Active Learning Activities

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.

GoTestMe: Student-Generated Test Questions

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

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.

Put Your Thesis on Trial

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

Nature of Science Ice-Breaker

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

COPD Pathophysiology: Construct One Patient Description

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

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.

Low Stakes Debate

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

Les Ateliers de Creation

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

Peer Review, Assessment & Feedback

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

Acid Base Equilibrium

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

Collection d’articles

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

Urban Planning Project

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

Model Building

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

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.

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.

This Field Day of Mine

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

Schools of Thought in Psychology

Sustainability Development Plan (Part 1 and Part 2)

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

Rédaction d’un Paragraphe de Texte Expressif

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

Pratique d’écriture

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.

Sketching the graph of a curve

Mine Ventilation Design

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