Active Learning Activities

Editing Exercise: Mock Academic Conference

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

Silent Discussion

Conduct a discussion in your class without students ever speaking a word!

Snowball Starter: Goals of Science Education

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

Who Are You? A Multidimensional Examination of Self-Concept

Students investigate their self-concept, compare it to a classmate, assess differences between self- and social perception.

Cross-Disciplinary Synergy 101: Uniting Expertise for Success

In teams, students interact, share information on their profession, and create cases where each discipline is needed

Controversy in the Science Classroom: Nature of Science Quiz

Peer Review, Assessment & Feedback

Acid Base Equilibrium

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

Compare & Contrast of Shakespearean Love Sonnets

In groups, students compare/contrast two Shakespearean love sonnets and update a sonnet into modern-day slang.

Model Building

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

Call Me By My Organelle

In this single-class activity, students use cards to match cells with their organelles and functions.

Gender Socialization throughout the Life Course

Students complete a grid that illustrates different life periods that reinforce gender narratives.

Schools of Thought in Psychology

Harvard Implicit Bias Test

Vénus d’Ille: Police Enquiry

This activity has students challenge the literal meaning of a text (ie. the supernatural explanation for a murder).

The Matching Game

Students use a matching game to pair chemical compounds and their characteristics using a set of question cards.

Reflective Reading on Islam

Students use homework questions to prompt a deeper engagement with the reading material to generate better class discussion.

Putting the “You” in Education: Using Self-reflections for Learning

Having Students Read and Apply Essay Feedback

Holding Your Seat: A Mindfulness Exercise

Reflective Writing On Waves

Chemicards

Using cards in a "Chemicard' deck, students determine which ionic compounds are most likely to form.

Muscle Snowballs

Projectile Tracker

Students use the Tracker software to analyze projectile motion to determine which equations fit the plots produced.