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.

Taskmaster: Diction Icebreakers

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

Navigating the Grey: Ethics in Nursing

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

Silent Discussion

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

Reimagining the Reading Quiz: Peer Instruction in English

Students do a reading quiz in class and revise their answers after developing and sharing a rationale for their choice.

Crossing Dimensions: A Math Odyssey into Cross Products

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

Safety First! Rank and Sort Case for Clinical Reasoning Skills

Case-based ranking & sorting activities based on pre-class quiz on exercise safety in a client with a cardiac condition.

Mechanics in Motion: Iterative GIF Creation

In groups, students create GIFs to demonstrate and explain how mechanic principles apply in real-life scenarios.

Nature of Science Ice-Breaker

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

COPD Pathophysiology: Construct One Patient Description

Create a clinical presentation for a COPD patient, linked to pathophysiology & differentiated from other COPD conditions

Crash Course: Collision Theory

Students use PhET simulation to learn how factors affect reaction rate (collision theory) through hands-on activities

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.

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.

Card Sorting Activities for Mechanics

Can I Use the Internet?

An Abundance of Bells

Peerwise Assignment: Human Body

Peer Review, Assessment & Feedback

CLAW At-Home Experiment: Crystallization of Borax

CLAW At-Home Experiment: Organic Chemistry Introduction to Solubility

Connotation Exercise: Interview and Presentation