There is an overall lack of engagement in undergraduate classrooms across college and university settings, even though student engagement contributes to positive learning outcomes and success. However, "engagement" is a broad term and can encompass many smaller, more specific measure, like in-class participation. Using in-class participation as a proxy for engagement, instructors in higher-education have tried implementing a variety of strategies, like iClicker technology, response cards, and Kahoot! to try to promote student engagement. Some of these strategies, may be costly (e.g., iClickers), time consuming or childish (e.g., response cards), or not practice (e.g., use of smartphones or other devices to participate in Kahoot! or similar programs). This study investigated the use of the Good Behavior Game (GBG), a behavioral strategy requiring minimal resources to try to increase in-class participation in a college classroom to try to promote student engagement. In the class in which the GBG was implemented, we saw a large and immediate increase in in-class participation, which lasted for the duration of the period in which the GBG was implemented, in comparison to the class that did not play the GBG, where we saw much lower levels of in-class participation. Implications of our results, limitations, and ideas for future research and implementation will be discussed.
