Active Learning Techniques

One way to make sure that everyone gets a fair hearing is to use brainwriting. Instead of sharing your thoughts out loud, brainwriting gives your people time to write them down. And when you come to talk through their ideas, there's often a richer selection to explore than if you'd used brainstorming alone.

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Most case assignments require students to answer an open-ended question or develop a solution to an open-ended problem with multiple potential solutions. Requirements can range from a one-paragraph answer to a fully developed group action plan, proposal or decision.

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Classroom demonstrations are a staple in many classrooms (especially in science and engineering disciplines). Further, students rate demonstrations as being one of their favorite types of classroom activities. However, discipline-based education research indicates that this teaching practice has intricacies that dramatically impact its effectiveness on student learning.

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Exam Wrappers are tools for students to examine their test readiness, identify specific strategies to improve readiness and examine how effective those strategies are so adaptations can be made for future exams.

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Exit tickets are short response tasks that teachers administer to students after an activity (such as laboratory experiment) or class period. They present opportunities for teachers to elicit students’ thinking without affecting their grade, provide individualized feedback, and identify learning needs or modifications to an instructional plan.

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Fishbowl is a discussion among students in an inner circle surrounded by an outer circle of silent active listeners. The inner group is asked to contrasting perspectives or particular roles. For example, they may debate a particular question or represent the contrasting viewpoints of public figures or thinkers. The outer group observes, and may swap into the group. The fishbowl concludes with a plenary debrief to draw out the main points.

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This discussion technique allows students to be actively engaged as they walk throughout the classroom. They work together in small groups to share ideas and respond to meaningful questions, documents, images, problem-solving situations or texts.

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During this learning activity students are asked a question with a spectrum of responses. Students then take a stance on where they stand on the line – literally.  In this way you could see the understanding/decision of students quite clearly. 

Learn more: Idea Line Up

This cooperative-learning reading technique gives students the opportunity to specialize in one aspect of a topic, master the topic, and teach the material to group members. Asking students to work together in a Jigsaw builds comprehension, encourages cooperation, and improves communication and problem-solving skills.

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Before giving a demonstration or presenting the results of research, ask your students to predict the outcome. Have them discuss as in a "think-pair-share," then run your demonstration or present the finding and follow up with the whys and hows.

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Peer assessment, or review, can improve overall learning by helping students become better readers, writers, and collaborators. A well-designed peer review program also develops students’ evaluation and assessment skills. 

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Show students an image with no explanation, and ask them to identify/explain it, and justify their answers. Or ask students to write about it using terms from lecture, or to name the processes and concepts shown. Also works well as group activity. Do not give the “answer” until they have explored all options first.

Ask your students a question, allow them to think, then respond simultaneously. When responses indicate a split in class opinion, have students discuss then re-poll. Afterwards, explain both correct and incorrect answers.

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Pre-post quizzes are brief surveys that are used before and after an event. They are ideal for helping you understand whether or not your audiences have learned key aspects of the content you are trying to convey. Their purpose is to focus specifically on your content (not on other things your audience might or might not know).

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The Minute Paper is a very commonly used classroom assessment technique. It really does take about a minute and, while usually used at the end of class, it can be used at the end of any topic discussion. Its major advantage is that it provides rapid feedback on whether the professor's main idea and what the students perceived as the main idea are the same. Additionally, by asking students to add a question at the end, this assessment becomes an integrative task. Students must first organize their thinking to rank the major points and then decide upon a significant question. Sometimes, instead of asking for the main point, a professor may wish to probe for the most disturbing or most surprising item. It is thus a very adaptable tool.

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Think-Pair-Share (TPS) is a cooperative learning activity that can work in varied size classrooms and in any subject. Instructors pose a question, students first THINK to themselves prior to being instructed to discuss their response with a person sitting near them (PAIR). Finally, the groups SHARE out what they discussed with their partner to the entire class and discussion continues. Students get time to think critically, creating a learning environment that encourages high quality responses (Rowe, 1972). TPS provides an opportunity for students to work in groups toward a common goal, increasing their own and others’ understanding in a safe environment to make mistakes (Johnson & Johnson, 1999).

Learn more:  Think, Pair, Share | Center for Teaching and Learning

Two-stage exams (also called tiered exams, pyramid exams, group quizzes, collaborative testing, cooperative exams, and team-based tests) allow students to work in groups or teams as a second step in the exam process that leverages assessment in order to promote and enhance learning and content retention.

Learn more: Two-stage Exam