1 Setting the tone – Starting class
Why this works
Active learning requires students to interact with each other, the instructor, or the content. Beginning class with low- or no-stakes activities can provide (1) a more comfortable and familiar way for students to break the ice socially to get discussions moving more freely and/or (2) activate and guide students’ prior knowledge of the subject at hand. Investing 5 minutes into an activity at beginning of class can refocus students to the learning environment and establish a participatory tone.
Active learning requires students to interact with each other, the instructor, or the content. Beginning class with low- or no-stakes activities can provide (1) a more comfortable and familiar way for students to break the ice socially to get discussions moving more freely and/or (2) activate and guide students’ prior knowledge of the subject at hand. Investing 5 minutes into an activity at beginning of class can refocus students to the learning environment and establish a participatory tone.
Background Knowledge Check
Determine what students already know about your course, topic, or a chapter/unit, including their misconceptions about it.
- Create a short series of open-ended Discussion questions (make these anonymous), multiple-choice questions, or some combination of the two.
Tips:- Focus questions on specific information or concepts rather than personal or general knowledge.
- Include at least one question that students will likely be able to answer.
- Only use highly specialized vocabulary if it is essential for students’ conceptual knowledge of a subject.
- Display the results and discuss.
Grading
Participation only
Opinion Poll
Gather students’ opinions about a topic or issue.
- Create a Multiple Choice, Word Answer, Click on Target, or Sorting question without indicating a “Correct Answer.”
- Display student responses.
- Debrief/utilize student responses, for example
- Compare class responses to the same question based on national, international, or sub-group and discuss the implications for the alignment or divergence.
- Poll students before discussing a topic and then after to see how their opinions might have changed.
- Prepare students for a discussion about a controversial topic by demonstrating the wide variations of opinions around it.
Grading
Participation only
Who Would Win
A lighthearted way to facilitate meaningful debate (or not).
- Create a Multiple Choice question without indicating a “Correct Answer”.
- In the Question Description box enter: Who would win at [specific activity].
- In the response options, enter two individuals (e.g., book characters, theorists, celebrities).
- Display student responses.
- Ask students to verbally justify their choice.
Grading
Participation only
Mood Meter
Check in with students regarding their emotional state.
- Create a Click on Target question using the mood meter image (below) with no “Correct Answer” and set the question to anonymous.
- Ask students to locate themselves on the mood meter image.
- Summarize the class responses and keep the students’ emotional states in mind as you proceed with class (i.e., if many are low-energy don’t push for a highly conversational class).
Download the mood meter image.
*Mood meter image and supporting resources are from the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence.
Grading
Ungraded. Anonymous questions cannot be assigned points.