Active Learning Activities

Group Work Project Contracting

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

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.

Put Your Theory on Trial

Scaffolded debate that explores the nuances of a belief that the teacher has introduced.

PatientGPT: Using AI to Compile Mental Health Case Studies

Student groups will generate an assigned patient profile and care plan by using AI, verify the references and present.

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.

Silent Discussion

Conduct a discussion in your class without students ever speaking a word!

Decoding Decimal, Binary & Octal: Number System Adventures

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

Cross-Disciplinary Synergy 101: Uniting Expertise for Success

In teams, students interact, share information on their profession, and create cases where each discipline is needed

Family Matters : Inclusive Genetics Pedigree

In teams, students will build a pedigree chart and determine inheritance patterns using inclusive pedigree practices.

Rough Draft Workshop: Group Peer Assessment Jigsaw Activity for Case Study or Procedural Writing

Students bring a rough draft of a written group project for peer evaluation and feedback

Communicable Puzzles: Children’s Most Common Infectious Diseases

Using the Jigsaw strategy, students become an “expert” for one communicable disease through self-directed research.

Controversy in the Science Classroom: Nature of Science Quiz

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

Feeling Feverish: Homeostasis of Pyrexia

Can I Use the Internet?

Solving World Issues One Smartphone at a Time

Projet Specific: Webzine

Harvard Implicit Bias Test

Three-Tiered Writing

Cercles de Lecture (Reading Circles)

Rhetorical Strategies

Putting the “You” in Education: Using Self-reflections for Learning

Having Students Read and Apply Essay Feedback

Forget the Math! Draw Pictures to Learn the Wave Theory of Light