Introduction

Classroom Situation

disinterested students in a classroom Although faculty members are typically trained in a specialized field and are most comfortable teaching that specialized material to students majoring in their field, they are often required to teach general education courses with a broader scope to students who are NOT majors in the field. Whereas majors are more motivated to read the textbook and keep up with the content of the course, students who are taking a course to fulfill a general education requirement may have little inherent interest in the subject matter and little motivation to do more than cram for a test the night before it is given.

Faculty who are teaching courses for non-majors may feel frustrated by the lack of student responses to questions posed in class or, in general, their lack of preparation for class. From the student point of view, there are many factors that inhibit them from contributing to class discussions:

Class size in general education courses is often large (that is, more than 50 students in the classroom), which makes students fearful to talk in class. Cultural and other personal factors also inhibit students from contributing.
Students may feel intimidated by the subject matter; for example, most non-science majors are fearful of taking science courses and don't feel they have the skills they need.
Students usually have not completed the reading assignment and have no prior knowledge about the topics being discussed. Even if students have read the assignment, they may not have understood much of what they read.
Students in a general education course may feel unmotivated to contribute to the class because they have no inherent interest in the material.

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