Active Learning Strategies

Prep Time: Significant – must write good quizzes, and must plan class time
Response Time: Some – individual quizzes must be graded
In a nutshell: Students take a specially formatted quiz, first as individuals then in groups.

How to do this

1. Get some "Immediate Feedback Assessment Technique" quizzes (http://www.epsteineducation.com/home/about). You’ll need enough for groups of 4-5 students to have one each (e.g. a class of 60 would need about 12-15 of them). Ask the Faculty Center for them.
   1. Scratch off one quiz for your own use as a key.
2. Write a multiple-choice quiz covering the material you want to test. The questions should be difficult but unambiguous.
   1. IMPORTANT: The quiz must be difficult. If the quiz is too easy, there is no benefit to working with the group.
   2. IMPORTANT: Make sure the answer choices have the correct answer where the key says it should be! For example, if Question 5 has the star under D, the correct answer for Question 5 must be D.
3. Give students the quiz and have them take it individually, using a simple sheet of paper as an answer sheet. They should retain the quiz question sheet.
4. Divide students into groups of 4 or 5. Give each group a scratch off quiz sheet.
5. Students must come to consensus about the correct answer. One person scratches off the agreed-upon answer, and if they are right, the star is revealed.
   If they are NOT right, the star is not revealed and they move on to their second choice.
6. After finishing, groups tally their scores: 4 points for a correct answer on the first try, 2 for a correct answer on the second try, 1 point for an answer on the third try, and of course 0 if they must scratch all the tries.
7. To score, grade the individual quizzes. Students’ quiz grade is calculated at 50% their individual score and 50% of the group score.

Prep Time: Large investment up front; re-usable thereafter
Response Time: None
In a nutshell: Provide students with hard-copy notes that include definitions, key facts, diagrams, data, etc., and which contain gaps and prompts for students to take notes on more challenging material such as partial solutions, labels, processes, etc.

How to do this

1. Put your lecture notes into hard-copy class handouts or a course pack* (if possible, provide it for free).
   1. The notes should SHOW straightforward parts of the lecture: definitions, equations, or diagrams that would take students a lot of attention to copy down as you produce.
   2. The notes should have GAPS (blank space) where students will place their own notes on more challenging material such as partial solutions, derivations, answer questions, etc.
2. Hand out that day’s notes or ask the students to get them out. Tell the students to read the material immediately preceding the gap. This should be fairly simple material. Ask if they have any questions.
3. Three options for “mining the gap”:
   1. Straight-up lecture on the material that fills the gap
   2. Ask students to get in pairs or threes and fill in the gap on their own. After a short time, call on groups to give answers. Write correct answers on the board so everyone gets it.
   3. Leave the gap as homework and make it very clear that they are responsible for the gap. Allow students to collaborate, and have ample office hours.

*Note – you will very likely create notes in electronic format, so author them to be accessible to students with disabilities. If you do this, you will not have to go back and “fix” them if a student needs an accommodation. https://www.cpp.edu/cafe/teaching-and-learning/accessible-instructional-materials.shtml

Prep Time: On the fly
Response Time: Minimal
In a nutshell: Pause for three minutes at strategic points in your lecture for students to catch up their notes and get things they missed from each other.

How to do this

1. Plan your lecture to have a natural pause at about 15 minute intervals (or just pause when you notice students looking stressed).
2. Set a timer for 1 minute. Tell students to look back over their notes since the last pause, noting down things they forgot or things that are not clear.
3. Set a timer for 2 minutes. Tell students to turn to their neighbor and share notes, emphasizing filling in gaps or answering questions.

Prep Time: On the fly
Response Time: Minimal
In a nutshell: Students write for 1 - 5 minutes on a short prompt. You can do this anytime during a class period. Beginning, end, and transition times are common.

How to do this

1. Formulate a short prompt, such as:
   1. What was today’s most important idea? (What was the reading’s most important idea?)
   2. What was today’s most confusing part?
   3. How does what we did today (what you did in the homework) connect up with other things you are learning/real world applications/your life?
   4. Summarize today’s material (the homework) in a couple of sentences.
   5. Almost any prompt that encourages reflection and/or recall is good.
2. Ask students to take out a piece of paper or index card and spend 1-5 minutes writing. Assure them that polished work is not needed; their raw, first draft thoughts are the important thing.
3. If you want to give participation credit, ask them to put their names. If not, anonymous is fine.
4. Read over the responses and formulate a quick summary that you can share with the class next time. This is especially critical if you need to clear up confusion or answer questions.
5. CAUTION: Do not nit-pick mistakes or writing errors.

Prep Time: Some – must formulate the situation and devote some class time
Response Time: Minimal
In a nutshell: Give students a case, situation, or experiment based on material you have been covering. Ask them to predict the outcome based on their current knowledge. Can be combined with minute papers or think-pair-share, or in a clicker question format.

How to do this

1. Create a short description of a case, a situation, or an experiment based on content that students have been learning. The outcome of the situation should NOT be obvious.
2. Present the case in class
3. Have students predict the outcome. There are different ways to do this:
   1. Minute paper – students briefly describe what they think will happen and WHY
   2. Think-pair-share – students discuss with one another and share out
   3. Clicker-style question – you provide multiple choices and students select
4. To respond, summarize the predictions and hold a class discussion to come to consensus on the correct prediction. If the percentage of correct predictions is too low for comfort, consider re-visiting material.
5. If possible, or for homework, follow up with a second, related prediction.

Prep Time: Some time to write problems; some time in class
Response Time: Minimal to some
In a nutshell: Give students several examples of different types of problems that they tend to confuse. Have them identify the type of problem or the underlying principle they would use to solve each.

How to do this

1. Identify or create several problems that rely on applications of different but related concepts that you have covered. Have at least 5 or 6 problems, and up to 10-12 is better.
   1. A classic example is to have a set of very brief descriptions of different experiments and have students identify the most appropriate basic statistical test, e.g. one-tailed t-test, two-tailed t-test, paired t-test, z-test, ANOVA, etc.
2. Place the problems in a simple two-column table, problem on the left.
3. In the right column, have students write down the concept that is most applicable to the problem. Students do not solve the problem, they simply identify the underlying problem type.
4. You can quickly go over these in class and have the students explain why they chose what they did. Or, check them later and re-visit areas of confusion in the next class. You can also follow up by having students solve the problems once their underlying principles are identified.

Modification: To make this easier, give a list of concepts to choose from.

Prep Time: No prep time, but plan class time
Response Time: Minimal to some
In a nutshell: At the end of a class period or unit, have students go through the R2SQC2 process. Doing this in class is a good idea but it can be done as homework.

How to do this

Have students take 15-20 minutes in class and go through this process in writing:

1. Recall: Make a list of what you recall as most important from a previous activity, material, or unit. Don’t sneak peeks!
2. Summarize: Summarize the essence of the previous activity, material, or unit.
3. Question: Ask one or two questions that remained unanswered.
4. Review: Now, look back at your materials and see what you missed in your recall, summary, and questions.
5. Connect: Briefly explain the essential points and how they relate to the goals of the class or other things that you’re doing.
6. Comment: Write some notes with this template: “Before, I believed/thought/did____. Now, I ________. This is because___.”

To respond, summarize responses from 5 & 6 and share with the students. Also, answer some of the good questions from 4.

Prep Time: Ample time must be planned into class agenda
Response Time: None outside of class
In a nutshell: Class time is dedicated for students to work in pairs on relevant problems. One student is the solver and “talks through”; the other person is the listener and prompter. Instructor is listening and coaching.

How to do this

Have students take 15-20 minutes in class and go through this process in writing:

1. Select or formulate at least two relevant and mid-level challenging problems that students should be able to solve in a reasonable-but-generous amount of class time, e.g. 15 minutes each.
2. Pair students up and have them flip a coin or otherwise select who solves/who listens first.
3. The problem-solver reads the problem out loud and then talks through and writes out the solution, processing both out loud and on paper. Mistakes and tangents are not only allowable but desirable. The listener follows the steps and helps to catch errors and asks questions. The listener does NOT offer solutions or correct errors (merely notes errors).
4. Roles switch for the next question.
5. The instructor monitors the room and offers extra coaching if a pair gets stuck. You might collect the solved problems to provide participation points.
6. To follow up, offer at minimum the correct answer to each problem, plus a full solution to a SIMILAR but not identical problem.

Prep Time: On the fly
Response Time: Minimal
In a nutshell: You pose a question. Students think and make notes on their own, then talk to a classmate. Responses are shared out with the class. You can do this any time during a class period.

How to do this

Have students take 15-20 minutes in class and go through this process in writing:

1. Formulate a question relevant to what you’ve just covered, and put it up on the board or Powerpoint.
2. Ask students to think about a response and scribble some notes for themselves.
3. Students then turn to the person next to them and talk, possibly coming to some agreement.
4. Ask a few pairs to share with the class.
5. Correct any misconceptions or respond to major ideas.