Active Learning Activities

Active learning activities are tailored to specific learning outcomes and content. They incorporate one or more of the evidence-based strategies. Structured to expose their theoretical underpinnings, the activities can be used by practitioners and researchers alike.

Active Learning Activities

37 Results

Languages and Literature

Editing Exercise: Mock Academic Conference

Research, writing & editing activity that builds interpretive skills and the ability to incorporate research.

Photo by Richard Horvath from Unsplash.
STEM Biology

Biologist Says: Mini-Game for Recalling Biology Terms

A familiar and easy to implement game to help students with recall of biological terms.

Photo by National cancer institute from Unsplash
STEM Biology

BioQuest: Mini-Game for Categorizing Biology Terms

A fun consolidating activity at the end of a topic or unit to help students categorize and consolidate biological terms.

Photo by Kaleidico from Unsplash
STEM Education

Drawing to Learn: Doing Science is more Complex that You Think

Students draw a diagram of how they think scientists "do science." These are improved then compared with an expert diagram.

Photo by Mira Kireeva from Unsplash
Languages and Literature

Peer Review for Beginners

This peer-review activity for English 101 aims to help students improve their essays, but also to develop evaluation skills.

Photo by Noom Peerapong from Unsplash
Social sciences Humanities

Finding Catharsis in Film and Media

Students analyze a film or piece of media watched in the course using two concepts: climax and catharsis.

STEM Biology

Hemoglobin Hustle: An Adaptation of Race for the Hat

Used the Race for the Hat activity to create a Jeopardy-style session on blood & blood disorders for a pathophysiology class.

Social sciences Humanities

Group Work Project Contracting

For instructors planning student group work projects over many weeks or months.

Photo by Ramon Salinero from unsplash
STEM Biology

Electron Odyssey: Journey through the Mitochondria’s Electron Transport Chain

Students play the roles of protein complexes to see how electrons, protons, and energy moves through the ETC to produce ATP.

Photo by Michael Fenton from Unsplash
Languages and Literature

Taskmaster: Diction Icebreakers

These gamified activities will help sensitize students to the nuances of diction and allow them to work together.

Mathematics

Crossing Dimensions: A Math Odyssey into Cross Products

In groups, students learn about orthogonality and cross products by creating geometrical shapes.

STEM Physics

Controversy in the Science Classroom: Nature of Science Quiz

STEM Biology

Don’t go NUTS: A Case Study on the Physiology of Stress

Social sciences STEM Biology

Peerwise Assignment: Human Body

STEM Biochemistry

Exam Preparation using Case Studies

The aim of this activity is to apply course materials to real-world problems using Case Studies.

Interdisciplinary STEM Physics

How to Write Reading Annotations

This activity helps students improve their quality of reading annotations using platforms like Perusall.

Environmental science

Instructional Survey

The aim of this activity is to provide students with an overview of survey design and execution.

Humanities

5 Senses Lab

Social sciences

Urban Planning Project

In this multiple-class activity, students explore a chosen neighborhood in Montreal and investigate significant social issues

STEM Physics

Live Demonstrations of Beats and Interference of Sound

In this activity, students learn to apply the principal of superposition to two new sound contexts.

Languages and Literature General

Vénus d’Ille: Police Enquiry

This activity has students challenge the literal meaning of a text (ie. the supernatural explanation for a murder).

Social sciences

Durkheim Suicide: Functionalist and Conflict Theory

In this activity, students compare 4 psychological perceptive of suicide (anomic, fatalistic, egoistic, and altruistic).

Environmental science

Sustainability Development Plan (Part 1 and Part 2)

In this activity, students learn to define sustainability and apply this to a single Montreal neighbourhood. 

Photo by Luca Laurence on Unsplash
Languages and Literature

Rédaction d’un Paragraphe de Texte Expressif

In this multiple-class activity, students write a “texte expressif”, applying theory & grammatical lessons learned in class.