Active Learning Activities

Group Work Project Contracting

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

Running on Water: Activating Prior Knowledge of Static Equilibrium

Students watch, discuss, then analyze the veracity of a video in which hydrophobic shoes allow people to run on water.

Navigating the Grey: Ethics in Nursing

In this card sorting activity, students create categories with words related to ethics in nursing.

Find Someone Who… An Icebreaker With Purpose

In this activity, students try to find someone for each list item. Items highlight key issues explored in the course.

Decoding Decimal, Binary & Octal: Number System Adventures

In teams, students explore the binary number system and create parameters for an octal number system.

The Heart of the Matter: Exploring Exercise in Cardiac Disease

Before class, students read an article and gather 5 elements. In class, they "pool" findings and sort into categories.

Nature of Science Ice-Breaker

A first class ice-breaker activity introducing the nature of science.

To Pass or Not to Pass: Acting out Membrane Transport

Aim of the activity is to increase students’ understanding of molecules’ movement through the cell membrane.

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

Feeling Feverish: Homeostasis of Pyrexia

Harvard Implicit Bias Test

Rock Paper Scissors Lizard

Why Health & Safety is Essential to Recreation Leadership