When it comes to student engagement and retention, there’s a lot to be said for a good soundtrack and a sense of humour.

ISYS200 (IT and the Future of Society) lecturer Matthew Mansour started Session 2 in style last week, entering his darkened lecture theatre to a dance music soundtrack, dressed as a character from Star Wars.

“I teach ISYS100 (IT and Society) too,” says Matt, “and most of those students have gone on to take our new ISYS200 unit. So usually my jokes in ISYS100 were enough to get them engaged and wanting to come back for more lectures – but now that they knew all my material, how could I make an impact?”

Taking the theme of ‘future’ from his unit’s title, Matt decided to combine the aesthetics of the Star Wars universe and electronic music duo Daft Punk to make a grand entrance. “I was going to dress up like a robot from the future, but all the suits were pretty bad. Then I thought, ‘Star Wars could be considered the future’, and added the backing track from Daft Punk as the icing on the cake.”

But there’s a serious side to this frivolity. “Student engagement is crucial to retention,” says Matt, “and being in on a shared joke is a great way to help students feel like they’re part of a group, while making the curriculum – and the lecturer – seem less daunting and more approachable”.

Find out more about Matt’s approach.

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