The two most popular questions from students are “why are we learning this?” and “when will we ever going to learn this?” Both questions show how students sometimes feel that what they are learning has little meaning for them. Creating Engaging Tasks is a template for creating learning activities that situates the learning in a meaningful context by designing a role and task for the student. Engaging Tasks can make the learning more meaningful, engaging, and interesting to your students. This interactive session highlights how to find, use, & design such learning tasks.

Session Notes:

Engaging Tasks are an easy-to-implement, real world learning strategy. An Engaging Task tells a little story (only a paragraph or so!) that gives the students a reason for doing the work.

Resources:

• What’s an Engaging Task?
• The Three Parts of an Engaging Task
• What Makes for a Great Engaging Task?
• Getting Better at Engaging Tasks Through Revision

The Handouts: