Six ways to design a class students look forward to

Lectures often compete for attention with notifications, video, social media and artificial intelligence in this day and age. A well-structured presentation and strong subject knowledge might not be enough to overcome those distractions and make a class memorable.

Designing classes that students look forward to means creating experiences that generate curiosity, participation and a clear reason to pay attention. Here are some practical strategies to do so.

1. Open with a problem, not a topic

A common mistake is to begin by announcing the day’s content and then to move straight into the explanation.

In my vehicle dynamics course, I start differently. Before any equation appears on the board, we talk about problems that vehicles have right now: why some cars lose stability in an emergency manoeuvre, why a design decision that improves comfort quietly makes safety worse. Then I challenge students to solve one.

• The Democracy Lab: how 20 minutes of debate can revive the lecture
• The lecture is dead – long live the performance
• Spotlight guide: Back to the basics of pedagogy

The content of the class is the same. What changes is the order: students meet the question before the theory, so the theory arrives as a tool rather than a requirement.

This works in any discipline. A question, a contradiction, an image or a short story creates a gap between what students already know and what they want to find out. Teaching waves, I might open by asking what a song, a phone conversation and an earthquake have in common. When curiosity comes first, students have a reason to seek an explanation.

2. Know your audience

Effective communicators understand their audience before deciding how to deliver a message. Lecturers can do the same. Knowing students’ interests, professional backgrounds and prior knowledge helps us to choose examples that feel relevant. If some students are musicians, their experience can introduce frequency, vibration or sound transmission.

Those already employed can contribute examples from their workplaces. A useful question when preparing a class: what does this group already know that I can use to introduce what comes next?

3. Tell stories

Lecturers are also communicators. Borrowing techniques from good science communicators helps us to explain complex ideas clearly, while keeping academic rigour intact.

A story gives context to an abstract concept and makes it easier to remember. We can describe the mistake that led to a discovery, share a professional experience or create a scenario in which students must make a choice. Before introducing a concept, it is worth asking: is there a story behind this? Very often, there is.

4. Design opportunities for participation

When I started teaching, I assumed that once I began speaking, students would go quiet and pay attention. I learned quickly that attention requires deliberate effort from the lecturer. So does participation.

If we want students to contribute, we need to build specific opportunities into the session, alternating between explanation, questioning, discussion and problem solving. After introducing an idea, we can ask students to identify an error, compare two alternatives or propose a real-world application. Questions are among the most useful tools a lecturer has.

Participation can also take different forms. Some students feel more comfortable recording a short video or talking through an idea in a small group first. Offering several routes makes engagement more accessible without lowering academic expectations.

5. Introduce small elements of surprise

Consistency helps students to understand how a course works. Small variations keep individual sessions fresh. A guest speaker, a demonstration, a recent real-world case or an unexpected opening question can change the energy of a class immediately. Students tend to remember the moments that break the pattern. When planning a session, include at least one thing students are unlikely to expect.

6. Keep asking whether students are learning

Engagement matters because it creates better conditions for learning. We still need evidence that students are understanding the material. Ask them to explain a concept in their own words, to name the most difficult idea of the session or to solve a short problem before they leave.

Feedback does not need to wait until the end-of-course evaluation: a question such as “What was least clear today?” can shape the next session. A simple cycle works well in teaching: plan, teach, observe, listen, adjust, try again.

Design a reason to come back

The last time I taught that vehicle dynamics course, the challenge I set in the first session ended in a peer-reviewed article with students as authors.

The findings are not the point, and neither is the journal. What matters is where it started: students who wanted to answer a question badly enough to keep working on it long after the class had finished. Most challenges will not end in a publication, and they do not need to. Students simply work harder on a problem that they have decided is worth solving.

AI can now generate explanations, exercises and summaries in seconds. That makes the human dimensions of teaching more important, not less: asking meaningful questions, creating connections, designing learning experiences and provoking curiosity. Students need to feel that the time they spend in class is worth it.

Before we finish preparing our next session, perhaps it is worth asking one final question: if I were a student, would I be curious enough to attend this class?

Ricardo A. Ramírez-Mendoza is rector at the Universidad del Caribe (UNICARIBE).

If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.