Active Learning Activities

Active learning activities are tailored to specific learning outcomes and content. They incorporate one or more of the evidence-based strategies. Structured to expose their theoretical underpinnings, the activities can be used by practitioners and researchers alike.

Active Learning Activities

43 Results

Applied arts

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.

Photo by Mira Kireeva from Unsplash
Social sciences

GoTestMe: Student-Generated Test Questions

In this test review activity, students create questions, exchange them with a peer, and answer each other's questions.

Photo by Kaleidico from Unsplash
Education STEM

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.

Biology STEM

Hemoglobin Hustle: An Adaptation of Race for the Hat

Used the Race for the Hat activity to create a Jeopardy-style session on blood & blood disorders for a pathophysiology class.

Campaign Creators photo from Unsplash
Psychology Social sciences

Dragon’s Den – Brain Exploration Techniques

Students engage in a gamified activity mimicking the popular tv show the Dragon's Den.

Photo by Ramon Salinero from unsplash
Biology STEM

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.

Water rat - Photo by Matt Seymour, Unsplash.
Biology STEM

Evolution of Sexual Reproduction: Construct a Species

Students construct a fictional animal species by selecting traits related to sexual reproduction.

Health science STEM

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.

Young university students studying with computer in cafe. Group of people in campus library. College teenager using laptop at table. Group study for school assignment.
Psychology

Sensation and Perception Lab

The lab explores the senses of taste, smell, touch, proprioception and vision.

Gray scale photo of gears
Physics STEM

Mechanics in Motion: Iterative GIF Creation

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

Health science

COPD Pathophysiology: Construct One Patient Description

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

Health science Biology

Family Matters : Inclusive Genetics Pedigree

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

Biology STEM

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

In this activity students apply their knowledge of the physiology of the stress response to a real-life research scenario.

Mathematics STEM

An Abundance of Bells

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

Biochemistry STEM

Blended Learning: Just in Time

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

Languages and Literature

Les Ateliers de Creation

In this multiple-class activity, students write three 250 texts, then learn to revise their writing based on peer feedback.

Humanities Interdisciplinary

Peer Review, Assessment & Feedback

Students gain experience with a model of writing which employs Peer Assessment as the Active Learning strategy.

Chemistry STEM

Acid Base Equilibrium

Students learn how to problem solve and review their peers in a low stakes situation (no grades).

Languages and Literature

Visual Interpretation of “The Story of an Hour”

Students learn to interpret a text and analyze a theme by creating a visual interpretation of a story.

Physics STEM

Model Building

Students learn to build a conceptual model describing a situation involving an accelerating charged particle.

Environmental science

Sustainability Development Plan (Part 1 and Part 2)

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

Photo by Luca Laurence on Unsplash
Languages and Literature

Rédaction d’un Paragraphe de Texte Expressif

In this multiple-class activity, students write a “texte expressif”, applying theory & grammatical lessons learned in class.

Languages and Literature

Pratique d’écriture

Biology STEM

Disappearing Sea Otters

Students take the role of an ecologist and try to analyze species behaviours and predict population change.