Motivating students to prepare for class and engage in discussion using the hot seat

Accounting accreditation standards place a strong emphasis on student engagement in the learning process (AACSB, 2009a and The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), 2009). However, budget constraints at many universities are creating larger class sizes, thereby complicating the student-engagement process in two respects. First, it is difficult for professors to motivate students to prepare for class when the students perceive a small probability of being held individually accountable for reading assigned materials. Second, it becomes harder for professors to have one-on-one interactions with students during class as enrollments grow (Litke, 1995). This lack of interaction makes it more difficult to engage students in the learning process. This article describes a teaching approach, called the “hot seat,” that overcomes these challenges by motivating students to prepare for class and engage in the learning process during class. Assessment data suggest that students valued the instructor’s commitment to high-quality instruction and that they believed the hot-seat approach accomplished its intended objectives of increasing student preparation, participation, and learning.