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

35 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.

Biology Environmental science Geography

Earth History Walk

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

STEM Biology

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.

Photo by Ramon Salinero from unsplash
STEM Biology

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.

Photo by Conny Schneider from Unsplash
Social sciences Humanities

Put Your Thesis on Trial

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

Photo by NASA on Unsplash
Applied arts

From Bauhaus to Britney: A Catchall Timeline

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

STEM Health science

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.

Gray scale photo of gears
STEM Physics

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

The Heart of the Matter: Exploring Exercise in Cardiac Disease

Before class, students read an article and gather 5 elements. In class, they "pool" findings and sort into categories.

Physics

Nature of Science Ice-Breaker

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

Health science

COPD Pathophysiology: Construct One Patient Description

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

STEM Health science

Data Mining and Sorting: Scaffolding the Exploration of Scientific Articles

The purpose of this activity is to deepen students' understanding of cardiac pathophysiology.

STEM Physics

Card Sorting Activities for Mechanics

This activity encourages students to classify cards according to various criteria to make concept connections.

STEM Physics

Real-World Physics: Mini Video Projects

These mini-video projects require students to engage with course concepts and make connections to the world in which we live.

STEM Biology

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.

STEM Biochemistry

Blended Learning: Just in Time

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

Humanities

Low Stakes Debate

Students learn to see an issue from multiple perspectives and think critically about arguments from different perspectives.

Humanities

Categorizing for Review

The aim of this single-class activity is to help students consolidate their knowledge and review concepts seen in class.

Social sciences

Schools of Thought in Psychology

Languages and Literature

Pratique d’écriture

STEM Biology

Disappearing Sea Otters

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

STEM Mathematics

Sketching the graph of a curve

Languages and Literature

Having Students Read and Apply Essay Feedback

Social sciences Humanities

Ctrl + Alt + Del: PTSD and Neuroplasticity