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.

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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 STEM

Actin Up! Molecular Mechanisms of Muscle Contraction

Students are assigned molecular roles, and the class acts out the molecular events of skeletal muscle contraction.

Health science STEM

Virtual Voices: Navigating Suicide Prevention Through Simulation

Students engage in a virtual simulation using therapeutic techniques, risk assessment, and interventions.

Biology STEM

Just One Clue: Biology Edition

A cooperative game to guess Biology terms using creative, unique clues. Great for learning and reviewing terminology.

Environmental science Geography Biology

Earth History Walk

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

Physics STEM

Mystery Tube Challenge: The Nature & Process of Science

Students model the hidden structure of a sealed tube as a metaphor for how scientists explore the unseen.

Languages and Literature

Constructive Commentary

This activity guides students through set steps and strategies to comment on their peers' creative writing.

Languages and Literature

Editing Exercise: Mock Academic Conference

Research, writing & editing activity that builds interpretive skills and the ability to incorporate research.

Biology STEM

Biologist Says: Mini-Game for Recalling Biology Terms

A familiar and easy to implement game to help students with recall of biological terms.

Photo by National cancer institute from Unsplash

Biology STEM

BioQuest: Mini-Game for Categorizing Biology Terms

A fun consolidating activity at the end of a topic or unit to help students categorize and consolidate biological terms.

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.

Languages and Literature

Peer Review for Beginners

This peer-review activity for English 101 aims to help students improve their essays, but also to develop evaluation skills.

Applied arts

100 Years of Work

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

Humanities Social sciences

Finding Catharsis in Film and Media

Students analyze a film or piece of media watched in the course using two concepts: climax and catharsis.

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.

Psychology Social sciences

Dragon’s Den – Brain Exploration Techniques

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

Health science STEM

Safety Prevention in Each Developmental Stage

In this roll the dice game, students will identify injuries to be awarded points. The team with the most points wins.

Humanities Social sciences

Group Work Project Contracting

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

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.

Interdisciplinary

Library Scavenger Hunt: Let the Race Begin

This activity is designed to familiarise students with library search engines, library spaces and APA/MLA reference guides.

Humanities Social sciences

Put Your Thesis on Trial

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

Languages and Literature

Taskmaster: Diction Icebreakers

These gamified activities will help sensitize students to the nuances of diction and allow them to work together.

Collaborative Meeting - Photo by Redd F from

Psychology Social sciences

Learning in Everyday Life

In this integrative assignment, students analyze their everyday activities through the lens of various learning theories.

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.

Active Learning Activities