INCREASING STUDENT ENGAGEMENT AND BUILDING COMMUNITY USING MOCK TOWN HALLS: A CASE STUDY

It has long been accepted that student engagement in the classroom facilitates learning and improves student performance. More recently active engagement through flipped classrooms and hands on activities have been used to supplement traditional lecture-style learning. An increase in student engagement can also provide a sense of belonging, building community within the classroom. This in turn can lead to not only an increase in student performance, but positively impact student retention. The majority of student engagement activities include small groups allowing the students to collaborate together while engaging in the course material. In some instances, the classroom comes back together to share out to the group at large, as seen in the think-pair-share model. However, in these instances the conversation is often driven by the instructor. The current case study presents an alternative model where the classroom activity utilizes a mock town hall to drive student engagement and build community. In this specific example, students are tasked with presenting and arguing for the installation of a form of bioremediation (mine drainage passive remediation systems, oil spill cleanup, etc,) in their community by representing different stakeholders that may be involved in the process. The students then vote to approve the bioremediation project or to delay the project until additional information is provided. The collaboration required for these types of activities allow students to dive deeper into the material in a way that they usually wouldn’t, while also challenging them to consider real world scenarios and diverse perspectives.