Activity Aim: To understand the differences between three major philosophical schools in ancient China and their relationships with political issues of the time. Material needed: Pen, paper, whiteboard Activity time: 25-30 minutes Activity description: This activity will be done toward … Continue reading This or That Debate (Chinese Literature)
Activity aim: To co-create, consolidate, and review key concepts; to give students a way to refer back to previous concepts that they may have missed or misunderstood; to facilitate class community and collaboration Materials: Pen and paper Time: ongoing (can … Continue reading Collaborative Resource Creation
Activity aim: To understand the concept of the “national character” in Lu Xun’s short stories Materials: Pen and paper Time: 15-20 minutes Activity description: Post a question on slide: What constitutes the Chinese national character Lu Xun criticizes and tries … Continue reading Think, Pair, Share in Chinese Literature
Activity aim: Team work and collaboration; conducting marketing research; peer review Materials: See below Time estimated: See below Prep for teacher: See below Note: This series of 6 activities are distinct steps in a group research project that amounts to 30% of the student’s … Continue reading A Group Research Project in 6 Parts (Marketing)
Activity aim: To get students to apply course material to a real-life scenario Materials: Printed worksheets, Plickers/Top Hat (learn more about Plickers here; learn more about Top Hat here) Time estimated: 20 minutes Prep for teacher: Set up Plicker questions, set up … Continue reading Think / Pair / Share with Clickers (Library Science)
Activity aim: To provide students with an opportunity to gain exposure to multiple readings; to encourage students to review / synthesize / draw connections between multiple texts; to review reading in preparation for a discussion Materials needed: An article questionnaire … Continue reading Jigsaw Reading
Activity aim: Students should learn to strip sentences down to basic components necessary to determine the elements of ERD. They will learn to spot nouns and verbs in each sentence, and translate them into Entities and Relationships elements accordingly. Subsequently … Continue reading English Sentences into Entity Relationship Diagrams (CIS)
Activity aim: Develop the applicability of the concept of slope to non-linear relations (curves). Students compute different rates of change: a velocity in one example and a rate of revenue increase in the other. They recognize the concept of slope … Continue reading Introduction to the Derivatives (Calculus)
An active learning module to analyze, process, and learn visual information with students providing content, research, and presentation (inside out lecture). Activity aim: Students will review, synthesize, and select exemplary samples of contrast on their homework reading to further understand … Continue reading Understanding Contrast (Graphic Design)
Activity aim: To prompt discussion; to develop synthesis skills; to build classroom community Materials needed: Sticky notes, poster paper (you can also just write topics on the board), pens Time: 10-15 minutes (or more), depending on the group size Activity Description … Continue reading Sticky note check in
Activity aim: To get students to synthesize the most important “takeaways”; to build student confidence to ask questions; to have students reflect on their points of confusion Materials: Nothing! Activity description: Think / pair / share is probably the simplest … Continue reading Think / pair / share
Activity aim: To review; to provide an authentic task for repetitive practice; to encourage class discussion without putting students on the spot; to help students formulate questions Materials: It can be helpful to have a printed worksheet or slide with … Continue reading Pyramid
Activity aim: Group quizzes enhance students’ understanding of the material by having them discuss a set of questions to determine the correct answers. By working cooperatively, students can learn from each other and improve their grasp of the material. The “quiz” in this activity is meant … Continue reading Group Quizzes
Activity aim: to encourage peer teaching; to encourage synthesis; to check student progress and generate questions; to review content Materials needed: A Pro / Con / Caveat grid (students can make them) Time estimated: 15-20 minutes (depending on follow-up … Continue reading Pro, Con, Caveat
Activity aim: to encourage peer teaching; to catch students up who have missed key content; to check student progress and generate questions Materials needed: Two sets of instructor-generated questions (set A and set B) Time estimated: This can … Continue reading Jigsaw Interview or Three Step Interview
Activity aim: Encourages note-taking; gives students time to review notes and concepts; promotes peer-to-peer learning; allows students to share note-taking strategies Materials: Class notes Time: ~5-10 minutes Activity Description: At the end of a content-heavy class or portion of class, … Continue reading Notes Completion
Activity aim: To foster low-stakes group discussion; to review; to encourage synthesis and / or new connections Materials needed: Pieces of scrap paper, post-it notes, or cards (if scrap paper or cards, you’ll also need tape). Time estimated: This … Continue reading Affinity Maps