A Quick Guide: How to Keep Students Engaged and Motivated

As a leader of your institution, you might have noticed a pattern if you’ve been on campus for more than one semester. It goes like this: incoming and returning students arrive on campus excited and motivated about the upcoming semester and the possibilities of new opportunities, only to lose some motivation as the semester drags on. And unfortunately, some students lose more than a little motivation, leading to them dropping out.

Luckily, there are a few things you and your staff can do to keep your students’ spirits high. Let’s go over how to keep students engaged and motivated so they can finish the semester strong

5 Strategies to Keep Students Engaged and Motivated 

Implementing student engagement strategies before classes get underway is a good idea, as this can help your team better understand which strategies work well for your students and which strategies aren’t moving the needle. 

However, if you’re mid-semester and you’re looking for ways to keep students motivated, it’s not too late to launch a few student engagement initiatives.

Whether you’re planning before the semester starts or you’re already elbow-deep in it, try these five strategies to keep students engaged and motivated. 

1. Plan Student-Led Events

According to a 2022 study, loneliness can affect college students’ academic performance. This means that students, especially newcomers who do not make connections with their peers, are at risk of disengaging and losing their motivation to complete their degree tracks.

One way to help these students get outside their dorm rooms and interact with others is to host student-led events. Student-led events, like special interest clubs or off-campus field trips, are a great way to get students involved and connected with their peers. Personal, meaningful connections can help boost their spirits, positively impacting their academic performance. 

Pro Tip: Use an engagement platform to send text nudges to students about upcoming social events.

2. Create Mentorship Programs

Mentorship programs are a great way to motivate and engage students on campus. Peer mentorship programs can help students create connections with their classmates while also allowing them to hold each other accountable for their studies. This is helpful for both participants, considering many peer mentorships are established within the same degree programs. 

Mentorships with alumni can also keep students engaged. These mentorships can give current students a glimpse into their future careers if they continue their studies. And these connections can also be beneficial post-graduation, especially for networking and job hunting.

Pro Tip: If you need more alumni engagement ideas, plan a messaging campaign to remind alumni of volunteer opportunities. These texting templates for advancement are a great place to start!

3. Create Personalized Learning Paths

The neat thing about your students is they all have different interests and career goals. This might mean that some students double major or add a minor to their degree. Encourage your academic advisors to take some time to get to know their students and their goals. Doing so can help them plan a more personalized learning experience, which could keep students excited about their studies. 

Pro Tip: Consider adding an AI assistant to your institution’s technology toolkit. This can suggest courses based on students’ interests and help them register for classes.

4. Promote Mental Health and Wellness Activities

Nearly 30% of college students report feeling isolated from their peers, and 23% report feeling left out. Sometimes, even with opportunities to participate in activities designed to create connections, some students might continue to struggle with poor mental health. If your campus offers mental health services, it’s always a good idea to promote them and ensure students know they are available. 

Aside from promoting mental health services, consider planning and promoting wellness activities. Things like yoga on the quad or group art activities can be good mental health boosters. 

Pro Tip: Consider creating a weekly messaging campaign to remind students of mental health and wellness services and activities. 

5. Use an Engagement Platform 

Did you know that 70% of people say texting is the fastest way to reach them? And that 68% of people read texts within minutes of receiving a message? 

Now, let’s consider those statistics concerning the students on your campus. Nearly 100% of college students use a mobile device, which means that text messages are one of the quickest ways to reach them. 

If you want to keep students engaged and motivated, consider using an engagement platform that allows you to send SMS or WhatsApp messages to students. Using this feature, you can send students reminders about upcoming events, like exams or social activities, and important deadline dates, or you can ask them to participate in surveys.

Text or WhatsApp messages can act as nudges to remind students to stay on top of their studies and participate in campus-led initiatives.

Ready to Keep Students Engaged and Motivated? Try Mongoose.

It’s not enough to offer top-notch degree programs and hope students will be self-motivators and continue their studies. Sure, some students are self-starters, but the rest might need a little extra motivation and encouragement to stay motivated and engaged. 

If you’re asking your team to brainstorm how to keep students motivated and engaged, try out some of the tips mentioned above. Providing students with opportunities to connect to their peers and alumni, as well as participating in special interest groups, is a great way to foster connections on and off campus and increase student engagement.

Are you ready to learn how an engagement platform like Mongoose can aid your student engagement initiatives? Contact us today to schedule a demo and learn how Mongoose can help you better reach all your students.

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