Tips for Making Lessons More Interactive

🤔 How might you infuse more experiential elements into even the most standard Q&A session? This was my question to myself when wrapping up a facilitation course for a client that included a Q&A session. I wanted to be sure it complemented the other experiential sessions and was aligned with the positive adjectives of how participants had already described the course. First and foremost - here is my issue with Q&As: 👎 They are only focused on knowledge transfer, but not not memory retention (the brain does not absorb like a sponge, it catches what it experiences!) 👎 They tend to favor extroverts willing to ask their questions out loud 👎 Only a small handful of people get their questions answered and they may not be relevant for everyone who attends So, here is how I used elements from my typical #experiencedesign process to make even a one-directional Q&A more interactive and engaging: 1️⃣ ENGAGE FROM THE GET-GO How we start a meeting sets the tone, so I always want to engage everyone on arrival. I opted for music and a connecting question in the chat connected to why we were there - facilitation! 2️⃣ CONNECTION BEFORE CONTENT Yes, people were there to have their questions answered, but I wanted to bring in their own life experience having applied their new found facilitation skills into practice. We kicked off with breakout rooms in small groups to share their own experiences- what had worked well and what was still challenging. This helped drive the questions afterwards. 3️⃣ MAKE THE ENGAGEMENT EXPLICIT Even if it was a Q&A, I wanted to be clear about how THIS one would be run. I set up some guidelines and also gave everyone time to individually think and reflect what questions they wanted to ask. We took time with music playing for the chat to fill up. 4️⃣ COLLABORATIVE LEARNING IS MOST IMPACTFUL Yes, they were hoping to get my insights and answers, however I never want to discredit the wisdom and lived experience in the room. As we walked through the questions, I invited others to also share their top tips and answers. Peer to peer learning is so rich in this way! 5️⃣ CLOSING WITH ACTIONS AND NEVER QUESTIONS The worst way to end any meeting? "Are there any more questions?" Yes, even in a Q & A! Once all questions were answered, I wanted to land the journey by asking everyone to reflect on what new insights or ideas emerged for them from the session and especially what they will act upon and apply forward in their work. Ending with actions helps to close one learning cycle and drive forward future experiences when they put it to the test! The session received great reviews and it got me thinking - we could really apply these principles to most informational sessions that tend to put content before connection (and miss the mark). 🤔 What do you think? Would you take this approach to a Q&A? Let me know in the comments below👇 #ExperienceLearningwithRomy

See One. Do One. Teach One. I was watching Grey’s Anatomy (don't judge) when a line jumped out at me: “See one. Do one. Teach one.” It was Dr. Webber's mantra for medical training: observe a skill, try it yourself, then pass it on. It's also the perfect blueprint for event engagement. Most events get stuck at “see one.” Attendees listen to keynotes, sit through panels, watch demos. They see a lot, but if that’s where it ends, the knowledge fades almost instantly. The next level is “do one.” Give attendees space to try what they’ve learned, through hands-on workshops, scenario labs, role plays, or even a 10-minute exercise in the room. This helps the ideas move from theory into muscle memory. But then there's “teach one.” Create moments for attendees to share their perspective. Whether it’s a micro-discussion at their table, a peer-to-peer breakout, or a post-session “lightning share” where they explain what they learned to someone else. When people teach, they anchor the learning in their own words, and engagement skyrockets. What if designing events around this mantra could transform attendees into contributors? They stop being passive listeners and start being co-creators of the experience. Maybe that's what engagement is meant to be, after all. 

I’ve been teaching at UNLV for 13 years, across many different classes and formats—in-person, online, and hybrid. Course design has always been a priority for me. I think deeply about how to structure each class based on the modality, student level, and class size. For much of that time, I’ve taught ACC 202 – Managerial Accounting, an in-person class with 100+ sophomore business students in three sections each semester. Most students don’t plan to major in accounting—and many start out dreading it. Thank you to Jessica Soria, Ph.D. for the interview (link below) about how I approach teaching ACC 202 and designing large, interactive classes. This interview caused me to reflect on course design decisions I have made in this class. Over the years, I’ve seen major shifts in student behavior and learning styles. In response, I’ve tried to build a course that’s engaging, relevant, and even fun, while driving home a key point: You can’t be an effective manager if you don’t understand accounting and what the numbers mean. Here are 10 lessons I’ve learned teaching ACC 202: (Most applicable to large, lower-division, math-based courses taught in person) 1) Experiment Every Semester Always try new strategies. Gather feedback through surveys. Keep what works—tweak or toss what doesn’t.  2) Know Your Students Use polls, surveys, and office hours to understand how students interact with your course and where they struggle or succeed. Gather a lot of feedback.  3) Make It Interactive I use a flipped classroom: lecture videos at home, in-class group work focused on problem-solving. We bring in current events, short videos, Poll Everywhere, gamified test reviews—and Discord to keep learning collaborative and social outside of class times.  4) Incentivize Excellence Students with a 99% before the final can waive it—if they write a reflection letter. These letters are shared with future classes as inspiration. 5) Focus on Understanding, Not Coverage Hit the key concepts hard. Use vivid, real-world examples. Minimize memorization—students can use notecards on exams to encourage application. 6) Coach and Communicate Students build a plan for their target grade and track their progress. I encourage office hours, send weekly updates, and aim to create a welcoming environment. 7) Be Transparent Align classwork, homework, and exams. Clear expectations make a huge difference—especially for sophomores. 8) Make Attendance Count Poll Everywhere boosts engagement and counts toward participation grades. 9) Celebrate Success A simple email recognizing students who excel on a test builds confidence and motivation. 10) Don’t Take It Personally You won’t win over everyone. Focus on trends in your feedback—not individual criticisms. I’d love to hear from other educators—what strategies have worked best for your large enrollment courses? And students—what helps you stay engaged in big classes? https://lnkd.in/gAb7Ynp6

The best way to teach brainstorming? Let students brainstorm your teaching approach. Today, our design thinking class at the University of Kentucky, TEK 300, "Teens and Screens," reached a pivotal moment. With midterms behind us and spring break over, we faced a critical question: How might we structure the remaining weeks to promote deeper understanding rather than just blasting through the steps of our semester-long project? Instead of deciding for our students, we chose to "eat our own dog food"(as they used to say at Apple). (HT Reinhold Steinbeck, charles kerns) We turned our students into users and co-designers through a structured brainwriting session focused on this challenge. The process was beautifully simple: • Students received worksheets with our "How Might We" question and a 3×5 grid • Everyone silently wrote initial ideas (one per box) in the first row • Sheets rotated three times, with each person building on or adding to previous ideas • We ended with a gallery walk and dot-voting to identify the strongest concepts In just 20 minutes, we generated over 50 unique ideas! The winner? Incorporating hands-on, interactive activities in every session that directly connect to that day's learning objectives. The meta-realization? We were already practicing the solution before formally adopting it. The brainwriting exercise itself exemplified exactly what our students told us they wanted more of. My teaching partner Ryan Hargrove immediately began storyboarding how we'll implement this approach, moving us closer to the collaborative learning journey we want to have with our students. We're moving from "Once upon a time..." (not as great as we could be...) to "Students designed..." (active participation), to "Now we really dig learning all this..." Your students already know what they need; your job is to create space for them to tell you. P.S. What teaching approaches have you transformed by inviting your students to become co-designers of their learning experience? #DesignThinking #HigherEducation #TeachingInnovation #BuildingInPublic #StudentCenteredLearning