  This article discusses an effort to encourage student-instructor interactive
engagement through active learning activities during class time. We not only
encouraged our students to speak out when an opportunity arises but also
required them to record their active participation in a student journal
throughout the semester. In principle, any activities which constitute active
learning can and should be recorded in a student journal. These include, but
are not limited to, reading definition, theorem, problem, etc.; responding to
questions and inquiries; asking questions; and pointing out some mistakes
during class time. Despite an incentive for this participation, our experience
teaching different mathematics courses in several consecutive semesters
indicates that many students resist speaking out publicly, submitting empty
journals at the end of the semester instead. Students' feedback on teaching
evaluation at the end of the semester reveals that many students dislike and
are against the idea of active participation and recording it in the journal.
This paper discusses the reason behind this resistance and provides some
potential remedies to alleviate the situation.
