March 25, 2008

Use collaborative learning activities as class assignments that are later shared in class. For example, Dr. Jay Gould (Psychology) uses the following active-learning exercise in Experimental Psychology (EXP 3082): After reading about research ethics and discussing this topic in class, students are required to work in pairs to prepare a “Code of Ethics for Psychology Researchers.“  The printed codes of ethics are then posted in the hallway (without names) for all students in the class to review and then vote on the best one other than their own.  Extra credit is given to the three pairs of students whose codes of ethics receive the greatest number of votes.

Thanks to Jay Gould (Psychology), the University of West Florida, for this contribution.

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October 2, 2007

Create small groups for class-related projects. Group work promotes social networking.  Reorganize the groups from time to time to increase the number of contacts between students. Don’t have formal projects in your class? Create small groups for a think-pair-share activity related to class content. Pose a question, allow time for students to think and develop an individual response, pair the students (or create groups of no more than 4 students) to discuss their responses, and have a spokesperson from the groups share their discussion with the class. This is an effective method for active discussion of course content that requires only about 15 minutes of class time.

 

 

06/17/09