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

33 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.

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.

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.

Elementary school science teacher in biology class
Interdisciplinary

Snowball Starter: Goals of Science Education

In this activity, the snowball strategy links students' prior beliefs to a deeper inquiry of science education goals.

Physics STEM

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.

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.

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

Collection d’articles

During the project, each student takes on a specific role for the production of a virtual magazine.

Social sciences

Urban Planning Project

In this multiple-class activity, students explore a chosen neighborhood in Montreal and investigate significant social issues

Physics STEM

Model Building

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

Interdisciplinary

Yeas and Nays: Using Smartphones for Gathering Data

The overall aim of this activity is to help students learn new, efficient and flexible ways to collect a variety of datasets.

Applied arts Health science Social sciences

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.

Chemistry STEM

This Field Day of Mine

This activity takes a look at the environmental impact of mining and the quantification of environmental contaminants.

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.

Biology STEM

Disappearing Sea Otters

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

Environmental science

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.

Engineering STEM

Mine Ventilation Design

In this semester-long activity, students design and analyze mine ventilation systems as well as problem-solving skills.

Languages and Literature

Having Students Read and Apply Essay Feedback

Social sciences

Museum Tour

In this version of a gallery walk, students create mind maps, showcase them in the class, and peer-review each other's work.