroom” workshop on August 4 (and also offered on August 14).

Sustain attention with active engagement strategies

Purposeful moments of interaction throughout class can re-energize students and deepen learning.

• Break up lectures with brief activities such as quick writes, think-pair-share, retrieval prompts, or polls. Explore the CTL’s resources: Five Tips for Engaged Lecturing and Getting Started with Active Learning for guidance; and participate in the workshops: “Planning Your Lectures Based on the Science of Learning” on August 6 and the “Small Changes, Big Impact: Easy Ways to Boost Student Engagement in Any Classroom” on August 13.

• Incorporate tools like Poll Everywhere to encourage real-time participation. Bringing polling to your classroom by participating in the workshops: “Using In-Class Polls to Inspire Student Learning and Engagement” and “Reading the Room: How to Set Up Poll Everywhere” both on August 13.

Use collaboration to anchor focus

Peer learning helps students stay present. Structured collaboration builds understanding, connection, and shared responsibility.

• Facilitate structured group work using shared Google Docs or slides with assigned roles (e.g., summarizer, notetaker, reporter). Learn more in the CTL’s Collaborative Learning resource.

• Try collaborative annotation tools to extend peer interaction. Explore the CTL’s Leveraging Annotation Activities and Tools to Promote Collaborative Learning to learn more and participate in the “Reading and Writing in Community: Social Annotation Tools” workshop on August 7.

• Encourage peer feedback to promote meaningful interaction and metacognitive reflection.

Workshops this week

What are you doing this week? Workshop your teaching with us!

Preparing for a New Semester of Teaching
Monday, August 4, 2025 | 10:00AM – 11:00AM | Register

Building Community and Belonging in the Classroom
Monday, August 4, 2025 | 12:00 PM – 1:00PM | Register

Designing an Inclusive Syllabus
Monday, August 4, 2025 | 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM | Register

Setting the Tone: Communicating Your AI Expectations 
Tuesday, August 5, 2025 | 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM | Register

Using AI to Support Your Teaching
Tuesday, August 5, 2025 | 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM | Register

Planning Your Lectures Based on the Science of Learning
Wednesday, August 6, 2025 | 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM | Register

Inclusive Teaching in Practice
Wednesday, August 6, 2025 | 12:00 PM – 1:00PM | Register

Making Your CourseWorks Site More Accessible
Wednesday, August 6, 2025 | 2:00 PM – 2:45 PM | Register

Reading and Writing in Community: Social Annotation Tools
Thursday, August 7, 2025 | 1:30 PM – 2:00PM | Register

The CTL is here to support you!

Connect via Zoom or over the phone 

Join us for office hours via Zoom (or phone) Monday-Friday, 9:00am-5:00pm to have your teaching with instructional technology questions answered, or schedule an appointment any time by contacting ColumbiaCTL@columbia.edu.

Schedule a consultations

Schedule an in-person or virtual consultation to discuss any teaching and learning need by emailing ctlfaculty@columbia.edu or email the CTL Learning Designer assigned to your school or department.