Active Learning Activities

Spinning the Data? Thinking Critically about Maps

Students create choropleth maps to explore how maps can inform, persuade and mislead.

Take it Outside: A Field Trip in Three Acts

This activity serves as a field trip template to engage students with pre, during, and post-visit observations and analysis.

Let Me Draw You a Picture…

Students use visual thinking to diagram / illustrate a subject with the only criteria being they have expert knowledge of it.

Earth History Walk

A self-guided walk exploring how – and why – Earth changed over its 4.6 billion year history.

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.

100 Years of Work

This is a jigsaw activity where students map key developments in workplace design over 100 years.

Two-stage Testing for Second-year Math Students

Students are given four 2-stage tests throughout a semester; 1st stage written individually, 2nd students work in groups.

From Bauhaus to Britney: A Catchall Timeline

Students map key movements in Architecture and Design alongside social, political, artistic, economic, and tech milestones.

Crossing Dimensions: A Math Odyssey into Cross Products

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

Decoding Decimal, Binary & Octal: Number System Adventures

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

An Abundance of Bells

The aim of this activity is to demonstrate that many continuous data of nature and psychology follow a normal distribution.

Exam Preparation using Case Studies

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

Blended Learning: Just in Time

This activity benefits students by exposing them to literature in their field while preparing them for the following lecture.

Instructional Survey

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

Problem-based Learning: Research Project

Group Problem Solving with Show and Tell

Students learn to build a conceptual model describing a Mechanics-based situation and practice mathematical problem-solving.

Solving World Issues: One Smartphone at a Time

The purpose of this activity is to familiarize students with the potential of online tools for problem-solving.

Vénus d’Ille: Police Enquiry

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

Sustainability Development Plan (Part 1 and Part 2)

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

Let’s Role Play the French Revolution!

Family HiStories of Migration

Students interview two members of their family to collect information about their family history and present it in class.

Reflective Reading on Islam

Students use homework questions to prompt a deeper engagement with the reading material to generate better class discussion.

Understanding Agro-Ecosystems by Observing, Writing & Discussing

In this semester-long activity, students visit a farm several times to engage in a critical analysis of that ecosystem.

Managing Major Weather Hazards in Recreation

Students in this activity, create & perform a skit to demonstrate how a group should respond to various weather events.