Active Learning Activities

Group Work Project Contracting

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

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.

Put Your Theory on Trial

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

Silent Discussion

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

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.

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.

Real-World Physics: Mini Video Projects

Controversy in the Science Classroom: Nature of Science Quiz

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

Peerwise Assignment: Human Body

Categorizing for Review

Two Stage Quiz

Yeas and Nays: Using Smartphones for Gathering Data

Solving World Issues One Smartphone at a Time

Harvard Implicit Bias Test

4 Sociological Perspectives: Working with Theoretical Frameworks

Three-Tiered Writing

Mouse Coat Colour

The Perry Scheme of Intellectual Development

Homophones Talent Show

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.

Fireweed and Seals, oh my! Mini Cases in Population Ecology

The Sailing Iguanas: A Mini Case in Speciation