Active Learning Activities

Finding Catharsis in Film and Media

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

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.

Put Your Theory on Trial

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

Taskmaster: Diction Icebreakers

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

Find Someone Who… An Icebreaker With Purpose

In this activity, students try to find someone for each list item. Items highlight key issues explored in the course.

Nature of Science Ice-Breaker

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

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

How to Write Reading Annotations

This activity helps students improve their quality of reading annotations using platforms like Perusall.

5 Senses Lab

Collection d’articles

Live Demonstrations of Beats and Interference of Sound

In this activity, students learn to apply the principal of superposition to two new sound contexts.

Circuits: Card Sorting With Multiple Representations (E&M)

Students develop their ability to reason about physics concepts in terms of multiple representations, beyond just equations.

Electrostatics: Card Sorting With Mutiple Representations (E&M)

Students associate configurations of charges with their characteristics from word, diagram & graph representations.

Yeas and Nays: Using Smartphones for Gathering Data

Dictation: Read and Run

Poetic Literary Jeopardy

Students learn literary and poetic elements that will be part of their fundamental 'toolbox' for the rest of the course.

Short Stories and Social Realism: Building an Essay Toolkit

In this multiple-class activity, students build a toolkit of essay-writing skills through analyzing a short story text.

Ctrl + Alt + Del: PTSD and Neuroplasticity

Mass of A Car

Students measure the mass of a car using diagrams to find equations of motion describing stages - acceleration & deceleration

Falling Object Tracker

Through this activity students analyze 1D kinematic problems & see examples of both constant velocity and acceleration.

Dart Gun Velocity

In this activity, students will find the muzzle velocity of a foam dart gun and predict its maximum range.

Forces Scavenger Hunt

Lenz’s Law