Rethinking course design to enliven student engagement

What to do when barely half your students show up to class – and the ones who do are scrolling through their phones while your slides tick by? Lower attendance, reduced participation and increased difficulty in sustaining students’ attention in class are regular lamentations across university teaching. With institutions expected to develop graduates who can think critically, solve complex problems and work effectively with others, finding ways to engage our students has become more important than ever.

We encountered these challenges in a postgraduate management course with more than 90 per cent international students. Many students questioned the value of attending class because they struggled to connect classroom learning to real-world contexts.

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Rather than adding more content, we decided to rethink the learning experience around a simple question: how can we make students want to come to class, participate and learn?

Practical ways to align learning with in-person experience

We landed on four practical strategies to make learning more interactive, relevant and student-centred. Although developed in a management classroom, these tips can be adapted across disciplines.

Tip 1: Flip the learning format to maximise engagement

The first step in transforming engagement was to rethink how face-to-face time was used. A one-hour weekly tutorial became a two-hour interactive workshop. We moved core content online in the form of short videos and curated readings to be completed before class.

The aim was not to replace teaching with technology but to use class time for hands-on learning activities. Because students arrived with a basic understanding of key concepts, workshop time focused on discussion, problem-solving and application.

For example, students watch a video on negotiation strategies before participating in an in-class simulation. This shift to a student‑centred, active-learning approach provides opportunities for collaboration, debate, reflection and critical thinking. Moving content delivery outside the classroom frees valuable class time for interactions that deepen learning and encourage engagement.

Tip 2: Use multiple learning activities to engage diverse learners

Students do not all learn – or participate – in the same way. In our class, students brought diverse educational, cultural and linguistic backgrounds. While some readily contributed to whole-class discussions, others preferred time to reflect or less public ways of participating.

Rather than relying on a single teaching method, I incorporated a variety of learning activities into each workshop to foster inclusion and participation. These included think-pair-share discussions, business simulations, collaborative case analyses, whiteboard activities and digital tools such as Padlet and Kahoot.

A workshop might begin with a Padlet discussion about a contemporary management challenge, move into small-group problem-solving and conclude with an interactive quiz to reinforce key concepts. Varying activities kept classes dynamic, while ensuring students could participate in ways that matched their confidence levels and communication styles.

Technology is also used to foster inclusion. Digital platforms enabled shy students to share ideas without the pressure of speaking to the whole class. Recognising contributions and celebrating successful collaboration through “high fives” built students’ confidence and sense of belonging.

Tip 3: Connect learning to real-world experiences

Students are far more engaged when they understand why learning matters. Rather than relying primarily on textbook examples, I incorporated contemporary organisational challenges, workplace scenarios and industry case studies to demonstrate how management concepts are applied in practice.

Many students also brought professional experience from different industries and countries. Inviting them to share these experiences encouraged discussions and exposed classmates to diverse perspectives. Simulations, case studies and workplace examples helped bridge the gap between theory and practice, enabling students to see how classroom learning related to decisions they may face in their careers.

Tip 4: Clearly link learning activities to assessment 

Students are more likely to engage when they can see clearly how an activity feeds into assessment. So, I rethought both the assessment and how it was communicated. Weekly workshop activities, including discussions, case analyses and collaborative problem-solving exercises, were explicitly aligned with “modelled” assessment tasks. So, students valued participation as an important part of learning, rather than an optional extra.

Collaboration was balanced with individual accountability, so reflective tasks and peer feedback complemented group presentations. Transparent rubrics and constructive feedback further clarified expectations.

For educators, the lesson is clear: when students see the value of weekly activities, they are more likely to participate. Make explicit links between learning activities, assessment and future performance.

What changed and what we learned

The impact of these changes was evident in both participation and student feedback. Workshop attendance increased to 90-95 per cent and remained high throughout the semester. End-of-semester survey participation rose from about 16 per cent to almost 70 per cent. Students described the workshops as engaging, relevant and interactive, and reported that they felt more confident applying management concepts to real-world practice.

The bigger lesson was that student engagement is rarely improved with more content, particularly when it can be accessed without attending class. Instead, engagement is strengthened when educators design learning experiences that are valuable because of a live classroom environment.

Face-to-face time should be reserved for activities, such as collaboration, discussion, debate and problem-solving, whose value depends on students being together. By redistributing class time, diversifying learning activities, connecting theory to practice and making assessment expectations explicit, educators can better engage students, regardless of their backgrounds, prior experience or confidence levels.

The challenge is not just getting students into the classroom but ensuring that the most meaningful learning happens when they are there.

Nasreen Sultana is a lecturer in organisational behaviour at the University of Queensland Business School. 

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