When I first started teaching intro stats, student interaction was low, and lectures felt like the students were passively listening. In an attempt to build cohort engagement and motivation I decided to create an activity which required students to come up with a name for themselves. Then to go with this name, I asked them to come up with a cohort logo.
For the last four semesters, I have asked students to come up with a name for their stream and to design a logo to match. I give students a period of time to email me with their suggestions and designs, and then we put it to a class vote. Below are some examples of the logos my students designed!
One of our goals for this project is to increase interactivity between the lecturer and the students in the large lecture streams. Students engaged very well with the activity, and enjoyed the creation of an explicit cohort identity. I believe this helped students bond with each other, which had the knock on effect of improving and sustaining student attendance at lecturers, and also made them more engaged during these sessions.
Rhys is a Professional Teaching Fellow in Statistics and Director of the Science Scholars Programme at the University of Auckland.