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20 Interactive Classroom Activities for College Students [Plus: Free List of 45+ Activities]

Planning to use interactive classroom activities intentionally can really transform the learning dynamic. Here are 20 activities to get you started.

Top Hat Staff

How interactive are your classroom activities? Do you have less energy for class than you used to? Do you find student grades declining? And are the teaching methods you’ve always relied on not working as well as they once did? We spoke to two college instructors, Chris Merlo and Monika Semma. Their strategies for interactive classroom activities will energize your class and get the discussion moving again.

Table of contents

• Why are interactive activities important in college?

6 community-building activities

5 communication activities for college students, 3 motivational activities for college students.

• 6 team-building activities for college students

Interactive classroom activities, in short

Why are interactive classroom activities important.

Merlo, a computer science teacher, says that interactive classroom activities are not new to students, and one main reason why teachers have trouble connecting is that they fail to adapt to their students’ perspectives.

“My six-year-old son doesn’t find iPads amazing; to him, they’ve always just existed. Similarly, to a lot of students today, experiences like team exercises and flipped classrooms, while foreign to many instructors are not new.

“If we care about reaching today’s students, who seem to have a different idea of student responsibilities than we had, perhaps we have to reach them on their terms.

“In my thirties, I could still find a lot of similarities with my twenty-something students. But now, in my forties? Not so much. What I’ve started to realize is that it isn’t just the little things, like whether they’ve seen Ghostbusters. (They haven’t.) It’s the big things, like how they learn.”

Semma, a humanities TA, found that the chalk-and-talk approach failed on her first day in front of a class. “It was a lot like parallel parking in front of 20 people,” she said. “I looked more like a classmate. I dropped the eraser on my face whilst trying to write my name on the board. One of my students called me ‘mom.’”

“I chalked it up to first day jitters, but that same quietness crept its way back into my classroom for the next tutorial, and the next tutorial and the next. While nearly silent in class, my students were rather vocal in the endless stream of emails that flooded my inbox. That way I knew they wanted to learn. I also knew that I had to find a way to make tutorials more engaging.”

From these experiences, Merlo and Semma now share some interactive classroom activities for students and for teachers that can turn a quiet classroom full of people unwilling to speak up to a hive of debate, making the student learning experience more collaborative for everyone.

Energize your college classroom and get discussions flowing. Download The Best Classroom Activities for College Courses to engage and motivate students.

1. Open-ended questions

Chris Merlo: Open-ended questions don’t take any planning. All they take is a class with at least one student who isn’t too shy. I remember a class a few semesters ago that started with nine students. Due to a couple of medical conditions and a job opportunity, three of the students had to drop the semester. The problem was that these three students were the ones I counted on to ask questions and keep the class lively! Once I was left with six introverted people, conversations during class seemed to stop.

By luck, I stumbled on something that got the students talking again. I said, “What has been the most difficult thing about [the project that was due soon]?” This opened the floodgates—students love to complain, especially about us and our demands. This one simple question led to twenty minutes of discussion involving all six students. I wasn’t even sure what a couple of these students’ voices sounded like, but once I gave them an open-ended opportunity to complain about an assignment, they were off to the races. A truly successful classroom activity.

2. What’s wrong with this example?

Chris Merlo: Students also love to find a professor’s mistakes—like me, I’m sure you’ve found this out the hard way. When I teach computer science, I will make up a program that, for instance, performs the wrong arithmetic, and have students find the bug. In a particularly quiet or disengaged class, you can incentivize students with five points on the next exam, or something similar.

If you teach history, you might use flawed examples that change a key person’s name, such as “King Henry VIII (instead of King John) signed the Magna Carta in 1215,” or match a person to an incorrect event: “Gavrilo Princip is considered to have fired the first shot in the Spanish Civil War (instead of World War I).” Beam these examples on the whiteboard, and let the students’ competitiveness drive them to get the right answer before their classmates.

3. Let students critique each other

Chris Merlo: This can go badly if you don’t set some ground rules for civility, but done well, classroom activities like this really help open up collaborative learning. One of my colleagues devised a great exercise: First, give students about half of their class time to write instructions that an imaginary robot can understand to draw a recognizable picture, like a corporate logo, without telling students what will happen later. Then assign each student’s instructions to a randomly chosen classmate, and have the classmate pretend to be the robot, attempting to follow the instructions and draw the same logo.

After a few minutes, introduce a specific student who can share their results with the class, then ask their partner to share the initial instructions. This method gives students a chance to communicate with each other (“That’s not what I meant!”) and laugh and bond, while learning an important lesson.

This exercise teaches computer science students the difficulty and importance of writing clear instructions. I have seen this exercise not only teach pairs of such students meaningful lessons but encourage friendships that extended beyond my classroom.

Get students participating with these 45 classroom activities

4. Pass the “mic”

Monika Semma: As an instructor, it’s amazing how much information you can gather from a student-centered review session. Specifically, if you leave the review in the hands of your students, you can get an easy and thorough assessment of what is being absorbed, and what is being left by the wayside. The more you encourage participation, the more you’ll see where your class is struggling and the more comfortable students will become with course material. Here’s how to transform a standard review into one of your more popular classroom activities:

• A week before the review, ask students to email you two to five key terms or theories that they feel they need to brush up on. Take all that data and compress it until you have a solid working list of what students want to review most.
• In class, provide students with visual access to the list (I found writing all the terms on a chalkboard to be most effective). Instruct the class to have their notes out in front of them, with a pad of paper or blank Word document at their fingertips, and encourage them to take notes as the review is in progress.
• A trinket of sorts (I highly recommend a plush ball), used as a “microphone,” helps to give students equal opportunity to direct the review without putting individuals on the spot too aggressively. The rules are simple: she or he who holds the “mic” can pick one term from the list and using their notes, can offer up what they already know about the term or concept, what they are unsure of, or what they need more elaboration on.
• Actively listen to the speaker and give them some positive cues if they seem unsure; it’s okay to help them along the way, but important to step back and let this review remain student-centered. Once the speaker has said their piece, open the floor to the rest of the class for questions or additional comments. If you find that the discussion has taken a departure from the right direction, re-center the class and provide further elaboration if need be.
• Erase each term discussed from the list as you go, and have the speaker pass (or throw) on the “mic” to a fellow classmate, and keep tossing the ball around after each concept/term is discussed.

Students will have a tendency to pick the terms that they are most comfortable speaking about and those left consistently untouched will give you a clear assessment of the subjects in which your class is struggling, and where comprehension is lacking. Once your class has narrowed down the list to just a few terms, you can switch gears into a more classic review session. Bringing a bit of interaction and fun into a review can help loosen things up during exam time, when students and teachers alike are really starting to feel the pressure.

5. Use YouTube for classroom activities

Monika Semma: Do you remember the pure and utter joy you felt upon seeing your professor wheel in the giant VHS machine into class? Technology has certainly changed—but the awesome powers of visual media have not. Making your students smile can be a difficult task, but by channeling your inner Bill Nye the Science Guy you can make university learning fun again.

A large part of meaningful learning is finding interactive classroom activities that are relevant to daily life—and I can think of no technology more relevant to current students than YouTube.

A crafty YouTube search can yield a video relevant to almost anything in your curriculum and paired with an essay or academic journal, a slightly silly video can go a long way in helping your students contextualize what they are learning.

Even if your comedic attempts plunge into failure, at the very least, a short clip will get the class discussion ball rolling. Watch the video as a class and then break up into smaller groups to discuss it. Get your students thinking about how the clip they are shown pairs with the primary sources they’ve already read.

6. Close reading

Monika Semma: In the humanities, we all know the benefits of close reading activities—they get classroom discussion rolling and students engaging with the material and open up the floor for social and combination learners to shine. “Close reading” is a learning technique in which students are asked to conduct a detailed analysis or interpretation of a small piece of text. It is particularly effective in getting students to move away from the general and engage more with specific details or ideas.

If you’re introducing new and complex material to your class, or if you feel as though your students are struggling with an equation, theory, or concept; giving them the opportunity to break it down into smaller and more concrete parts for further evaluation will help to enhance their understanding of the material as a whole.

And while this technique is often employed in the humanities, classroom activities like this can be easily transferred to any discipline. A physics student will benefit from having an opportunity to break down a complicated equation in the same way that a biology student can better understand a cell by looking at it through a microscope.

In any case, evaluating what kinds of textbooks, lesson plans and pedagogy we are asking our students to connect with is always a good idea.

Brainwriting

Group size: 10 students (minimum)

Course type: Online (synchronous), in-person

This activity helps build rapport and respect in your classroom. After you tackle a complex lecture topic, give students time to individually reflect on their learnings. This can be accomplished through guided prompts or left as an open-ended exercise. Once students have gathered their thoughts, encourage them to share their views either through an online discussion thread or a conversation with peers during class time.

Concept mapping

Collaborative concept mapping is the process of visually organizing concepts and ideas and understanding how they relate to each other. This exercise is a great way for students to look outside of their individual experiences and perspectives. Groups can use this tactic to review previous work or to help them map ideas for projects and assignments. For in-person classes, you can ask students to cover classroom walls with sticky notes and chart paper. For online classes, there are many online tools that make it simple to map out connections between ideas, like Google Docs or the digital whiteboard feature in Zoom.

Group size: Groups of 5–10 students 

Propose a topic or issue to your class. Group students together (or in breakout rooms if you’re teaching remotely) according to the position they take on the specific issue. Ask the groups of students to come up with a few arguments or examples to support their position. Write each group’s statements on the virtual whiteboard and use these as a starting point for discussion. A natural next step is to debate the strengths and weaknesses of each argument, to help students improve their critical thinking and analysis skills. 

Make learning active with these 45 interactive classroom activities

Compare and contrast

Group size: Groups of 5–10 students

Ask your students to focus on a specific chapter in your textbook. Then, place them in groups and ask them to make connections and identify differences between ideas that can be found in course readings and other articles and videos they may find. This way, they can compare their ideas in small groups and learn from one another’s perspectives. In online real-time classes, instructors can use Zoom breakout rooms to put students in small groups.

Assess/diagnose/act

This activity will improve students’ problem-solving skills and can help engage them in more dynamic discussions. Start by proposing a topic or controversial statement. Then follow these steps to get conversations going. In online classes, students can either raise their hands virtually or use an online discussion forum to engage with their peers. 

• Assessment: What is the issue or problem at hand?
• Diagnosis: What is the root cause of this issue or problem?
• Action: How can we solve the issue?

Moral dilemmas

Group size: Groups of 3–7 students 

Provide students with a moral or ethical dilemma, using a hypothetical situation or a real-world situation. Then ask them to explore potential solutions as a group. This activity encourages students to think outside the box to develop creative solutions to the problem. In online learning environments, students can use discussion threads or Zoom breakout rooms.

Conversation stations

Group size: Groups of 4–6 students 

Course type: In-person

This activity exposes students’ ideas in a controlled way, prompting discussions that flow naturally. To start, share a list of discussion questions pertaining to a course reading, video or case study. Put students into groups and give them five-to-ten minutes to discuss, then have two students rotate to another group. The students who have just joined a group have an opportunity to share findings from their last discussion, before answering the second question with their new group. After another five-to-ten minutes, the students who haven’t rotated yet will join a new group.

This or that

Course type: Online (synchronous or asynchronous), in-person

This activity allows students to see where their peers stand on a variety of different topics and issues. Instructors should distribute a list of provocative statements before class, allowing students to read ahead. Then, they can ask students to indicate whether they agree, disagree or are neutral on the topic in advance, using an online discussion thread or Google Doc. In class, use another discussion thread or live chat to have students of differing opinions share their views. After a few minutes, encourage one or two members in each group to defend their position amongst a new group of students. Ask students to repeat this process for several rounds to help familiarize themselves with a variety of standpoints.

6 team-building classroom activities for college students

Snowball discussions  .

Group size: 2–4 students per group

Assign students a case study or worksheet to discuss with a partner, then have them share their thoughts with the larger group. Use breakout rooms in Zoom and randomly assign students in pairs with a discussion question. After a few minutes, combine rooms to form groups of four. After another five minutes, combine groups of four to become a larger group of eight—and so on until the whole class is back together again.

Make it personal

Group size: Groups of 2–8 students

After you’ve covered a topic or concept in your lecture, divide students into small discussion groups (or breakout rooms online). Ask the groups questions like “How did this impact your prior knowledge of the topic?” or “What was your initial reaction to this source/article/fact?” to encourage students to reflect on their personal connections to the course concepts they are learning.

Philosophical chairs

Group size: 20–25 students (maximum)

A statement that has two possible responses—agree or disagree—is read out loud. Depending on whether they agree or disagree with this statement, students move to one side of the room or the other. After everyone has chosen a side, ask one or two students on each side to take turns defending their positions. This allows students to visualize where their peers’ opinions come from, relative to their own.

Get more interactive classroom activities here

Affinity mapping

Group size: Groups of 3–8 students 

Course type: Online (synchronous)

Place students in small groups (or virtual breakout rooms) and pose a broad question or problem to them that is likely to result in lots of different ideas, such as “What was the greatest innovation of the 21st century?” or “How would society be different if  _____ never occurred?” Ask students to generate responses by writing ideas on pieces of paper (one idea per page) or in a discussion thread (if you’re teaching online). Once lots of ideas have been generated, have students begin grouping their ideas into similar categories, then label the categories and discuss why the ideas fit within them, how the categories relate to one another and so on. This allows students to engage in higher-level thinking by analyzing ideas and organizing them in relation to one another. 

Socratic seminar

Group size: 20 students (minimum)

Ask students to prepare for a discussion by reviewing a course reading or group of texts and coming up with a few higher-order discussion questions about the text. In class, pose an introductory, open-ended question. From there, students continue the conversation, prompting one another to support their claims with evidence from previous course concepts or texts. There doesn’t need to be a particular order to how students speak, but they are encouraged to respectfully share the floor with their peers.

Concentric circles

Group size: 20 students (maximum)

Students form two circles: an inner circle and an outer circle. Each student on the inside is paired with a student on the outside; they face each other. Pose a question to the whole group and have pairs discuss their responses with each other. After three-to-five minutes, have students on the outside circle move one space to the right so they are standing in front of a new person. Pose a new question, and the process is repeated, exposing students to the different perspectives of their peers.

Making your classes more interactive should help your students want to come to class and take part in it. Giving them a more active role will give them a sense of ownership, and this can lead to students taking more pride in their work and responsibility for their grades.

Use these 45 classroom activities in your course to keep students engaged

A more interactive class can also make things easier for you—the more work students do in class, the less you have to do. Even two minutes of not talking can re-energize you for the rest of the class.

Plus, these six methods outlined above don’t require any large-scale changes to your class prep. Set up a couple of activities in advance here and there, to support what you’ve been doing, and plan which portion of your class will feature them.

The reality remains that sometimes, students do have to be taught subject matter that is anything but exciting. That doesn’t mean that we can’t make it more enjoyable to teach or learn. It may not be possible to incorporate classroom activities into every lecture, but finding some room for these approaches can go a long way in facilitating a positive learning environment.

And let’s not forget, sometimes even an educator needs a brief departure from the everyday-ordinary-sit-and-listen-to-me-lecture regimen.

Recommended Readings

25 Effective Instructional Strategies For Educators

The Complete Guide to Effective Online Teaching

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73 ESL Writing Activities

From a student’s point of view, writing assignments are something to dread.

But from an ESL teacher’s point of view, they should be a challenge worth accepting.

The challenge for you is to motivate your students enough to actually be excited about writing.

Sounds impossible? It’s actually quite simple.

The key is a strong pre-writing activity that boosts their confidence and adds to their vocabulary at the same time.

So, how do you get your students’ writing off to a great start?

In this post, we’ll look at some different ESL writing activities that will transform your students from hesitant writers to confident wordsmiths in their own right.

Writing Assignments Based on Stories

Writing activities prompted by music, writing practice exercises based on images or pictures, writing assignments based on food, writing activities based on mysteries, exercises to practice writing emails, activities to practice writing advertisements, assignments to practice writing reports, creative writing activity: class newsletter/newspaper.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

People of all ages love a well-told story, and using stories to teach ESL is a sure winner.

A story for a pre-writing activity could be in the form of:

• A  movie . It could be a biography, sci-fi film, thriller, action-packed adventure, fairy tale or even a cartoon.
• A  story read aloud from a book. If you’re using this, read in a way that brings the characters’ voices to life (including the narrator’s), hold the book up to show any pictures within or scan them and project onto a screen as you read. You can also search YouTube videos of famous authors or celebrities reading a book aloud, and show these in class.
• A  story from the news . It could be from the TV, radio, newspaper or an online news site .
• A story read by your students. In this case, you could let them read a story silently or with a partner, and take as long as they like to think about the important parts.

No matter what you choose, it’ll be a great lead-in to the ESL writing exercises below.

1. Re-tell the story as is, or summarize it. (This works best for beginners, who are still getting their feet wet in the waters of English comprehension.)

2. After watching “Finding Nemo” : Tell the story from the point of view of the whale, the dentist’s daughter or Bruce the shark.

3. Explain to Marlin how he should take care of Nemo better.

4. Make up a story about a farm animal/zoo animal/jungle animal. What if a baby ___ was lost? What if a child was lost in the city? What if you found a lost child?

5. After the story of “Goldilocks” : Tell the story from the baby bear’s point of view.

6. What if the baby bear and Goldilocks became best buds? What would happen?

7. After discussing “The Gingerbread Man” : Tell the story from the fox’s or gingerbread man’s point of view.

8. What did the old woman do wrong that made the gingerbread man run away?

9. How do you make a gingerbread man? What other shapes could be made instead?

10. After “Little Red Riding Hood” : Write the story in the first person—from the point of view of either Red Riding Hood or the wolf.

11. What should Red Riding Hood have done when she met the wolf?

12. After watching a “Lord of the Rings” movie: What would you do if you had the One Ring? Write about a magical quest you and several friends would have if you could.

13. After watching a “Pirates of the Caribbean”  movie: What if you were a pirate? What adventures would you have if you were a pirate?

14. After watching “Titanic” : Write about what you discover when you dive onto the wreck. Or imagine you were on the ship when it sank, and talk about how you escaped.

15. Whose fault was it that so many people drowned on the Titanic? What should they have done?

16. After watching a “Star Wars”  movie: Imagine you’re a space explorer and write about what happens when you meet some characters from “Star Wars.”

17. After watching a “Terminator”  movie: Imagine your teacher is a robot that has come back from the future. Or imagine you have come back from the future—what would it be like?

18. After watching a “Harry Potter” movie: Make up some magic spells and explain how you’d use them.

Everybody loves music! Watch your students’ faces light up as soon as they realize that they’re about to be treated to some songs rather than chalk-and-talk. Music stirs the emotions, after all, and can get your students excited about writing.

Here are some ideas for music you can incorporate into ESL writing activities:

• Classical music. There are some pieces of well-known classical music that specifically tell a story , and many of these are available on YouTube.
• “Fantasia 2000,” particularly “Rhapsody in Blue.” This wonderful, wordless animated story can kick off so much great writing!
• Movie music. The music that goes with a movie tells watchers how they should be feeling, and could be a good jumping-off point for some writing.
• Popular songs and music. Self-explanatory. Check out the most popular or trending artists on YouTube or Spotify for ideas.
• Kids’ songs . There’s something about singing a catchy little tune that makes the words stick in your mind more than just saying them. These can lead to some interesting writing, too.

19. After Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf” : Tell the story from Peter’s point of view.

20. After Saint-Saëns’ “The Carnival of the Animals” : Imagine walking through the scenes with the animals and interacting with them. Write a story from the point of view of one of the animals.

21. Describe the animals in “The Carnival of the Animals.”

22. After Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet” : Re-tell this classic Shakespeare story, adding a twist.

23. After watching and listening to “Rhapsody in Blue” : Tell all/part of the story.

24. If you were the main character in “Rhapsody in Blue,” what would you do?

25. Listen to a piece of classical/instrumental music and tell the story that it might be a background to. Imagine that it’s the background music for a movie.

26. Tell the story (real or made up) behind some popular songs like Taylor Swift’s “Wildest Dreams.”

27. Describe meeting someone special like in the aforementioned Taylor Swift song.

28. What happens in your wildest dreams?

29. What if you were a famous pop star or musician? What would it be like? What would you do?

30. Give instructions on how to find your favorite song on the Internet, both music and lyrics.

31. If you play an instrument, or have a relative who plays one, write about some of the basics of how to play. (This could also work as a speaking and listening activity, and then the whole class could write about it.)

32. What is your favorite genre of music, and why? (Be sure to explain what “genre” means !)

33. Do you think young children should be allowed to freely watch music videos?

Some pictures you can use for ESL writing activities include:

• Pictures from social media. If you use social media at all, you doubtless have a barrage of amazing photos and videos on your feed, all of which make for excellent writing prompts.
• Pictures from Google Images . A quick Google search on any (classroom-safe) image will turn up plenty.
• Cartoons . If you have young students, they’ll definitely enjoy this one.
• Pictures selected by your students. Not sure what to choose? Have your students pick their own pictures to write about. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how vibrant their writing can be when they’re writing about subjects they actually care about.

Regardless of the picture you (or your students) choose, here are some writing prompts you can consider.

34. Tell a story—real or imagined—of what is happening in the picture.

35. Write about what happens next from the pictured moment.

36. Write about what was happening just before the pictured incident.

37. What if that was you in the picture?

38. What if you were the person who took the picture?

39. What if you knew the people in the picture? What would you say to them?

40. Describe all of the elements in the picture. This is great for vocabulary practice.

41. Describe how someone in the picture might be feeling.

42. Explain how to get into  a pictured predicament (for example, in the picture here , how did he get into the boat without the crocodile eating him?) as well as how to get out of it.

43. Express an opinion about the rights and wrongs of the pictured situation. For example, for the same picture above: Should crocodiles be hunted and killed? What should happen if a crocodile kills someone?

Many of your students likely enjoy thinking and talking about food. So why wouldn’t they be motivated to write about it?

How you integrate food into your ESL writing assignments depends on your classroom arrangements and the amount of time you’re willing to put into preparation.

In any case, here are some ideas:

• Start with the preparation and sharing of food before writing about it.
• Look at pictures of food, and talk about them before moving on to writing.
• Have students research food-related topics on the internet.
• Start with a story about food.

Here are the specific food writing prompts:

44. After the story of “The Gingerbread Man”: Think about food that develops a life of its own, and what would happen with it. (This can also open up a discussion about cultural foods.) For example, make up a similar story about another piece of food (e.g., spaghetti or rice that comes alive). What if you felt something moving in your mouth after you bit into your burger?

45. Write a story (real or imagined) about being very hungry and/or finding/buying/stealing food to meet a desperate need.

46. Write a story about trying a new, unfamiliar kind of food—maybe in a (relevant) cross-cultural setting.

47. Write a story about finding and eating a food that has magical properties. (Maybe read or watch some or all of “Alice in Wonderland”  first.)

48. Describe interesting/disgusting/unusual/delicious/colorful foods, especially after a class tasting lesson. (Prepare students first with suitable taste vocabulary .)

49. Describe a food that’s unfamiliar to most students in the class. (This is particularly helpful for classes where there are students belonging to minority groups who hesitate to speak up.)

50. Describe an imaginary magical food.

51. Give instructions for preparing a particular recipe.

52. After a class activity or demonstration involving food: Write down what you have learned.

53. Give instructions for producing food—growing vegetables, keeping animals, etc.

54. Give instructions for buying the best food—what to look for, looking at labels, checking prices and the like.

55. Write about your opinion on food and health in First World and Third World countries. (Explain what makes a country “First,” “Second” or “Third World” first.)

56. Write about your opinion on the cost of food.

57. Write about your opinion on GMOs or genetically engineered foods .

There’s nothing quite like a good “whodunnit,” and students will always enjoy a good puzzle. You can base various pre-writing activities around the two games below to get the class warmed up for ESL writing practice.

• Conundrum. This is an example of a game that can be played as a speaking and listening activity, and can lead into some good writing. The game starts with a simple statement or description of a situation like the ones described in situation puzzles . Students ask questions and receive yes/no answers until they work out the explanation for the situation.

After Conundrum, here are some of the activities your students can do:

58. Write a story about the sequence of events involved in a situation brought up in the game.

59. Devise and describe your own situation puzzle.

• Putting their hands inside a cloth bag (or just feeling the outside) to guess what an object is.
• Smelling substances in opaque jars with perforated lids, and trying to guess what they are.
• Tasting mystery foods on plastic spoons (with blindfolds).
• Looking at pictures of mysterious objects from obscure angles.
• Listening to and guessing the origins of sound effects. (You can record your own, or use some from the Internet .)

(Important: Make sure that whatever you’re using for your guessing game is safe for your students, especially if they involve having to touch, taste or smell the object.)

After a guessing game, your students can:

60. Write about a possible mystery object and a magical quality it could possess.

61. Describe what you thought you saw, heard, felt, tasted or smelled.

For both games, here are some writing prompts you can do:

62. Give instructions for playing one of the games.

63. Give instructions for the perfect crime.

64. Give your opinion about a recent crime and the punishment for it.

Emailing can often be a scary task for your students, especially if they’re using a new, strange language like English. You can utilize an email writing activity to help your students build confidence and get more comfortable writing in English.

Email can also teach your students things like proper language (formal or informal), structure and format. Email-related writing activities for ESL students can offer ample opportunities to teach all of these three aspects.

Since emails involve two parties (the sender and the receiver), you’ll need to pair your students up for this activity. Here’s how to prepare for it:

• Create one set of worksheets explaining details relevant to the sender. For example, it could contain information about a sender’s upcoming birthday party that they want to invite the receiver to.
• Create another set of worksheets with the receiver’s details. The worksheets could contain questions about food dishes or gifts, or it could say that the receiver can’t make it for one reason or other.

Once the above has been done, give one set of worksheets to the “senders” and the other to the “receivers.” Then, here’s what your students will do:

65. Based on the senders’ worksheets, write an email inviting the receiver and explaining the key aspects of the event featured in the worksheet.

66. Based on the receivers’ worksheets, write an email explaining why you can or cannot make it to the party, and/or what other information you need about the event.

Advertisements are everywhere, and you can bet that your students have a few favorite ads of their own. Advertisement-related writing activities work across age groups and can be adapted to most students and their needs.

This great ESL writing assignment can help your students put the adjectives they’ve learned into good use, as well as showcase their creative writing and persuasion skills.

You can find advertisements everywhere, including:

• YouTube videos
• Newspapers and magazines

You can also bring an object (or handful of objects) to class that your students can write ads about.

67. After your students carefully examine the object(s) you brought into class: Write all the adjectives you can think of about it.

68. For a more challenging writing exercise: Write an ad about the object. How would you persuade someone who knows nothing about the object whatsoever to buy it? (Your students may or may not use the adjectives they wrote down earlier. Encourage them to be creative!)

Your students have likely already done some kind of report during the course of their studies. Also, writing reports is a skill that’ll be useful to them once they enter college or the corporate world (if they aren’t in it already). If you feel that they need a little more practice in this area, use this ESL writing assignment.

First, discuss how research and structure matter to reports—and perhaps show them a few samples. Then, give them a few questions to base their reports on, like:

69. What can you say about (insert topic here) in terms of (insert specific angle here)? (For example, “What can you say about the government’s efforts to improve the local park in terms of its impact on the general public?” Of course, you should adapt this question to the level of your students.)

70. After talking about a YouTube video on bears eating salmon : What would happen to the bears if the salmon ran out? 

This ESL writing activity is a bit more intensive and will allow your students to employ many different aspects of their ESL knowledge. Crafting a class newsletter will build collaboration, communication, listening, speaking and, of course, writing skills. If they’re not sure how to build a newsletter or newspaper from scratch, they can always swipe from premade templates like this one .

The newsletter/newspaper can follow a specific theme, or the articles can consist of a hodgepodge of random topics based on questions like:

71. What is the most interesting thing that happened in school this year? It can be the funniest/scariest/most heartwarming incident. Write a feature article about it. (Make sure to explain what a “feature article” is .)

72. Write a report highlighting the key events in some recent local festivals or concerts.

73. Going off of the last exercise, write an ad inviting the reader to buy a product or attend an event.

Once all of the articles are done, you can start putting them together. Make sure to walk your students through these newspaper layout tips . And when the newsletter/newspaper is finally published and circulated out there for the world to see, remember to congratulate your students for a job well done!

No matter what writing assignments you choose, make sure to keep the excitement level high so that your students are enthusiastic for your next writing session.

Whether they write by hand or type on a computer, remember to encourage them as much as you can by focusing on the good points rather than just running all over their mistakes with a red pen.

Lastly, find ways for them to share their efforts—whether online, on the classroom wall, bound together in a book to be passed around, etc.

They can also read aloud to each other, share with their parents and siblings and even share with other classes!

For more ESL assignment ideas, check out this post: 

Great ESL homework ideas can be difficult to come up with. So check out these 13 great ideas for ESL homework assignments that your students will love. Not only are they…

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Teaching, Learning, & Professional Development Center

• Teaching Resources
• TLPDC Teaching Resources

How Do I Create Meaningful and Effective Assignments?

Prepared by allison boye, ph.d. teaching, learning, and professional development center.

Assessment is a necessary part of the teaching and learning process, helping us measure whether our students have really learned what we want them to learn. While exams and quizzes are certainly favorite and useful methods of assessment, out of class assignments (written or otherwise) can offer similar insights into our students' learning.  And just as creating a reliable test takes thoughtfulness and skill, so does creating meaningful and effective assignments. Undoubtedly, many instructors have been on the receiving end of disappointing student work, left wondering what went wrong… and often, those problems can be remedied in the future by some simple fine-tuning of the original assignment.  This paper will take a look at some important elements to consider when developing assignments, and offer some easy approaches to creating a valuable assessment experience for all involved.

First Things First…

Before assigning any major tasks to students, it is imperative that you first define a few things for yourself as the instructor:

• Your goals for the assignment . Why are you assigning this project, and what do you hope your students will gain from completing it? What knowledge, skills, and abilities do you aim to measure with this assignment?  Creating assignments is a major part of overall course design, and every project you assign should clearly align with your goals for the course in general.  For instance, if you want your students to demonstrate critical thinking, perhaps asking them to simply summarize an article is not the best match for that goal; a more appropriate option might be to ask for an analysis of a controversial issue in the discipline. Ultimately, the connection between the assignment and its purpose should be clear to both you and your students to ensure that it is fulfilling the desired goals and doesn't seem like “busy work.” For some ideas about what kinds of assignments match certain learning goals, take a look at this page from DePaul University's Teaching Commons.
• Have they experienced “socialization” in the culture of your discipline (Flaxman, 2005)? Are they familiar with any conventions you might want them to know? In other words, do they know the “language” of your discipline, generally accepted style guidelines, or research protocols?
• Do they know how to conduct research?  Do they know the proper style format, documentation style, acceptable resources, etc.? Do they know how to use the library (Fitzpatrick, 1989) or evaluate resources?
• What kinds of writing or work have they previously engaged in?  For instance, have they completed long, formal writing assignments or research projects before? Have they ever engaged in analysis, reflection, or argumentation? Have they completed group assignments before?  Do they know how to write a literature review or scientific report?

In his book Engaging Ideas (1996), John Bean provides a great list of questions to help instructors focus on their main teaching goals when creating an assignment (p.78):

1. What are the main units/modules in my course?

2. What are my main learning objectives for each module and for the course?

3. What thinking skills am I trying to develop within each unit and throughout the course?

4. What are the most difficult aspects of my course for students?

5. If I could change my students' study habits, what would I most like to change?

6. What difference do I want my course to make in my students' lives?

What your students need to know

Once you have determined your own goals for the assignment and the levels of your students, you can begin creating your assignment.  However, when introducing your assignment to your students, there are several things you will need to clearly outline for them in order to ensure the most successful assignments possible.

• First, you will need to articulate the purpose of the assignment . Even though you know why the assignment is important and what it is meant to accomplish, you cannot assume that your students will intuit that purpose. Your students will appreciate an understanding of how the assignment fits into the larger goals of the course and what they will learn from the process (Hass & Osborn, 2007). Being transparent with your students and explaining why you are asking them to complete a given assignment can ultimately help motivate them to complete the assignment more thoughtfully.
• If you are asking your students to complete a writing assignment, you should define for them the “rhetorical or cognitive mode/s” you want them to employ in their writing (Flaxman, 2005). In other words, use precise verbs that communicate whether you are asking them to analyze, argue, describe, inform, etc.  (Verbs like “explore” or “comment on” can be too vague and cause confusion.) Provide them with a specific task to complete, such as a problem to solve, a question to answer, or an argument to support.  For those who want assignments to lead to top-down, thesis-driven writing, John Bean (1996) suggests presenting a proposition that students must defend or refute, or a problem that demands a thesis answer.
• It is also a good idea to define the audience you want your students to address with their assignment, if possible – especially with writing assignments.  Otherwise, students will address only the instructor, often assuming little requires explanation or development (Hedengren, 2004; MIT, 1999). Further, asking students to address the instructor, who typically knows more about the topic than the student, places the student in an unnatural rhetorical position.  Instead, you might consider asking your students to prepare their assignments for alternative audiences such as other students who missed last week's classes, a group that opposes their position, or people reading a popular magazine or newspaper.  In fact, a study by Bean (1996) indicated the students often appreciate and enjoy assignments that vary elements such as audience or rhetorical context, so don't be afraid to get creative!
• Obviously, you will also need to articulate clearly the logistics or “business aspects” of the assignment . In other words, be explicit with your students about required elements such as the format, length, documentation style, writing style (formal or informal?), and deadlines.  One caveat, however: do not allow the logistics of the paper take precedence over the content in your assignment description; if you spend all of your time describing these things, students might suspect that is all you care about in their execution of the assignment.
• Finally, you should clarify your evaluation criteria for the assignment. What elements of content are most important? Will you grade holistically or weight features separately? How much weight will be given to individual elements, etc?  Another precaution to take when defining requirements for your students is to take care that your instructions and rubric also do not overshadow the content; prescribing too rigidly each element of an assignment can limit students' freedom to explore and discover. According to Beth Finch Hedengren, “A good assignment provides the purpose and guidelines… without dictating exactly what to say” (2004, p. 27).  If you decide to utilize a grading rubric, be sure to provide that to the students along with the assignment description, prior to their completion of the assignment.

A great way to get students engaged with an assignment and build buy-in is to encourage their collaboration on its design and/or on the grading criteria (Hudd, 2003). In his article “Conducting Writing Assignments,” Richard Leahy (2002) offers a few ideas for building in said collaboration:

• Ask the students to develop the grading scale themselves from scratch, starting with choosing the categories.

• Set the grading categories yourself, but ask the students to help write the descriptions.

• Draft the complete grading scale yourself, then give it to your students for review and suggestions.

A Few Do's and Don'ts…

Determining your goals for the assignment and its essential logistics is a good start to creating an effective assignment. However, there are a few more simple factors to consider in your final design. First, here are a few things you should do :

• Do provide detail in your assignment description . Research has shown that students frequently prefer some guiding constraints when completing assignments (Bean, 1996), and that more detail (within reason) can lead to more successful student responses.  One idea is to provide students with physical assignment handouts , in addition to or instead of a simple description in a syllabus.  This can meet the needs of concrete learners and give them something tangible to refer to.  Likewise, it is often beneficial to make explicit for students the process or steps necessary to complete an assignment, given that students – especially younger ones – might need guidance in planning and time management (MIT, 1999).
• Do use open-ended questions.  The most effective and challenging assignments focus on questions that lead students to thinking and explaining, rather than simple yes or no answers, whether explicitly part of the assignment description or in the  brainstorming heuristics (Gardner, 2005).
• Do direct students to appropriate available resources . Giving students pointers about other venues for assistance can help them get started on the right track independently. These kinds of suggestions might include information about campus resources such as the University Writing Center or discipline-specific librarians, suggesting specific journals or books, or even sections of their textbook, or providing them with lists of research ideas or links to acceptable websites.
• Do consider providing models – both successful and unsuccessful models (Miller, 2007). These models could be provided by past students, or models you have created yourself.  You could even ask students to evaluate the models themselves using the determined evaluation criteria, helping them to visualize the final product, think critically about how to complete the assignment, and ideally, recognize success in their own work.
• Do consider including a way for students to make the assignment their own. In their study, Hass and Osborn (2007) confirmed the importance of personal engagement for students when completing an assignment.  Indeed, students will be more engaged in an assignment if it is personally meaningful, practical, or purposeful beyond the classroom.  You might think of ways to encourage students to tap into their own experiences or curiosities, to solve or explore a real problem, or connect to the larger community.  Offering variety in assignment selection can also help students feel more individualized, creative, and in control.
• If your assignment is substantial or long, do consider sequencing it. Far too often, assignments are given as one-shot final products that receive grades at the end of the semester, eternally abandoned by the student.  By sequencing a large assignment, or essentially breaking it down into a systematic approach consisting of interconnected smaller elements (such as a project proposal, an annotated bibliography, or a rough draft, or a series of mini-assignments related to the longer assignment), you can encourage thoughtfulness, complexity, and thoroughness in your students, as well as emphasize process over final product.

Next are a few elements to avoid in your assignments:

• Do not ask too many questions in your assignment.  In an effort to challenge students, instructors often err in the other direction, asking more questions than students can reasonably address in a single assignment without losing focus. Offering an overly specific “checklist” prompt often leads to externally organized papers, in which inexperienced students “slavishly follow the checklist instead of integrating their ideas into more organically-discovered structure” (Flaxman, 2005).
• Do not expect or suggest that there is an “ideal” response to the assignment. A common error for instructors is to dictate content of an assignment too rigidly, or to imply that there is a single correct response or a specific conclusion to reach, either explicitly or implicitly (Flaxman, 2005). Undoubtedly, students do not appreciate feeling as if they must read an instructor's mind to complete an assignment successfully, or that their own ideas have nowhere to go, and can lose motivation as a result. Similarly, avoid assignments that simply ask for regurgitation (Miller, 2007). Again, the best assignments invite students to engage in critical thinking, not just reproduce lectures or readings.
• Do not provide vague or confusing commands . Do students know what you mean when they are asked to “examine” or “discuss” a topic? Return to what you determined about your students' experiences and levels to help you decide what directions will make the most sense to them and what will require more explanation or guidance, and avoid verbiage that might confound them.
• Do not impose impossible time restraints or require the use of insufficient resources for completion of the assignment.  For instance, if you are asking all of your students to use the same resource, ensure that there are enough copies available for all students to access – or at least put one copy on reserve in the library. Likewise, make sure that you are providing your students with ample time to locate resources and effectively complete the assignment (Fitzpatrick, 1989).

The assignments we give to students don't simply have to be research papers or reports. There are many options for effective yet creative ways to assess your students' learning! Here are just a few:

Journals, Posters, Portfolios, Letters, Brochures, Management plans, Editorials, Instruction Manuals, Imitations of a text, Case studies, Debates, News release, Dialogues, Videos, Collages, Plays, Power Point presentations

Ultimately, the success of student responses to an assignment often rests on the instructor's deliberate design of the assignment. By being purposeful and thoughtful from the beginning, you can ensure that your assignments will not only serve as effective assessment methods, but also engage and delight your students. If you would like further help in constructing or revising an assignment, the Teaching, Learning, and Professional Development Center is glad to offer individual consultations. In addition, look into some of the resources provided below.

Online Resources

“Creating Effective Assignments” http://www.unh.edu/teaching-excellence/resources/Assignments.htm This site, from the University of New Hampshire's Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning,  provides a brief overview of effective assignment design, with a focus on determining and communicating goals and expectations.

Gardner, T.  (2005, June 12). Ten Tips for Designing Writing Assignments. Traci's Lists of Ten. http://www.tengrrl.com/tens/034.shtml This is a brief yet useful list of tips for assignment design, prepared by a writing teacher and curriculum developer for the National Council of Teachers of English .  The website will also link you to several other lists of “ten tips” related to literacy pedagogy.

“How to Create Effective Assignments for College Students.”  http:// tilt.colostate.edu/retreat/2011/zimmerman.pdf     This PDF is a simplified bulleted list, prepared by Dr. Toni Zimmerman from Colorado State University, offering some helpful ideas for coming up with creative assignments.

“Learner-Centered Assessment” http://cte.uwaterloo.ca/teaching_resources/tips/learner_centered_assessment.html From the Centre for Teaching Excellence at the University of Waterloo, this is a short list of suggestions for the process of designing an assessment with your students' interests in mind. “Matching Learning Goals to Assignment Types.” http://teachingcommons.depaul.edu/How_to/design_assignments/assignments_learning_goals.html This is a great page from DePaul University's Teaching Commons, providing a chart that helps instructors match assignments with learning goals.

Additional References Bean, J.C. (1996). Engaging ideas: The professor's guide to integrating writing, critical thinking, and active learning in the classroom . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Fitzpatrick, R. (1989). Research and writing assignments that reduce fear lead to better papers and more confident students. Writing Across the Curriculum , 3.2, pp. 15 – 24.

Flaxman, R. (2005). Creating meaningful writing assignments. The Teaching Exchange .  Retrieved Jan. 9, 2008 from http://www.brown.edu/Administration/Sheridan_Center/pubs/teachingExchange/jan2005/01_flaxman.pdf

Hass, M. & Osborn, J. (2007, August 13). An emic view of student writing and the writing process. Across the Disciplines, 4. 

Hedengren, B.F. (2004). A TA's guide to teaching writing in all disciplines . Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's.

Hudd, S. S. (2003, April). Syllabus under construction: Involving students in the creation of class assignments.  Teaching Sociology , 31, pp. 195 – 202.

Leahy, R. (2002). Conducting writing assignments. College Teaching , 50.2, pp. 50 – 54.

Miller, H. (2007). Designing effective writing assignments.  Teaching with writing .  University of Minnesota Center for Writing. Retrieved Jan. 9, 2008, from http://writing.umn.edu/tww/assignments/designing.html

MIT Online Writing and Communication Center (1999). Creating Writing Assignments. Retrieved January 9, 2008 from http://web.mit.edu/writing/Faculty/createeffective.html .

Contact TTU

Understanding Assignments

What this handout is about.

The first step in any successful college writing venture is reading the assignment. While this sounds like a simple task, it can be a tough one. This handout will help you unravel your assignment and begin to craft an effective response. Much of the following advice will involve translating typical assignment terms and practices into meaningful clues to the type of writing your instructor expects. See our short video for more tips.

Basic beginnings

Regardless of the assignment, department, or instructor, adopting these two habits will serve you well :

• Read the assignment carefully as soon as you receive it. Do not put this task off—reading the assignment at the beginning will save you time, stress, and problems later. An assignment can look pretty straightforward at first, particularly if the instructor has provided lots of information. That does not mean it will not take time and effort to complete; you may even have to learn a new skill to complete the assignment.
• Ask the instructor about anything you do not understand. Do not hesitate to approach your instructor. Instructors would prefer to set you straight before you hand the paper in. That’s also when you will find their feedback most useful.

Assignment formats

Many assignments follow a basic format. Assignments often begin with an overview of the topic, include a central verb or verbs that describe the task, and offer some additional suggestions, questions, or prompts to get you started.

An Overview of Some Kind

The instructor might set the stage with some general discussion of the subject of the assignment, introduce the topic, or remind you of something pertinent that you have discussed in class. For example:

“Throughout history, gerbils have played a key role in politics,” or “In the last few weeks of class, we have focused on the evening wear of the housefly …”

The Task of the Assignment

Pay attention; this part tells you what to do when you write the paper. Look for the key verb or verbs in the sentence. Words like analyze, summarize, or compare direct you to think about your topic in a certain way. Also pay attention to words such as how, what, when, where, and why; these words guide your attention toward specific information. (See the section in this handout titled “Key Terms” for more information.)

“Analyze the effect that gerbils had on the Russian Revolution”, or “Suggest an interpretation of housefly undergarments that differs from Darwin’s.”

Additional Material to Think about

Here you will find some questions to use as springboards as you begin to think about the topic. Instructors usually include these questions as suggestions rather than requirements. Do not feel compelled to answer every question unless the instructor asks you to do so. Pay attention to the order of the questions. Sometimes they suggest the thinking process your instructor imagines you will need to follow to begin thinking about the topic.

“You may wish to consider the differing views held by Communist gerbils vs. Monarchist gerbils, or Can there be such a thing as ‘the housefly garment industry’ or is it just a home-based craft?”

These are the instructor’s comments about writing expectations:

“Be concise”, “Write effectively”, or “Argue furiously.”

Technical Details

These instructions usually indicate format rules or guidelines.

“Your paper must be typed in Palatino font on gray paper and must not exceed 600 pages. It is due on the anniversary of Mao Tse-tung’s death.”

The assignment’s parts may not appear in exactly this order, and each part may be very long or really short. Nonetheless, being aware of this standard pattern can help you understand what your instructor wants you to do.

Interpreting the assignment

Ask yourself a few basic questions as you read and jot down the answers on the assignment sheet:

Why did your instructor ask you to do this particular task?

Who is your audience.

• What kind of evidence do you need to support your ideas?

What kind of writing style is acceptable?

• What are the absolute rules of the paper?

Try to look at the question from the point of view of the instructor. Recognize that your instructor has a reason for giving you this assignment and for giving it to you at a particular point in the semester. In every assignment, the instructor has a challenge for you. This challenge could be anything from demonstrating an ability to think clearly to demonstrating an ability to use the library. See the assignment not as a vague suggestion of what to do but as an opportunity to show that you can handle the course material as directed. Paper assignments give you more than a topic to discuss—they ask you to do something with the topic. Keep reminding yourself of that. Be careful to avoid the other extreme as well: do not read more into the assignment than what is there.

Of course, your instructor has given you an assignment so that they will be able to assess your understanding of the course material and give you an appropriate grade. But there is more to it than that. Your instructor has tried to design a learning experience of some kind. Your instructor wants you to think about something in a particular way for a particular reason. If you read the course description at the beginning of your syllabus, review the assigned readings, and consider the assignment itself, you may begin to see the plan, purpose, or approach to the subject matter that your instructor has created for you. If you still aren’t sure of the assignment’s goals, try asking the instructor. For help with this, see our handout on getting feedback .

Given your instructor’s efforts, it helps to answer the question: What is my purpose in completing this assignment? Is it to gather research from a variety of outside sources and present a coherent picture? Is it to take material I have been learning in class and apply it to a new situation? Is it to prove a point one way or another? Key words from the assignment can help you figure this out. Look for key terms in the form of active verbs that tell you what to do.

Key Terms: Finding Those Active Verbs

Here are some common key words and definitions to help you think about assignment terms:

Information words Ask you to demonstrate what you know about the subject, such as who, what, when, where, how, and why.

• define —give the subject’s meaning (according to someone or something). Sometimes you have to give more than one view on the subject’s meaning
• describe —provide details about the subject by answering question words (such as who, what, when, where, how, and why); you might also give details related to the five senses (what you see, hear, feel, taste, and smell)
• explain —give reasons why or examples of how something happened
• illustrate —give descriptive examples of the subject and show how each is connected with the subject
• summarize —briefly list the important ideas you learned about the subject
• trace —outline how something has changed or developed from an earlier time to its current form
• research —gather material from outside sources about the subject, often with the implication or requirement that you will analyze what you have found

Relation words Ask you to demonstrate how things are connected.

• compare —show how two or more things are similar (and, sometimes, different)
• contrast —show how two or more things are dissimilar
• apply—use details that you’ve been given to demonstrate how an idea, theory, or concept works in a particular situation
• cause —show how one event or series of events made something else happen
• relate —show or describe the connections between things

Interpretation words Ask you to defend ideas of your own about the subject. Do not see these words as requesting opinion alone (unless the assignment specifically says so), but as requiring opinion that is supported by concrete evidence. Remember examples, principles, definitions, or concepts from class or research and use them in your interpretation.

• assess —summarize your opinion of the subject and measure it against something
• prove, justify —give reasons or examples to demonstrate how or why something is the truth
• evaluate, respond —state your opinion of the subject as good, bad, or some combination of the two, with examples and reasons
• support —give reasons or evidence for something you believe (be sure to state clearly what it is that you believe)
• synthesize —put two or more things together that have not been put together in class or in your readings before; do not just summarize one and then the other and say that they are similar or different—you must provide a reason for putting them together that runs all the way through the paper
• analyze —determine how individual parts create or relate to the whole, figure out how something works, what it might mean, or why it is important
• argue —take a side and defend it with evidence against the other side

More Clues to Your Purpose As you read the assignment, think about what the teacher does in class:

• What kinds of textbooks or coursepack did your instructor choose for the course—ones that provide background information, explain theories or perspectives, or argue a point of view?
• In lecture, does your instructor ask your opinion, try to prove their point of view, or use keywords that show up again in the assignment?
• What kinds of assignments are typical in this discipline? Social science classes often expect more research. Humanities classes thrive on interpretation and analysis.
• How do the assignments, readings, and lectures work together in the course? Instructors spend time designing courses, sometimes even arguing with their peers about the most effective course materials. Figuring out the overall design to the course will help you understand what each assignment is meant to achieve.

Now, what about your reader? Most undergraduates think of their audience as the instructor. True, your instructor is a good person to keep in mind as you write. But for the purposes of a good paper, think of your audience as someone like your roommate: smart enough to understand a clear, logical argument, but not someone who already knows exactly what is going on in your particular paper. Remember, even if the instructor knows everything there is to know about your paper topic, they still have to read your paper and assess your understanding. In other words, teach the material to your reader.

Aiming a paper at your audience happens in two ways: you make decisions about the tone and the level of information you want to convey.

• Tone means the “voice” of your paper. Should you be chatty, formal, or objective? Usually you will find some happy medium—you do not want to alienate your reader by sounding condescending or superior, but you do not want to, um, like, totally wig on the man, you know? Eschew ostentatious erudition: some students think the way to sound academic is to use big words. Be careful—you can sound ridiculous, especially if you use the wrong big words.
• The level of information you use depends on who you think your audience is. If you imagine your audience as your instructor and they already know everything you have to say, you may find yourself leaving out key information that can cause your argument to be unconvincing and illogical. But you do not have to explain every single word or issue. If you are telling your roommate what happened on your favorite science fiction TV show last night, you do not say, “First a dark-haired white man of average height, wearing a suit and carrying a flashlight, walked into the room. Then a purple alien with fifteen arms and at least three eyes turned around. Then the man smiled slightly. In the background, you could hear a clock ticking. The room was fairly dark and had at least two windows that I saw.” You also do not say, “This guy found some aliens. The end.” Find some balance of useful details that support your main point.

You’ll find a much more detailed discussion of these concepts in our handout on audience .

The Grim Truth

With a few exceptions (including some lab and ethnography reports), you are probably being asked to make an argument. You must convince your audience. It is easy to forget this aim when you are researching and writing; as you become involved in your subject matter, you may become enmeshed in the details and focus on learning or simply telling the information you have found. You need to do more than just repeat what you have read. Your writing should have a point, and you should be able to say it in a sentence. Sometimes instructors call this sentence a “thesis” or a “claim.”

So, if your instructor tells you to write about some aspect of oral hygiene, you do not want to just list: “First, you brush your teeth with a soft brush and some peanut butter. Then, you floss with unwaxed, bologna-flavored string. Finally, gargle with bourbon.” Instead, you could say, “Of all the oral cleaning methods, sandblasting removes the most plaque. Therefore it should be recommended by the American Dental Association.” Or, “From an aesthetic perspective, moldy teeth can be quite charming. However, their joys are short-lived.”

Convincing the reader of your argument is the goal of academic writing. It doesn’t have to say “argument” anywhere in the assignment for you to need one. Look at the assignment and think about what kind of argument you could make about it instead of just seeing it as a checklist of information you have to present. For help with understanding the role of argument in academic writing, see our handout on argument .

What kind of evidence do you need?

There are many kinds of evidence, and what type of evidence will work for your assignment can depend on several factors–the discipline, the parameters of the assignment, and your instructor’s preference. Should you use statistics? Historical examples? Do you need to conduct your own experiment? Can you rely on personal experience? See our handout on evidence for suggestions on how to use evidence appropriately.

Make sure you are clear about this part of the assignment, because your use of evidence will be crucial in writing a successful paper. You are not just learning how to argue; you are learning how to argue with specific types of materials and ideas. Ask your instructor what counts as acceptable evidence. You can also ask a librarian for help. No matter what kind of evidence you use, be sure to cite it correctly—see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial .

You cannot always tell from the assignment just what sort of writing style your instructor expects. The instructor may be really laid back in class but still expect you to sound formal in writing. Or the instructor may be fairly formal in class and ask you to write a reflection paper where you need to use “I” and speak from your own experience.

Try to avoid false associations of a particular field with a style (“art historians like wacky creativity,” or “political scientists are boring and just give facts”) and look instead to the types of readings you have been given in class. No one expects you to write like Plato—just use the readings as a guide for what is standard or preferable to your instructor. When in doubt, ask your instructor about the level of formality they expect.

No matter what field you are writing for or what facts you are including, if you do not write so that your reader can understand your main idea, you have wasted your time. So make clarity your main goal. For specific help with style, see our handout on style .

Technical details about the assignment

The technical information you are given in an assignment always seems like the easy part. This section can actually give you lots of little hints about approaching the task. Find out if elements such as page length and citation format (see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial ) are negotiable. Some professors do not have strong preferences as long as you are consistent and fully answer the assignment. Some professors are very specific and will deduct big points for deviations.

Usually, the page length tells you something important: The instructor thinks the size of the paper is appropriate to the assignment’s parameters. In plain English, your instructor is telling you how many pages it should take for you to answer the question as fully as you are expected to. So if an assignment is two pages long, you cannot pad your paper with examples or reword your main idea several times. Hit your one point early, defend it with the clearest example, and finish quickly. If an assignment is ten pages long, you can be more complex in your main points and examples—and if you can only produce five pages for that assignment, you need to see someone for help—as soon as possible.

Tricks that don’t work

Your instructors are not fooled when you:

• spend more time on the cover page than the essay —graphics, cool binders, and cute titles are no replacement for a well-written paper.
• use huge fonts, wide margins, or extra spacing to pad the page length —these tricks are immediately obvious to the eye. Most instructors use the same word processor you do. They know what’s possible. Such tactics are especially damning when the instructor has a stack of 60 papers to grade and yours is the only one that low-flying airplane pilots could read.
• use a paper from another class that covered “sort of similar” material . Again, the instructor has a particular task for you to fulfill in the assignment that usually relates to course material and lectures. Your other paper may not cover this material, and turning in the same paper for more than one course may constitute an Honor Code violation . Ask the instructor—it can’t hurt.
• get all wacky and “creative” before you answer the question . Showing that you are able to think beyond the boundaries of a simple assignment can be good, but you must do what the assignment calls for first. Again, check with your instructor. A humorous tone can be refreshing for someone grading a stack of papers, but it will not get you a good grade if you have not fulfilled the task.

Critical reading of assignments leads to skills in other types of reading and writing. If you get good at figuring out what the real goals of assignments are, you are going to be better at understanding the goals of all of your classes and fields of study.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Differentiated Instruction Strategies: Tiered Assignments

Janelle cox.

• September 23, 2014

Many teachers use differentiated instruction strategies  as a way to reach all learners and accommodate each student’s learning style. One very helpful tactic to employ differentiated instruction is called tiered assignments—a technique often used within flexible groups.

Much like flexible grouping—or differentiated instruction as a whole, really—tiered assignments do not lock students into ability boxes. Instead, particular student clusters are assigned specific tasks within each group according to their readiness and comprehension without making them feel completely compartmentalized away from peers at different achievement levels.

There are six main ways to structure tiered assignments: challenge level, complexity, outcome, process, product, or resources. It is your job, based upon the specific learning tasks you’re focused on, to determine the best approach. Here we will take a brief look at these techniques.

Ways to Structure Tiered Assignments

Challenge level.

Tiering can be based on challenge level where student groups will tackle different assignments. Teachers can use Bloom’s Taxonomy as a guide to help them develop tasks of structure or questions at various levels. For example:

• Group 1:  Students who need content reinforcement or practice will complete one activity that helps  build  understanding.
• Group 2:  Students who have a firm understanding will complete another activity that  extends  what they already know.

When you tier assignments by complexity, you are addressing the needs of students who are at different levels using the same assignment. The trick here is to vary the focus of the assignment based upon whether each group is ready for more advanced work or simply trying to wrap their head around the concept for the first time. You can direct your students to create a poster on a specific issue—recycling and environmental care, for instance—but one group will focus on a singular perspective, while the other will consider several points of view and present an argument for or against each angle.

Tiering assignments by differentiated outcome is vaguely similar to complexity—all of your students will use the same materials, but depending on their readiness levels will actually have a different outcome. It may sound strange at first, but this strategy is quite beneficial to help advanced students work on more progressive applications of their student learning.

This differentiated instruction strategy is exactly what it sounds like—student groups will use different processes to achieve similar outcomes based upon readiness.

Tiered assignments can also be differentiated based on product. Teachers can use the Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences to form groups that will hone particular skills for particular learning styles . For example, one group would be bodily/kinesthetic, and their task is to create and act out a skit. Another group would be visual/spatial, and their task would be to illustrate.

Tiering resources means that you are matching project materials to student groups based on readiness or instructional need. One flexible group may use a magazine while another may use a traditional textbook. As a tip, you should assign resources based on knowledge and readiness, but also consider the group’s reading level and comprehension.

How to Make Tiering Invisible to Students

From time to time, students may question why they are working on different assignments, using varied materials, or coming to dissimilar outcomes altogether. This could be a blow to your classroom morale if you’re not tactful in making your tiers invisible.

Make it a point to tell students that each group is using different materials or completing different activities so they can share what they learned with the class. Be neutral when grouping students, use numbers or colors for group names, and be equally enthusiastic while explaining assignments to each cluster.

Also, it’s important to make each tiered assignment equally interesting, engaging, and fair in terms of student expectations. The more flexible groups and materials you use, the more students will accept that this is the norm.

Tiering assignments is a fair way to differentiate learning. It allows teachers to meet the needs of all students while using varying levels of tasks. It’s a concept that can be infused into homework assignments, small groups, or even learning centers. If done properly, it can be a very effective method to differentiate learning because it challenges all students.

• #DifferentiatedInstruction , #TieredAssignments

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Center for Teaching Innovation

Resource library, examples of collaborative learning or group work activities.

• Getting Started with Designing Group Work Assignments
• Getting Started with Evaluating Group Work
• Team-Based Learning Collaborative

Stump Your Partner

• Students take a minute to create a challenging question based on the lecture content up to that point.
• Students pose the question to the person sitting next to them.
• To take this activity a step further, ask students to write down their questions and hand them in. These questions can be used to create tests or exams. They can also be reviewed to gauge student understanding.

Think-Pair-Share/Write-Pair-Share

• The instructor poses a question that demands analysis, evaluation, or synthesis.
• Students take a few minutes to think through an appropriate response.
• Students turn to a partner (or small groups) and share their responses. Take this a step further by asking students to find someone who arrived at an answer different from their own and convince their partner to change their mind.
• Student responses are shared within larger teams or with the entire class during a follow-up discussion.
• Stop at a transition point in your lecture.
• Have students turn to a partner or work in small groups to compare notes and ask clarifying questions.
• After a few minutes, open the floor to a few questions.

Fishbowl Debate

• Ask students to sit in groups of three.
• Assign roles. For example, the person on left takes one position on a topic for debate, the person on right takes the opposite position, and the person in the middle takes notes and decides which side is the most convincing and provides an argument for his or her choice.
• Debrief by calling on a few groups to summarize their discussions.
• Create four to five case studies of similar difficulty.
• Have students work in groups of four or five to work through and analyze their case study.
• Provide 10-15 minutes (or adequate time) to work through the cases.
• Walk around and address any questions.
• Call on groups randomly and ask that students share their analysis. Continue until each case study has been addressed.

Team-Based Learning

• Start a course unit by giving students some tasks to complete, such as reading or lab assignments. Consider assigning these to be completed before class.
• Check students' comprehension of the material with a quick multiple-choice quiz. Have students submit their answers.
• Assign students to groups and have them review their answers with group members to reach consensus. Have each group submit one answered quiz.
• Record both the individual student assessment scores and the final group assessment score (both of which are used toward each student's course grade).
• Deliver a lecture that specially targets any misconceptions or gaps in knowledge the assessments reveal.
• Give groups a challenging assignment, such as solving a problem or applying a theory to a real-world situation.
• Find more information on this strategy at   the Team-Based Learning Collaborative .

Group Problem-Solving

There are many instructional strategies that involve students working together to solve a problem, including inquiry-based learning, authentic learning, and discovery learning. While they each have their own unique characteristics, they fundamentally involve:

• Presenting students with a problem.
• Providing some structure or guidance toward solving the problem. Note however, that they are all student-centered activities in which the instructor may have a very minimal role.
• Reaching a final outcome or solution.

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Designing Assignments for Learning

The rapid shift to remote teaching and learning meant that many instructors reimagined their assessment practices. Whether adapting existing assignments or creatively designing new opportunities for their students to learn, instructors focused on helping students make meaning and demonstrate their learning outside of the traditional, face-to-face classroom setting. This resource distills the elements of assignment design that are important to carry forward as we continue to seek better ways of assessing learning and build on our innovative assignment designs.

On this page:

Rethinking traditional tests, quizzes, and exams.

• Examples from the Columbia University Classroom
• Tips for Designing Assignments for Learning

Reflect On Your Assignment Design

Connect with the ctl.

• Resources and References

Cite this resource: Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning (2021). Designing Assignments for Learning. Columbia University. Retrieved [today’s date] from https://ctl.columbia.edu/resources-and-technology/teaching-with-technology/teaching-online/designing-assignments/

Traditional assessments tend to reveal whether students can recognize, recall, or replicate what was learned out of context, and tend to focus on students providing correct responses (Wiggins, 1990). In contrast, authentic assignments, which are course assessments, engage students in higher order thinking, as they grapple with real or simulated challenges that help them prepare for their professional lives, and draw on the course knowledge learned and the skills acquired to create justifiable answers, performances or products (Wiggins, 1990). An authentic assessment provides opportunities for students to practice, consult resources, learn from feedback, and refine their performances and products accordingly (Wiggins 1990, 1998, 2014). 

Authentic assignments ask students to “do” the subject with an audience in mind and apply their learning in a new situation. Examples of authentic assignments include asking students to: 

• Write for a real audience (e.g., a memo, a policy brief, letter to the editor, a grant proposal, reports, building a website) and/or publication;
• Solve problem sets that have real world application; 
• Design projects that address a real world problem; 
• Engage in a community-partnered research project;
• Create an exhibit, performance, or conference presentation ;
• Compile and reflect on their work through a portfolio/e-portfolio.

Noteworthy elements of authentic designs are that instructors scaffold the assignment, and play an active role in preparing students for the tasks assigned, while students are intentionally asked to reflect on the process and product of their work thus building their metacognitive skills (Herrington and Oliver, 2000; Ashford-Rowe, Herrington and Brown, 2013; Frey, Schmitt, and Allen, 2012). 

It’s worth noting here that authentic assessments can initially be time consuming to design, implement, and grade. They are critiqued for being challenging to use across course contexts and for grading reliability issues (Maclellan, 2004). Despite these challenges, authentic assessments are recognized as beneficial to student learning (Svinicki, 2004) as they are learner-centered (Weimer, 2013), promote academic integrity (McLaughlin, L. and Ricevuto, 2021; Sotiriadou et al., 2019; Schroeder, 2021) and motivate students to learn (Ambrose et al., 2010). The Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning is always available to consult with faculty who are considering authentic assessment designs and to discuss challenges and affordances.   

Examples from the Columbia University Classroom 

Columbia instructors have experimented with alternative ways of assessing student learning from oral exams to technology-enhanced assignments. Below are a few examples of authentic assignments in various teaching contexts across Columbia University. 

• E-portfolios: Statia Cook shares her experiences with an ePorfolio assignment in her co-taught Frontiers of Science course (a submission to the Voices of Hybrid and Online Teaching and Learning initiative); CUIMC use of ePortfolios ;
• Case studies: Columbia instructors have engaged their students in authentic ways through case studies drawing on the Case Consortium at Columbia University. Read and watch a faculty spotlight to learn how Professor Mary Ann Price uses the case method to place pre-med students in real-life scenarios;
• Simulations: students at CUIMC engage in simulations to develop their professional skills in The Mary & Michael Jaharis Simulation Center in the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Helene Fuld Health Trust Simulation Center in the Columbia School of Nursing; 
• Experiential learning: instructors have drawn on New York City as a learning laboratory such as Barnard’s NYC as Lab webpage which highlights courses that engage students in NYC;
• Design projects that address real world problems: Yevgeniy Yesilevskiy on the Engineering design projects completed using lab kits during remote learning. Watch Dr. Yesilevskiy talk about his teaching and read the Columbia News article . 
• Writing assignments: Lia Marshall and her teaching associate Aparna Balasundaram reflect on their “non-disposable or renewable assignments” to prepare social work students for their professional lives as they write for a real audience; and Hannah Weaver spoke about a sandbox assignment used in her Core Literature Humanities course at the 2021 Celebration of Teaching and Learning Symposium . Watch Dr. Weaver share her experiences.  

​Tips for Designing Assignments for Learning

While designing an effective authentic assignment may seem like a daunting task, the following tips can be used as a starting point. See the Resources section for frameworks and tools that may be useful in this effort.  

Align the assignment with your course learning objectives 

Identify the kind of thinking that is important in your course, the knowledge students will apply, and the skills they will practice using through the assignment. What kind of thinking will students be asked to do for the assignment? What will students learn by completing this assignment? How will the assignment help students achieve the desired course learning outcomes? For more information on course learning objectives, see the CTL’s Course Design Essentials self-paced course and watch the video on Articulating Learning Objectives .  

Identify an authentic meaning-making task

For meaning-making to occur, students need to understand the relevance of the assignment to the course and beyond (Ambrose et al., 2010). To Bean (2011) a “meaning-making” or “meaning-constructing” task has two dimensions: 1) it presents students with an authentic disciplinary problem or asks students to formulate their own problems, both of which engage them in active critical thinking, and 2) the problem is placed in “a context that gives students a role or purpose, a targeted audience, and a genre.” (Bean, 2011: 97-98). 

An authentic task gives students a realistic challenge to grapple with, a role to take on that allows them to “rehearse for the complex ambiguities” of life, provides resources and supports to draw on, and requires students to justify their work and the process they used to inform their solution (Wiggins, 1990). Note that if students find an assignment interesting or relevant, they will see value in completing it. 

Consider the kind of activities in the real world that use the knowledge and skills that are the focus of your course. How is this knowledge and these skills applied to answer real-world questions to solve real-world problems? (Herrington et al., 2010: 22). What do professionals or academics in your discipline do on a regular basis? What does it mean to think like a biologist, statistician, historian, social scientist? How might your assignment ask students to draw on current events, issues, or problems that relate to the course and are of interest to them? How might your assignment tap into student motivation and engage them in the kinds of thinking they can apply to better understand the world around them? (Ambrose et al., 2010). 

Determine the evaluation criteria and create a rubric

To ensure equitable and consistent grading of assignments across students, make transparent the criteria you will use to evaluate student work. The criteria should focus on the knowledge and skills that are central to the assignment. Build on the criteria identified, create a rubric that makes explicit the expectations of deliverables and share this rubric with your students so they can use it as they work on the assignment. For more information on rubrics, see the CTL’s resource Incorporating Rubrics into Your Grading and Feedback Practices , and explore the Association of American Colleges & Universities VALUE Rubrics (Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education). 

Build in metacognition

Ask students to reflect on what and how they learned from the assignment. Help students uncover personal relevance of the assignment, find intrinsic value in their work, and deepen their motivation by asking them to reflect on their process and their assignment deliverable. Sample prompts might include: what did you learn from this assignment? How might you draw on the knowledge and skills you used on this assignment in the future? See Ambrose et al., 2010 for more strategies that support motivation and the CTL’s resource on Metacognition ). 

Provide students with opportunities to practice

Design your assignment to be a learning experience and prepare students for success on the assignment. If students can reasonably expect to be successful on an assignment when they put in the required effort ,with the support and guidance of the instructor, they are more likely to engage in the behaviors necessary for learning (Ambrose et al., 2010). Ensure student success by actively teaching the knowledge and skills of the course (e.g., how to problem solve, how to write for a particular audience), modeling the desired thinking, and creating learning activities that build up to a graded assignment. Provide opportunities for students to practice using the knowledge and skills they will need for the assignment, whether through low-stakes in-class activities or homework activities that include opportunities to receive and incorporate formative feedback. For more information on providing feedback, see the CTL resource Feedback for Learning . 

Communicate about the assignment 

Share the purpose, task, audience, expectations, and criteria for the assignment. Students may have expectations about assessments and how they will be graded that is informed by their prior experiences completing high-stakes assessments, so be transparent. Tell your students why you are asking them to do this assignment, what skills they will be using, how it aligns with the course learning outcomes, and why it is relevant to their learning and their professional lives (i.e., how practitioners / professionals use the knowledge and skills in your course in real world contexts and for what purposes). Finally, verify that students understand what they need to do to complete the assignment. This can be done by asking students to respond to poll questions about different parts of the assignment, a “scavenger hunt” of the assignment instructions–giving students questions to answer about the assignment and having them work in small groups to answer the questions, or by having students share back what they think is expected of them.

Plan to iterate and to keep the focus on learning 

Draw on multiple sources of data to help make decisions about what changes are needed to the assignment, the assignment instructions, and/or rubric to ensure that it contributes to student learning. Explore assignment performance data. As Deandra Little reminds us: “a really good assignment, which is a really good assessment, also teaches you something or tells the instructor something. As much as it tells you what students are learning, it’s also telling you what they aren’t learning.” ( Teaching in Higher Ed podcast episode 337 ). Assignment bottlenecks–where students get stuck or struggle–can be good indicators that students need further support or opportunities to practice prior to completing an assignment. This awareness can inform teaching decisions. 

Triangulate the performance data by collecting student feedback, and noting your own reflections about what worked well and what did not. Revise the assignment instructions, rubric, and teaching practices accordingly. Consider how you might better align your assignment with your course objectives and/or provide more opportunities for students to practice using the knowledge and skills that they will rely on for the assignment. Additionally, keep in mind societal, disciplinary, and technological changes as you tweak your assignments for future use. 

Now is a great time to reflect on your practices and experiences with assignment design and think critically about your approach. Take a closer look at an existing assignment. Questions to consider include: What is this assignment meant to do? What purpose does it serve? Why do you ask students to do this assignment? How are they prepared to complete the assignment? Does the assignment assess the kind of learning that you really want? What would help students learn from this assignment? 

Using the tips in the previous section: How can the assignment be tweaked to be more authentic and meaningful to students? 

As you plan forward for post-pandemic teaching and reflect on your practices and reimagine your course design, you may find the following CTL resources helpful: Reflecting On Your Experiences with Remote Teaching , Transition to In-Person Teaching , and Course Design Support .

The Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) is here to help!

For assistance with assignment design, rubric design, or any other teaching and learning need, please request a consultation by emailing [email protected] . 

Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT) framework for assignments. The TILT Examples and Resources page ( https://tilthighered.com/tiltexamplesandresources ) includes example assignments from across disciplines, as well as a transparent assignment template and a checklist for designing transparent assignments . Each emphasizes the importance of articulating to students the purpose of the assignment or activity, the what and how of the task, and specifying the criteria that will be used to assess students. 

Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) offers VALUE ADD (Assignment Design and Diagnostic) tools ( https://www.aacu.org/value-add-tools ) to help with the creation of clear and effective assignments that align with the desired learning outcomes and associated VALUE rubrics (Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education). VALUE ADD encourages instructors to explicitly state assignment information such as the purpose of the assignment, what skills students will be using, how it aligns with course learning outcomes, the assignment type, the audience and context for the assignment, clear evaluation criteria, desired formatting, and expectations for completion whether individual or in a group.

Villarroel et al. (2017) propose a blueprint for building authentic assessments which includes four steps: 1) consider the workplace context, 2) design the authentic assessment; 3) learn and apply standards for judgement; and 4) give feedback. 

References 

Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M. W., & DiPietro, M. (2010). Chapter 3: What Factors Motivate Students to Learn? In How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching . Jossey-Bass. 

Ashford-Rowe, K., Herrington, J., and Brown, C. (2013). Establishing the critical elements that determine authentic assessment. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education. 39(2), 205-222, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2013.819566 .  

Bean, J.C. (2011). Engaging Ideas: The Professor’s Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom . Second Edition. Jossey-Bass. 

Frey, B. B, Schmitt, V. L., and Allen, J. P. (2012). Defining Authentic Classroom Assessment. Practical Assessment, Research, and Evaluation. 17(2). DOI: https://doi.org/10.7275/sxbs-0829  

Herrington, J., Reeves, T. C., and Oliver, R. (2010). A Guide to Authentic e-Learning . Routledge. 

Herrington, J. and Oliver, R. (2000). An instructional design framework for authentic learning environments. Educational Technology Research and Development, 48(3), 23-48. 

Litchfield, B. C. and Dempsey, J. V. (2015). Authentic Assessment of Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes. New Directions for Teaching and Learning. 142 (Summer 2015), 65-80. 

Maclellan, E. (2004). How convincing is alternative assessment for use in higher education. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education. 29(3), June 2004. DOI: 10.1080/0260293042000188267

McLaughlin, L. and Ricevuto, J. (2021). Assessments in a Virtual Environment: You Won’t Need that Lockdown Browser! Faculty Focus. June 2, 2021. 

Mueller, J. (2005). The Authentic Assessment Toolbox: Enhancing Student Learning through Online Faculty Development . MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching. 1(1). July 2005. Mueller’s Authentic Assessment Toolbox is available online. 

Schroeder, R. (2021). Vaccinate Against Cheating With Authentic Assessment . Inside Higher Ed. (February 26, 2021).  

Sotiriadou, P., Logan, D., Daly, A., and Guest, R. (2019). The role of authentic assessment to preserve academic integrity and promote skills development and employability. Studies in Higher Education. 45(111), 2132-2148. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1582015    

Stachowiak, B. (Host). (November 25, 2020). Authentic Assignments with Deandra Little. (Episode 337). In Teaching in Higher Ed . https://teachinginhighered.com/podcast/authentic-assignments/  

Svinicki, M. D. (2004). Authentic Assessment: Testing in Reality. New Directions for Teaching and Learning. 100 (Winter 2004): 23-29. 

Villarroel, V., Bloxham, S, Bruna, D., Bruna, C., and Herrera-Seda, C. (2017). Authentic assessment: creating a blueprint for course design. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education. 43(5), 840-854. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2017.1412396    

Weimer, M. (2013). Learner-Centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice . Second Edition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 

Wiggins, G. (2014). Authenticity in assessment, (re-)defined and explained. Retrieved from https://grantwiggins.wordpress.com/2014/01/26/authenticity-in-assessment-re-defined-and-explained/

Wiggins, G. (1998). Teaching to the (Authentic) Test. Educational Leadership . April 1989. 41-47. 

Wiggins, Grant (1990). The Case for Authentic Assessment . Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation , 2(2). 

Wondering how AI tools might play a role in your course assignments?

See the CTL’s resource “Considerations for AI Tools in the Classroom.”

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Learning Activities and Assignments: How to Maximize Their Effectiveness

Clearly communicate to students your goals for any assignment or learning activity . Don't assume that students will know what the pedagogical purpose of the assignment is. Have a discussion about your goals and desired learning outcomes, and help students understand how specific aspects of the assignment fit these goals. Be open to making some changes if students have ideas to offer. After the discussion has taken place, summarize it and post it in the learning management system for students to revisit as they work on their assignments. 

Inform your students of assignments as early as possible  in a semester, and help them schedule and plan for them.

Give your students examples of "typical" exemplary assignments from past students, but also of submissions that were both exemplary and unique , so that students can see what you are looking for, but also so that they realize a range of possibilities.

Scaffold smaller activities and assignments towards large assignments so that students understand the trajectory of their work.  This helps students build on their growing knowledge, but also helps them move forward: it's easier for them to continue a learning process than to start a new one. It also combats procrastination and plagiarism, and encourages time on task.

Consider creating flexible intermediate deadlines.  That is, provide deadlines for when particular stages or parts of the assignment should be completed, so that students can understand the ideal pace of their work flow.

If possible, allow students to share draft work with you and with their peers.  They can then use your feedback, and their peer's feedback, to revise and improve their work. 

Offer students performative options.  In other words, allow students to demonstrate their understanding or skill acquisition in alternative or diverse ways. For example, rather than a traditional essay, could a student create a podcast or screencast? Instead of submitting a written assignment, could a student do an in-class poster presentation? 

Meet with students one-on-one as much as possible  to assist with every step in the process, from clarifying the assignment, to brainstorming, to polishing.

Help your students appreciate the importance of formative feedback . Many students are interested only in the grade that an assignment receives (the summative assessment), and will spend little time on the formative feedback that you also provide on their assignments. Help them understand that carefully reviewing the formative feedback will improve their performance in the future. 

Discuss your own working process : the ideal scene for your work, the personal supports you have or try to create, your own blocks and difficulties. Students can benefit from seeing how their instructors work. At the same time, recognize that there are many different learning styles, and that most students won't work the same way that their teachers do, and that this is a good thing.

Use the learning management system to support students as they work on their assignments.  For example, create on online discussion forum where students can ask questions about their assignments, or where they can post drafts of their work in order to receive feedback from peers. 

Be sensitive to cultural differences  that might impact student learning processes and the "products" they create.

Ask students to help you revise assignment prompts for the next time you teach the class , and/or to write down some advice they would give to future students for succeeding at an assignment.

Consider having your program, department, or faculty implement an ePortfolio program for students . Students can use the ePortfolio to archive drafts of their assignments, to reflect on specific assignments or their overall progress, to showcase their best assignments, and more. 

Consider providing verbal feedback on student assignments using new technologies.  For example, the latest (free) version of Adobe Acrobat makes it easy to add audio comments to specific parts of a document. Narrating your comments might be easier than typing them, and you can also be more nuanced with verbal comments than with written comments. 

Make large-print copies of all materials available.  These are beneficial not only for visually impaired students who are registered with  AccessAibility Services , but for any student who is experiencing some degree of vision impairment. 

If you would like support applying these tips to your own teaching, CTE staff members are here to help.  View the  CTE Support  page to find the most relevant staff member to contact. 

This Creative Commons license  lets others remix, tweak, and build upon our work non-commercially, as long as they credit us and indicate if changes were made. Use this citation format:  Learning Activities and Assignments: How to Maximize Their Effectiveness. Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo .

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Teaching & Learning

Examples of learning activities.

The teacher's fundamental task is to get students to engage in learning activities that are likely to result in achieving [the intended learning] outcomes. It is helpful to remember that what the student does is actually more important that what the teacher does. (Schuell, 1986, p.429)

Every learning activity in your unit should be intentional , meaningful and useful .

As noted on the Session Outcomes page , each learning activity in your unit should be aligned to the unit ILOs, as well as to the more specific learning outcomes of each session or module that you teach. The intent of the activity is then clear to both you and your students.

It is equally important that each activity is meaningful , and ensures student development and advancement through the unit. Activities should build on previous activities and avoid being repetitive, they should enable students to engage with and develop their skills, knowledge and understandings in different ways. Meaningful activities engage students in active, constructive, intentional, authentic, and cooperative ways.

Useful learning activities are ones where the student is able to take what they have learnt from engaging with the activity and use it in another context, or for another purpose. For example, students are able to directly apply the skills or knowledge they acquired to an assessment task, or to the next activity in your unit.

The activity types provided below are by no means an exhaustive list, but will help you in thinking through how best to design and deliver high impact learning experiences for your students in your unit.

Content Focus (and Interaction)

Whether the learning outcomes for a session or module include declarative or functioning knowledge, almost all of them will be supported in some way by the presentation of information to students.

Activities which involve student interaction with content can include listening to and/or watching a live or recorded talk, engaging with a written or visual text, engaging with multimedia, or a combination of these. Typically, students are more likely to retain information presented in these ways if they are asked to interact with the material in some way, which is why it is useful to ask or invite questions, or include another activity type after every 5 or 15 minute 'chunk' of information.

Example: Live Lectorial (Online or On campus)

Provide information orally, supported by slides, in 4 to 7 minute blocks, interspersed with interactions such as asking students to respond to a related question. For example, ask the students a question that requires them to apply, summarise, explain or identify etc. an important aspect of the information just presented. After asking the question, wait 10 to 15 seconds before asking for volunteers, or calling on a randomly selected student to respond. (It may be useful to provide a visual clue for students identifying that after posing the question you would like to them to consider a response and remain silent for the designated amount of time.) After a student has responded to the question, call on another student to summarise the first student's response. Alternatively, if the first response was not completely accurate, invite the second student to respond to the first student's answer (e.g., "[name] what do you think about that - would you agree?").   Alternatively, students might work through problems, case studies, calculations, etc, individually or in small groups following short sections of content delivery.

This activity would be particularly relevant for supporting student progress towards learning outcomes with declarative knowledge .

Example: Assigned Reading/text

Provide students with access to a text (e.g., journal article, blog, multimedia presentation). Accompany the text with a number of questions which will help guide students' focus as they engage with the text. The questions could be provided for personal reflection, they could be addressed further in a subsequent synchronous session (online or on-campus), they could be presented in the form of an online quiz (weighted or unweighted) or survey, or they could be required as part of an asynchronous activity (online) among other options and possibilities.

The questions posed, and how students are asked to respond to them will be dependent upon what the ILOs require students to do. For example, a unit with an ILO that requires students to ' identify ' might have questions that highlight the relevant aspects, or which require students to identify the key ideas in a reading. For a unit with an ILO for students to ' evaluate ', however, the questions might ask student to list advantages and disadvantages, or to compare and contrast different approaches noted in the text(s).

Example: Multimedia Content in MyLO

Use a MyLO Content File (HTML) to pose one to four questions, in text. Ask students to record their responses in a linked, editable MyLO survey. Below the questions and the survey link, embed a short video (from YouTube, MyMedia, Vimeo etc) that contains information answering the posed questions. Ask students to return to their survey answers (with a link) and update them with the new knowledge they have.

The questions posed will be dependent upon the unit and module/session learning outcomes. For example, ILOs that require students to ' identify ' might have questions that highlight the relevant aspects, or which require students to identify the key ideas in the video. For ILOs that require ' critical reflection ', however, the questions might ask students to complete SWOT components, or to present perspectives from a variety of stakeholders, fo example.

Interactivity (with Others) Focus

The 'social presence' of a student in a unit has been found to correlate positively with both their achievement of learning outcomes, and their perception of the learning in a unit (Richardson & Swan, 2003). Peer relationships, informal support structures, and teacher-student interactions/relationships all contribute to a student's social presence in a unit. Therefore, including learning activities that foster open communication and group cohesion (as ways of fostering social presence) as well as providing opportunities for active learning are important in every unit.

Activities that focus on or include interaction with others can support student development of a range of learning outcomes, inclusive of declarative and functioning knowledge. All of these examples could be used in either online or on campus environments.

Example: Facilitated synchronous discussion

A set of questions are provided to students for consideration prior to a scheduled session. In small groups of 10-20, the teacher facilitates student sharing of responses to the questions, and building upon those responses. Further questions for consideration might be introduced during the session, aimed at furthering the thinking and analysis generated from the discussion.

N.B., Facilitating the sharing of responses is most effective when done skillfully. Therefore, it is likely that familiarising yourself with literature about this will enhance the learning of your students.

Example: Jigsaw collaborative information sharing

A cohesive set of information is separated into 4 or 5 smaller parts. For example, a written article separated by its paragraphs, a report separated by each section, a video separated into shorter clips. Students are organised into small groups, and each one is provided with one of the smaller parts of information. Students work together to understand the information they are provided with. They also discuss and rehearse how to share this knowledge with others who do not have the information. Then, new groups are formed, each being made up of a single student from each of the original groups. In these new groups, each 'expert' student shares their knowledge with the rest of the group who may ask questions to clarify meaning.

The teacher may then pose questions for the groups to answer, ask groups to complete a task that demonstrates their understanding, provide their own summary, or take questions from the groups to help solidify understandings.

Example: Group Assignments

Students are organised into smaller groups of three or four for the entire semester, a week, a fortnight... Each group has an assigned task, and each member an assigned role. (The organisation of groups, and assignment of roles can be managed either by the teacher or the students.) Discussion boards are provided for each of the assigned roles (e.g., project manager, schedule and records manager, presentation manager, researcher) so that these students can share ideas and check understandings with one another to then take back to their group). Opportunities are provided for each group to share their product with the rest of the class, through, for example, an in-class presentation (using web conferencing for online presentation), or a peer-assessment activity (facilitated online or in-class) where each group assesses one another's work using a rubric.

Critical Thinking

Activities that provide students with opportunities to think about or use knowledge and information in new and different ways will support their development of critical thinking skills - one of the main selling points of a university education. Often critical thinking activities can follow on from other learning activities, after students have received feedback from the initial activity.

Example: Response to an assigned text

Students are initially asked to identify the key ideas in an assigned text (written, audio, video), and share their understanding with a sub-set of the class (e.g., during an on campus (or online) 'tutorial', or on a discussion board). To extend this to a critical thinking activity, once the initial discussion on the content of the text is completed, students are then asked to critique the text based on a provided set of criteria. The criteria could focus on the validity of the assertions made, and their relevance and applicability to other topics covered in the unit and specified situations and scenarios. The critiques could be presented and discussed orally, or initially posted to a discussion board for further analysis and use in subsequent learning activities.

Example: Digital story development

Students (as individuals, pairs, or in groups) are provided with a scenario or case study which they must analyse. They prepare a 5 minute digital story that explains what the relevant issues are, including the stakeholders, the options, the impacts and consequences etc (as relevant to your discipline and context). These digital stories are shared on MyLO, and used in subsequent sessions for class analysis, for peer-feedback or assessment, for oral advocacy where the author(s) of the digital story respond to questions about the content, defending and explaining their reasoning, or for formal assessment and feedback from the teacher, among other uses.

Asking students to produce something can be an effective way of assisting them to engage with ideas and concepts at the level you wish them to. It can be a way of facilitating 'deep' learning. Worth noting here, is that with the ubiquitousness of technology and its capabilities now, the requirement of production being predominantly written no longer exists, with the range of possible forms of production ever increasing, bounded only by your imaginations.

Example: Infographic

When students are learning about processes or procedures; dealing with statistics, numbers, and dates; learning about complex ideas with interactions on different levels; or something similar, you can ask students to produce an infographic to explain, describe, and visualise this information. The production of the infographic can be worked on by students outside of scheduled sessions, and should be shared with the whole class through MyLO. The infographics could also be used as a starting point for further analyses and/or discussions.

Example: Oral summary (+ written summary)

Students are each given a specific aspect of a topic, and asked to create a 4 minute oral explanation of it. The oral explanation is then shared with the other members of the class, either as a recording shared online, or through a live presentation during a scheduled session. This can work well when all the participating students are then asked to write a short summary of each of the aspects explained. These written summaries are then also shared with the class online. In addition to providing students with an opportunity to learn more about the aspects, this also provides you the teacher with useful feedback about the aspects which students have not understood as well as needed. This then enables you to plan for additional learning activities that focus on the less well understood concepts.

Example: One minute paper

During a lecture, or within a module on MyLO, ask students to stop and spend one minute (and no longer) responding to a key question about the topic being covered. Students then pass in their writing to the teacher.

The one minute paper can be written on a piece of paper, but works particularly well on campus when students are asked to submit it through the survey tool in MyLO. This makes the collection and reading of the papers easier for you the teacher, and makes it easier to analyse the responses and respond to them in the following scheduled session.

Problem Solving

Presenting students with a problem, scenario, case, challenge or design issue, which they are then asked to resolve, address, meet, or deal with provides students with a visible and clear reason for learning. If, in order to solve the problem, they are required to have knowledge, understandings and skills, that they don't currently have, they are likely to be motivated to gain them. The scale and extent of the problem, and the amount of scaffolding provided by you, the teacher, will need careful consideration and reference to the learning outcomes of the unit, module and/or session.

You may find John Savery's (2006) article Overview of Problem-based Learning: Definitions and Distinctions a valuable and useful read.

Example: Simulation

Students are provided with a scenario, and they then interact with people and/or machines who respond to their choices and actions as if in real life. After the simulation has ended, the student reflects on the consequences of their choices and actions, often in response to questions from their classmates or teacher(s).

Example: Case Study

Students, either individually or in groups, are provided with information about a person or organisation, and are assigned a role that is relevant to the case of the assigned person or organisation. The students must then analyse the case, and make recommendations to stakeholder(s), propose a solution, or present a design or plan related to the case.

What students are asked to do in relation to the case will depend on the discipline in which they are studying, and the unit's intended learning outcomes.

Example: Class Solution and Consequence

During a live lecture or tutorial, the teacher presents a scenario, and seeks responses from the class about possible approaches/responses to it. After collecting the responses (made verbally and recorded by the teacher, or sent using an audience response system such as MyLO surveys, clickers, or Lecture tools (which are currently in use across UTAS)), the teacher then asks for verbal responses about what the consequences might be for a selected answer. This continues as each of the main responses are analysed and the consequences considered.

Using effective questioning and discussion facilitation skills will enhance this sort of learning activity.

Reflection is an activity that supports the development of students' meta-cognition, that is, their understanding of how they think, learn, and understand. The process of reflection starts with the student thinking about what they already know and have experienced in relation to the topic being explored/learnt. This is followed by analysis of why the student thinks about the topic in the way they do, and what assumptions, attitudes and beliefs they have about, and bring to learning about the topic.

Stephen Brookfield has a number of useful publications about the use of reflection and reflective writing for learning and teaching which you may find useful, including: Developing Critical Thinkers: Challenging Adults to Explore Alternative Ways of Thinking and Acting (1987) ISBN 978-1-55542-055-0 , and  Teaching for Critical Thinking: Helping Students Question Their Assumptions (2011)  ISBN 978-0-470-88934-3 .

Example: Self-Assessment

After students have completed a learning activity or assessment task, provide them with a set of criteria to use to assess the quality of their work. Ask students to write down a comment about the quality of their work (process or product). Then, ask students to think about why they achieved that level of quality, and whether they could do something differently in the future to achieve a different/higher level of quality. Students may be asked to make a record of this reflection.

Example: Reflection on Learning

After students have received feedback on an early assessment task or learning activity, ask them to use the DIEP model (Boud, 1985) to write a reflection about their experience of completing the task or participating in the activity. Ask students to use the reflective writing process to assist them to replicate approaches that worked well for them, and/or to avoid approaches that did not help them to learn and perform well.

This focus would be most appropriate for students who are in their first year of study at university, and especially for those in their first semester.

Example: Prior Understanding

Towards the start of a new topic or module, present to students the name of the topic, and/or some key words of relevance to the new module. Ask students to reflect on what they currently think about this topic, how they feel about it, and why this might be the case. Ask students to predict what they will learn about, how they feel about that, and how they expect to feel about the experience of learning about it.

This can be useful to go back to towards the end of the module or topic, to ask students to reflect on if and how their feelings and understandings have changed.

Richardson, J. C., & Swan, K. (2003). Examining social presence in online courses in relation to students' perceived learning and satisfaction. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks 7 (1), 68-88.

Schuell, T. J. (1986). Cognitive conceptions of learning.  Review of Educational Research ,  56 , 411-436.

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8 Active Learning Strategies and Examples [+ Downloadable List]

Written by Justin Raudys

Engage your students, get time-saving tools and differentiate learning with Prodigy.

• Teaching Strategies
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• 8 Active Learning Strategies

The Teacher’s Role in the Active Learning Classroom

Active learning techniques: key questions, making space for active learning strategies.

As a teacher, one of your biggest challenges is to plan lessons that inspire your students to stay actively involved in the learning process.

But you’ve probably noticed that traditional, teacher-centered learning plans aren’t always conducive to achieving that inspiration.

That’s where active learning strategies come into play. You can use them to empower, engage, and  stimulate a classroom by putting students at the center of the learning process.

Get inspired by these 8 strategies that will help students talk more openly, think more creatively and -- ultimately -- become more engaged in the process of learning.

This article is accompanied by a  downloadable list of active learning strategies  to keep at your desk for quick reference. 

Active Learning Strategies

1. reciprocal questioning.

Use reciprocal questioning  to encourage an open dialogue in which students take on the role of the teacher and create their own questions about a topic, reading section, or lesson.

After covering a topic of your choice in class -- or after assigning a reading selection -- divide the class into pairs or small groups and have students come up with a few questions for discussion with the rest of the class. To facilitate the process, you can provide students with “question stems,” which provide a foundation for a question but still require students to think critically about a lesson, text, or other section of material by completing the query. Consider the examples below.

Comprehension Question Stems

Describe  x  in your own words. What does  y  mean? Why is  z  important? How could  x  be used to  y ?

Connector Question Stems

Explain how  x  and why  z.  In what ways are  x  and  y  similar? In what ways are  x  and  y  different? How does  x  tie in with that we learned before?

Use these question stems to anchor and explore concepts in course material, helping students investigate a range of new topics and points of view associated with your lesson.

Much like student-generated test questions -- a type of of experiential learning activity -- reciprocal questioning involves students in the learning process to help build their comprehension of course material.

Reciprocal questioning can be particularly useful when:

• Preparing for tests or exams
• Introducing a new topic or section of course content
• Discussing reading or writing materials in greater detail

2.  Three step interviews

A cooperative learning strategy , the  three step interview  encourages students to develop active listening skills by quizzing one another, sharing their thoughts, and taking notes.

To use the three step interview process, divide students into groups of three, and assign three roles: interviewer, interviewee, and notetaker.

After also assigning a theme or topic of discussion, have students participate in a five to 10 minute interview to discuss what they found to be the key information relating to the topic.

After each interview, have students rotate roles. Depending on factors including the grade level of your students and their experience with the strategy, you may adjust the length of the time for each interview.

One interpretation of the three-step interview process. Feel free to experiment with the duration and number of students involved in these steps. Image courtesy:  Kagan Publishing

Before using the strategy, you may find it useful to have students explore the types of questions reporters ask in interviews and at what point in an interview they ask them. You may also want to provide recording sheets to use when they are assigned the “reporter” role.

The three-step interview confers benefits including:

• Helping  students learn and apply different questioning strategies
• Strengthening  students’ connection with course material in a creative and engaging way
• Producing  a sense of accountability, with students working together to complete a task and grasp a lesson

3. The pause procedure

Use the pause procedure to intersperse strategic pauses into your class lectures and enhance student understanding of teaching materials.

To use the pause procedure, arrange for pauses of two to three minutes between every 10 to 15 minutes of lecture time.

During these brief breaks, encourage students to discuss or rework their notes in pairs to clarify key points covered, raise questions, and solve problems posed by the instructor.

Alternatively, students can work together to write a paragraph that connects or highlights key ideas set out in their partner’s notes.

A 2014 study concluded that breaking a lecture into brief pauses can increase student attention and learning outcomes. The pause procedure, the study determined, is “a good active learning strategy which helps students review their notes, reflect on them, discuss and explain the key ideas with their partners.”

The use of the pause procedure involves a minimal amount of extra time, but can confer significant benefits in comparison to lectures that continue without breaks.

4. The muddiest point technique

The muddiest point technique involves asking students to write notes on the most unclear or most confusing element of a given homework assignment, lecture, or class discussion.

The Muddiest Point: Sample Phrasing   What have you found to be the muddiest point so far in this assignment? What topic do you find to be the least clear?

Asking students to write down what they find to be the least clear is a powerful exercise because it compels them to grade or rate their own knowledge of a topic.

In short, the exercise helps students reflect on the lesson and identify concepts needing further examination or study.

Example of a "muddiest point" handout to issue to students. Image source: TeachersPayTeachers .

From your perspective, the activity can serve as an insightful source of feedback.

For example, if more than a quarter of the class mentions the same “muddiest point,” you may wish to schedule a further time to discuss that topic, or create a new lesson plan or assignment to tackle it.

5. The devil's advocate approach

The devil's advocate approach asks one or more students to take the opposing side of a predominant argument or point of view being discussed during a lesson.

Once you have completed an assignment or lesson plan, select a topic that is suitable for discussion and debate. The topic should serve as an appropriate subject for providing arguments from both sides.

The activity is flexible and should be tailored to suit your students' grade level. In its simplest form, divide the class into two sections and coordinate a class-wide debate based on a selected topic. Alternatively, you may have students annotate reading texts and respond to contentions by creating counterarguments. Then, have students debate the proposals discussed during a mock town hall meeting.

While this approach can be used across a number of grade levels and subjects, consider this list of thematic claims used as primers for a devil’s advocate activity in a secondary ELA class.

Image source: Bespoke Classroom .

This approach can help cultivate active learning in the classroom by encouraging students to:

• Think more critically , challenging  participants to expand their understanding of the perspectives surrounding an issue and to view it through a different lens
• Become more engaged,  fostering involvement by drawing out opinions to explore the complexity of an issue being studied
• Produce a deeper understanding  of topics or issues, using rigorous analysis to collectively clarify, probe, and pose alternatives to problems being discussed

According to a study published in the Journal of Theory, Research and Action in Urban Education , the devil’s advocate approach can help students become “more familiar with a...topic and its multifaceted viewpoints.” The same study concludes that a classroom using this strategy can:

“provide students with multiple perspectives, and challenge students with tough questions. In such a classroom, students will become more engaged and students’ critical thinking and writing skills will be enriched.”

6. Peer teaching activities

A flexible and multi-faceted approach to active learning, peer instruction encompasses a range of scenarios where students instruct skills or explain concepts to classmates .

Some popular options include:

• Reading buddies  — A cooperative learning strategy that pairs two students who work together to read an assigned text.
• Cross-age peer tutoring  — A peer learning strategy involving students in different grades, wherein which one student instructs another on the material in which the first student is advanced and the second student is a novice.
• Role play  — A group of students is split into smaller groups and given a specific task to complete, like in small group work. However, in addition to working on a specific task, the members of each group are asked to play a certain “role”. Unlike in traditional role-play, all members of one group play the same role, not individually assigned roles.

Peer teaching activities help boost vital skills and behaviors including student interaction, accountability, group processing.

7. Game-based learning platforms

Game-based learning platforms and depth and differentiation to the educational process and allow students to work with their instructors to achieve their learning objectives.

Eric Sheninger, a principal, author, and Senior Fellow at the International Center for Leadership in Education (ICLE), writes passionately about the use of technology as an active learning tool. In his article " Shifting From Passive to Active Learning ," he writes:

It is really about how students use devices to create artifacts of learning that demonstrate conceptual mastery through relevant application and evaluation...Give kids challenging problems to solve that have more than one right answer and let them use technology to show that they understand. This is the epitome of active learning...

Math games and websites are at the forefront of delivering active learning through technology. One example is Prodigy, a platform that constantly  adjusts questions to tackle student trouble spots and delivers math problems with words, charts pictures, and numbers. Better yet, educational content is free to access and aligned with curricula for grades 1 to 8 teachers.

Create and sign into your free teacher account.

8. Rotating chair group discussions

Rotating chair group discussions  encourage students to actively listen to selected speakers who follow a pattern of guiding class discussion and summarizing previous points. Students lead and stimulate class discussion as they “rotate” roles, repeatedly selecting the following speaker.

To use this strategy effectively, ensure that students adhere to the following pattern:

• When a student wishes to participate, they must raise their hand
• The student who is speaking  calls on the next speaker,  ideally someone who has not yet contributed
• The student who has been called upon briefly summarizes what the previous student said before developing the idea further

This process can be repeated across a variety of topics, with your guidance to stay on track and help stuck students.

The benefits of rotating chair group discussions are not only limited to the speakers. Knowing that they may be called upon to summarize the previous topic, all students are engaged in attentive listening, frequently jotting down notes and ideas to stay on track in the spaces between speaking.

Moreover, students are put into a scenario where they learn from their colleagues’ ideas, sparking new considerations of material in an active and engaging way.

This strategy is rewarding for students because it encourages powerful and direct engagement with course material.

While active learning places an emphasis on the student’s role in the learning experience, there is no doubt that the success of any active learning strategy starts with the thought and planning of a conscientious instructor.

"Overall," a 2011 study found , "teachers play an influential role in increasing students' situational interest in the active-learning classroom," while factors like a teacher's social connection with students and subject matter expertise "significantly influence the level of students' situational interest in the active learning classroom."

And, critically, the benefits of active learning go both ways, helping teachers as well as students.

As active learning advocate James Ballencia writes,

With the goal of teaching mindful learners who actively pursue knowledge, teachers become more actively engaged in how they teach the curriculum and how they develop each student's learning potential. They mix and match a variety of ... tactics to ensure that students not only learn more, better, and faster -- they also learn smarter.

As many of the techniques above are open-ended, the active learning strategies underpinning them may differentiate for different types of learners. Be sure to consider how you can  differentiate instruction  while still enjoying the benefits of these active learning strategies.

To help the success of these strategies, put yourself in your students’ position and imagine how they might experience it. This will help you get a feel for the lesson.

When applying any of these strategies for your course, be sure to ask yourself:

• Will this be engaging and exciting for my students?
• Can this activity deploy  formative assessment strategies ?
• Is the student placed at the center of this learning strategy?
• Will this encourage my students to discuss a topic with one another?
• Am I giving students the opportunity to reflect on the learning process?
• Is this activity getting my students to think deeply and critically about a topic or lesson or is it simply a comprehension exercise?

While all of the active learning strategies outlined above can be deployed in traditional, lecture-oriented classrooms, the physical arrangement of your room and the number of students in the class can make some of them difficult to perform easily.

While a flexible seating classroom arrangement may ease this challenge, such a solution is not always possible. Plan these exercises with the limitations of your physical space carefully, being mindful of the environmental constraints posed by the unique arrangements of some of the strategies above.

Final Thoughts on Active Learning Strategies

Active learning plainly puts the focus on the learner: what the learner does, what the learner thinks, and how the learner behaves.

But, crucially, active learning doesn't simply happen with a few simple instructions: it occurs in the classroom where the teacher is committed to a learning environment that makes active learning possible .  

Ultimately, these active learning strategies will help build understanding rather than memorization of facts, giving students the confidence to apply learning to different problems and contexts and achieve greater autonomy over their learning.

And, after all, that’s exactly makes active learning “active”:  putting students at the center of the learning process as they take the initiative to learn .

Downloadable List of the 8 Active Learning Strategies

Click here  to download the list of strategies to print and keep at your desk.

Create or log in to your teacher account on Prodigy  -- a game-based learning platform that assesses student progress and performance as they play. Aligned with a growing list of curricula across the world, over  800,000 teachers  and  30 million students have signed up to Prodigy Math Game .

Eberly Center

Teaching excellence & educational innovation, creating assignments.

Here are some general suggestions and questions to consider when creating assignments. There are also many other resources in print and on the web that provide examples of interesting, discipline-specific assignment ideas.

Consider your learning objectives.

What do you want students to learn in your course? What could they do that would show you that they have learned it? To determine assignments that truly serve your course objectives, it is useful to write out your objectives in this form: I want my students to be able to ____. Use active, measurable verbs as you complete that sentence (e.g., compare theories, discuss ramifications, recommend strategies), and your learning objectives will point you towards suitable assignments.

Design assignments that are interesting and challenging.

This is the fun side of assignment design. Consider how to focus students’ thinking in ways that are creative, challenging, and motivating. Think beyond the conventional assignment type! For example, one American historian requires students to write diary entries for a hypothetical Nebraska farmwoman in the 1890s. By specifying that students’ diary entries must demonstrate the breadth of their historical knowledge (e.g., gender, economics, technology, diet, family structure), the instructor gets students to exercise their imaginations while also accomplishing the learning objectives of the course (Walvoord & Anderson, 1989, p. 25).

Double-check alignment.

After creating your assignments, go back to your learning objectives and make sure there is still a good match between what you want students to learn and what you are asking them to do. If you find a mismatch, you will need to adjust either the assignments or the learning objectives. For instance, if your goal is for students to be able to analyze and evaluate texts, but your assignments only ask them to summarize texts, you would need to add an analytical and evaluative dimension to some assignments or rethink your learning objectives.

Name assignments accurately.

Students can be misled by assignments that are named inappropriately. For example, if you want students to analyze a product’s strengths and weaknesses but you call the assignment a “product description,” students may focus all their energies on the descriptive, not the critical, elements of the task. Thus, it is important to ensure that the titles of your assignments communicate their intention accurately to students.

Consider sequencing.

Think about how to order your assignments so that they build skills in a logical sequence. Ideally, assignments that require the most synthesis of skills and knowledge should come later in the semester, preceded by smaller assignments that build these skills incrementally. For example, if an instructor’s final assignment is a research project that requires students to evaluate a technological solution to an environmental problem, earlier assignments should reinforce component skills, including the ability to identify and discuss key environmental issues, apply evaluative criteria, and find appropriate research sources.

Think about scheduling.

Consider your intended assignments in relation to the academic calendar and decide how they can be reasonably spaced throughout the semester, taking into account holidays and key campus events. Consider how long it will take students to complete all parts of the assignment (e.g., planning, library research, reading, coordinating groups, writing, integrating the contributions of team members, developing a presentation), and be sure to allow sufficient time between assignments.

Check feasibility.

Is the workload you have in mind reasonable for your students? Is the grading burden manageable for you? Sometimes there are ways to reduce workload (whether for you or for students) without compromising learning objectives. For example, if a primary objective in assigning a project is for students to identify an interesting engineering problem and do some preliminary research on it, it might be reasonable to require students to submit a project proposal and annotated bibliography rather than a fully developed report. If your learning objectives are clear, you will see where corners can be cut without sacrificing educational quality.

Articulate the task description clearly.

If an assignment is vague, students may interpret it any number of ways – and not necessarily how you intended. Thus, it is critical to clearly and unambiguously identify the task students are to do (e.g., design a website to help high school students locate environmental resources, create an annotated bibliography of readings on apartheid). It can be helpful to differentiate the central task (what students are supposed to produce) from other advice and information you provide in your assignment description.

Establish clear performance criteria.

Different instructors apply different criteria when grading student work, so it’s important that you clearly articulate to students what your criteria are. To do so, think about the best student work you have seen on similar tasks and try to identify the specific characteristics that made it excellent, such as clarity of thought, originality, logical organization, or use of a wide range of sources. Then identify the characteristics of the worst student work you have seen, such as shaky evidence, weak organizational structure, or lack of focus. Identifying these characteristics can help you consciously articulate the criteria you already apply. It is important to communicate these criteria to students, whether in your assignment description or as a separate rubric or scoring guide . Clearly articulated performance criteria can prevent unnecessary confusion about your expectations while also setting a high standard for students to meet.

Specify the intended audience.

Students make assumptions about the audience they are addressing in papers and presentations, which influences how they pitch their message. For example, students may assume that, since the instructor is their primary audience, they do not need to define discipline-specific terms or concepts. These assumptions may not match the instructor’s expectations. Thus, it is important on assignments to specify the intended audience http://wac.colostate.edu/intro/pop10e.cfm (e.g., undergraduates with no biology background, a potential funder who does not know engineering).

Specify the purpose of the assignment.

If students are unclear about the goals or purpose of the assignment, they may make unnecessary mistakes. For example, if students believe an assignment is focused on summarizing research as opposed to evaluating it, they may seriously miscalculate the task and put their energies in the wrong place. The same is true they think the goal of an economics problem set is to find the correct answer, rather than demonstrate a clear chain of economic reasoning. Consequently, it is important to make your objectives for the assignment clear to students.

Specify the parameters.

If you have specific parameters in mind for the assignment (e.g., length, size, formatting, citation conventions) you should be sure to specify them in your assignment description. Otherwise, students may misapply conventions and formats they learned in other courses that are not appropriate for yours.

A Checklist for Designing Assignments

Here is a set of questions you can ask yourself when creating an assignment.

• Provided a written description of the assignment (in the syllabus or in a separate document)?
• Specified the purpose of the assignment?
• Indicated the intended audience?
• Articulated the instructions in precise and unambiguous language?
• Provided information about the appropriate format and presentation (e.g., page length, typed, cover sheet, bibliography)?  
• Indicated special instructions, such as a particular citation style or headings?  
• Specified the due date and the consequences for missing it?
• Articulated performance criteria clearly?
• Indicated the assignment’s point value or percentage of the course grade?
• Provided students (where appropriate) with models or samples?

Adapted from the WAC Clearinghouse at http://wac.colostate.edu/intro/pop10e.cfm .

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Designing Assessments of Student Learning

Image Hollie Nyseth Brehm, ​​​​​Associate Professor, Department of Sociology  Professor Hollie Nyseth Brehm was a graduate student the first time she taught a class, “I didn’t have any training on how to teach, so I assigned a final paper and gave them instructions: ‘Turn it in at the end of course.’ That was sort of it.” Brehm didn’t have a rubric or a process to check in with students along the way. Needless to say, the assignment didn’t lead to any major breakthroughs for her students. But it was a learning experience for Brehm. As she grew her teaching skills, she began to carefully craft assignments to align to course goals, make tasks realistic and meaningful, and break down large assignments into manageable steps. "Now I always have rubrics. … I always scaffold the assignment such that they’ll start by giving me their paper topic and a couple of sources and then turn in a smaller portion of it, and we write it in pieces. And that leads to a much better learning experience for them—and also for me, frankly, when I turn to grade it .”

Reflect  

Have you ever planned a big assignment that didn’t turn out as you’d hoped? What did you learn, and how would you design that assignment differently now? 

What are students learning in your class? Are they meeting your learning outcomes? You simply cannot answer these questions without assessment of some kind.

As educators, we measure student learning through many means, including assignments, quizzes, and tests. These assessments can be formal or informal, graded or ungraded. But assessment is not simply about awarding points and assigning grades. Learning is a process, not a product, and that process takes place during activities such as recall and practice. Assessing skills in varied ways helps you adjust your teaching throughout your course to support student learning

Research tells us that our methods of assessment don’t only measure how much students have learned. They also play an important role in the learning process. A phenomenon known as the “testing effect” suggests students learn more from repeated testing than from repeated exposure to the material they are trying to learn (Karpicke & Roediger, 2008). While exposure to material, such as during lecture or study, helps students store new information, it’s crucial that students actively practice retrieving that information and putting it to use. Frequent assessment throughout a course provides students with the practice opportunities that are essential to learning.

In addition we can’t assume students can transfer what they have practiced in one context to a different context. Successful transfer of learning requires understanding of deep, structural features and patterns that novices to a subject are still developing (Barnett & Ceci, 2002; Bransford & Schwartz, 1999). If we want students to be able to apply their learning in a wide variety of contexts, they must practice what they’re learning in a wide variety of contexts .

Providing a variety of assessment types gives students multiple opportunities to practice and demonstrate learning. One way to categorize the range of assessment options is as formative or summative.

Formative and Summative Assessment

Opportunities not simply to practice, but to receive feedback on that practice, are crucial to learning (Ambrose et al., 2010). Formative assessment facilitates student learning by providing frequent low-stakes practice coupled with immediate and focused feedback. Whether graded or ungraded, formative assessment helps you monitor student progress and guide students to understand which outcomes they’ve mastered, which they need to focus on, and what strategies can support their learning. Formative assessment also informs how you modify your teaching to better meet student needs throughout your course.

Technology Tip

Design quizzes in CarmenCanvas to provide immediate and useful feedback to students based on their answers. Learn more about setting up quizzes in Carmen. 

Summative assessment measures student learning by comparing it to a standard. Usually these types of assessments evaluate a range of skills or overall performance at the end of a unit, module, or course. Unlike formative assessment, they tend to focus more on product than process. These high-stakes experiences are typically graded and should be less frequent (Ambrose et al., 2010).

Using Bloom's Taxonomy

Bloom’s Taxonomy is a common framework for thinking about how students can demonstrate their learning on assessments, as well as for articulating course and lesson learning outcomes .

Benjamin Bloom (alongside collaborators Max Englehart, Edward Furst, Walter Hill, and David Krathwohl) published Taxonomy of Educational Objectives in 1956.   The taxonomy provided a system for categorizing educational goals with the intent of aiding educators with assessment. Commonly known as Bloom’s Taxonomy, the framework has been widely used to guide and define instruction in both K-12 and university settings. The original taxonomy from 1956 included a cognitive domain made up of six categories: Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation. The categories after Knowledge were presented as “skills and abilities,” with the understanding that knowledge was the necessary precondition for putting these skills and abilities into practice. 

A revised Bloom's Taxonomy from 2001 updated these six categories to reflect how learners interact with knowledge. In the revised version, students can:  Remember content, Understand ideas, Apply information to new situations, Analyze relationships between ideas, Evaluate information to justify perspectives or decisions, and Create new ideas or original work. In the graphic pictured here, the categories from the revised taxonomy are imagined as the layers of a cake.

Assessing students on a variety of Bloom's categories will give you a better sense of how well they understand your course content. The taxonomy can be a helpful guide to predicting which tasks will be most difficult for students so you can provide extra support where it is needed. It can also be used to craft more transparent assignments and test questions by honing in on the specific skills you want to assess and finding the right language to communicate exactly what you want students to do.  See the Sample Bloom's Verbs in the Examples section below.

Diving deeper into Bloom's Taxonomy

Like most aspects of our lives, activities and assessments in today’s classroom are inextricably linked with technology. In 2008, Andrew Churches extended Bloom’s Taxonomy to address the emerging changes in learning behaviors and opportunities as “technology advances and becomes more ubiquitous.” Consult Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy for ideas on using digital tools to facilitate and assess learning across the six categories of learning.

Did you know that the cognitive domain (commonly referred to simply as Bloom's Taxonomy) was only one of three domains in the original Bloom's Taxonomy (1956)? While it is certainly the most well-known and widely used, the other two domains— psychomotor and affective —may be of interest to some educators. The psychomotor domain relates to physical movement, coordination, and motor skills—it might apply to the performing arts or other courses that involve movement, manipulation of objects, and non-discursive communication like body language. The affective domain pertains to feelings, values, motivations, and attitudes and is used more often in disciplines like medicine, social work, and education, where emotions and values are integral aspects of learning. Explore the full taxonomy in  Three Domains of Learning: Cognitive, Affective, and Psychomotor (Hoque, 2017).

In Practice

Consider the following to make your assessments of student learning effective and meaningful.

Align assignments, quizzes, and tests closely to learning outcomes.

It goes without saying that you want students to achieve the learning outcomes for your course. The testing effect implies, then, that your assessments must help them retrieve the knowledge and practice the skills that are relevant to those outcomes.

Plan assessments that measure specific outcomes for your course. Instead of choosing quizzes and tests that are easy to grade or assignment types common to your discipline, carefully consider what assessments will best help students practice important skills. When assignments and feedback are aligned to learning outcomes, and you share this alignment with students, they have a greater appreciation for your course and develop more effective strategies for study and practice targeted at achieving those outcomes (Wang, et al., 2013).

Provide authentic learning experiences.

Consider how far removed from “the real world” traditional assessments like academic essays, standard textbook problems, and multiple-choice exams feel to students. In contrast, assignments that are authentic resemble real-world tasks. They feel relevant and purposeful, which can increase student motivation and engagement (Fink, 2013). Authentic assignments also help you assess whether students will be able to transfer what they learn into realistic contexts beyond your course.

Integrate assessment opportunities that prepare students to be effective and successful once they graduate, whether as professionals, as global citizens, or in their personal lives.

To design authentic assignments:

• Choose real-world content . If you want students to be able to apply disciplinary methods, frameworks, and terminology to solve real-world problems after your course, you must have them engage with real-world examples, procedures, and tools during your course. Include actual case studies, documents, data sets, and problems from your field in your assessments.
• Target a real-world audience . Ask students to direct their work to a tangible reader, listener or viewer, rather than to you. For example, they could write a blog for their peers or create a presentation for a future employer.
• Use real-world formats . Have students develop content in formats used in professional or real-life discourse. For example, instead of a conventional paper, students could write an email to a colleague or a letter to a government official, develop a project proposal or product pitch for a community-based company, post a how-to video on YouTube, or create an infographic to share on social media.

Simulations, role plays, case studies, portfolios, project-based learning, and service learning are all great avenues to bring authentic assessment into your course.

Make sure assignments are achievable.

Your students juggle coursework from several classes, so it’s important to be conscious of workload. Assign tasks they can realistically handle at a given point in the term. If it takes you three hours to do something, it will likely take your students six hours or more. Choose assignments that assess multiple learning outcomes from your course to keep your grading manageable and your feedback useful (Rayner et al., 2016).

Scaffold assignments so students can develop knowledge and skills over time.

For large assignments, use scaffolding to integrate multiple opportunities for feedback, reflection, and improvement. Scaffolding means breaking a complex assignment down into component parts or smaller progressive tasks over time. Practicing these smaller tasks individually before attempting to integrate them into a completed assignment supports student learning by reducing the amount of information they need to process at a given time (Salden et al., 2006).

Scaffolding ensures students will start earlier and spend more time on big assignments. And it provides you more opportunities to give feedback and guidance to support their ultimate success. Additionally, scaffolding can draw students’ attention to important steps in a process that are often overlooked, such as planning and revision, leading them to be more independent and thoughtful about future work.

A familiar example of scaffolding is a research paper. You might ask students to submit a topic or thesis in Week 3 of the semester, an annotated bibliography of sources in Week 6, a detailed outline in Week 9, a first draft on which they can get peer feedback in Week 11, and the final draft in the last week of the semester.

Your course journey is decided in part by how you sequence assignments. Consider where students are in their learning and place assignments at strategic points throughout the term. Scaffold across the course journey by explaining how each assignment builds upon the learning achieved in previous ones (Walvoord & Anderson, 2011). 

Be transparent about assignment instructions and expectations. 

Communicate clearly to students about the purpose of each assignment, the process for completing the task, and the criteria you will use to evaluate it before they begin the work. Studies have shown that transparent assignments support students to meet learning goals and result in especially large increases in success and confidence for underserved students (Winkelmes et al., 2016).

To increase assignment transparency:

• Explain how the assignment links to one or more course learning outcomes . Understanding why the assignment matters and how it supports their learning can increase student motivation and investment in the work.
• Outline steps of the task in the assignment prompt . Clear directions help students structure their time and effort. This is also a chance to call out disciplinary standards with which students are not yet familiar or guide them to focus on steps of the process they often neglect, such as initial research.
• Provide a rubric with straightforward evaluation criteria . Rubrics make transparent which parts of an assignment you care most about. Sharing clear criteria sets students up for success by giving them the tools to self-evaluate and revise their work before submitting it. Be sure to explain your rubric, and particularly to unpack new or vague terms; for example, language like "argue," “close reading,” "list significant findings," and "document" can mean different things in different disciplines. It is helpful to show exemplars and non-exemplars along with your rubric to highlight differences in unacceptable, acceptable, and exceptional work.

Engage students in reflection or discussion to increase assignment transparency. Have them consider how the assessed outcomes connect to their personal lives or future careers. In-class activities that ask them to grade sample assignments and discuss the criteria they used, compare exemplars and non-exemplars, engage in self- or peer-evaluation, or complete steps of the assignment when you are present to give feedback can all support student success.

Technology Tip   

Enter all  assignments and due dates  in your Carmen course to increase transparency. When assignments are entered in Carmen, they also populate to Calendar, Syllabus, and Grades areas so students can easily track their upcoming work. Carmen also allows you to  develop rubrics  for every assignment in your course. 

Sample Bloom’s Verbs

Building a question bank, using the transparent assignment template, sample assignment: ai-generated lesson plan.

Include frequent low-stakes assignments and assessments throughout your course to provide the opportunities for practice and feedback that are essential to learning. Consider a variety of formative and summative assessment types so students can demonstrate learning in multiple ways. Use Bloom’s Taxonomy to determine—and communicate—the specific skills you want to assess.

Remember that effective assessments of student learning are:

• Aligned to course learning outcomes
• Authentic, or resembling real-world tasks
• Achievable and realistic
• Scaffolded so students can develop knowledge and skills over time
• Transparent in purpose, tasks, and criteria for evaluation
• Collaborative learning techniques: A handbook for college faculty (book)
• Cheating Lessons (book)
• Minds online: Teaching effectively with technology (book)
• Assessment: The Silent Killer of Learning (video)
• TILT Higher Ed Examples and Resource (website)
• Writing to Learn: Critical Thinking Activities for Any Classroom (guide)

Ambrose, S.A., Bridges, M.W., Lovett, M.C., DiPietro, M., & Norman, M.K. (2010).  How learning works: Seven research-based principles for smart teaching . John Wiley & Sons. 

Barnett, S.M., & Ceci, S.J. (2002). When and where do we apply what we learn? A taxonomy for far transfer.  Psychological Bulletin , 128 (4). 612–637.  doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.128.4.612  

Bransford, J.D, & Schwartz, D.L. (1999). Rethinking transfer: A simple proposal with multiple implications.  Review of Research in Education , 24 . 61–100.  doi.org/10.3102/0091732X024001061  

Fink, L. D. (2013).  Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to designing college courses . John Wiley & Sons. 

Karpicke, J.D., & Roediger, H.L., III. (2008). The critical importance of retrieval for learning.  Science ,  319 . 966–968.  doi.org/10.1126/science.1152408  

Rayner, K., Schotter, E. R., Masson, M. E., Potter, M. C., & Treiman, R. (2016). So much to read, so little time: How do we read, and can speed reading help?.  Psychological Science in the Public Interest ,  17 (1), 4-34.  doi.org/10.1177/1529100615623267     

Salden, R.J.C.M., Paas, F., van Merriënboer, J.J.G. (2006). A comparison of approaches to learning task selection in the training of complex cognitive skills.  Computers in Human Behavior , 22 (3). 321–333.  doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2004.06.003  

Walvoord, B. E., & Anderson, V. J. (2010).  Effective grading: A tool for learning and assessment in college . John Wiley & Sons. 

Wang, X., Su, Y., Cheung, S., Wong, E., & Kwong, T. (2013). An exploration of Biggs’ constructive alignment in course design and its impact on students’ learning approaches.  Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education , 38 (4). 477–491.  doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2004.06.003  

Winkelmes, M., Bernacki, M., Butler, J., Zochowski, M., Golanics, J., & Weavil, K.H. (2016). A teaching intervention that increases underserved college students’ success.  Peer Review , 18 (1/2). 31–36. Retrieved from  https://www.aacu.org/peerreview/2016/winter-spring/Winkelmes

Related Teaching Topics

A positive approach to academic integrity, creating and adapting assignments for online courses, ai teaching strategies: transparent assignment design, designing research or inquiry-based assignments, using backward design to plan your course, universal design for learning: planning with all students in mind, search for resources.

16 Ideas for Student Projects Using Google Docs, Slides, and Forms

July 31, 2016

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As you probably know, Google Drive is far more than a place to store files online. It also includes a suite of versatile creation tools, many of which perform the same functions as the ones we use in other spaces. These include  Google Docs,  a word processing program that behaves similarly to Microsoft Word,  Google Slides,  a presentation program similar to PowerPoint, and  Google Forms,  a survey-creation tool similar to Survey Monkey.  Although Drive also includes other tools, these three are particularly useful for creating rigorous, academically robust projects. If your school uses Google Classroom or at least gives students access to Google Drive, your students are probably already using these tools to write papers or create slideshow presentations, but there are other projects they could be doing that you may not have thought of.

Below I have listed 16 great ideas for projects using Google Docs, Slides, and Forms.

Annotated Bibliography By the time a student reaches the later years of high school, and certainly by the time she’s gotten to college, it’s likely that she’ll be required to write an annotated bibliography, a list of resources that not only includes the bibliographical information of each source, but also a short paragraph summarizing the resource and reflecting on its usefulness for a given project. Usually an annotated bibliography is required as a part of a larger research paper, but it could stand alone as an assignment that tasks students with seeking out and evaluating sources just for the practice of doing so. And the research tools in Google Docs allow students to locate, read, and cite their sources all in one place. To learn more, see this guide from Cornell University Library on How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography .

Book Review Instead of a book report, have students write a book review instead. This is certainly not a new idea, but publishing the work electronically allows students to enhance the final product with the book’s cover image, a link to the book’s page on Amazon, and even links to other titles the author has written or articles on related topics. For models and inspiration, elementary and middle school students can read student-written reviews on sites like Spaghetti Book Club . Older or advanced students might work toward more sophisticated, nuanced review styles like book reviews written on Oprah.com .

Collaborative Story Because Google Docs is cloud-based, multiple people can work on a Doc at the same time. So students can work together on a story, a script for a play, or any other kind of group writing project. They can use the comments feature to give each other feedback and make decisions together. And because students can work from any location with an Internet connection, collaboration isn’t restricted to school hours; each group member can work on the project from any location whenever they have time.

Media-Rich Research Paper Any kind of research paper can be given a big boost when done in a Google Doc, because students can insert images, drawings, and links to other relevant resources, like articles and videos. Using the research tools built into Docs, students can research their topics and include in-text citations with footnotes.

Super Simple Blog If you don’t want to mess with actual blogging platforms, but want students to be able to experience writing blog posts that contain images and hyperlinks to other websites, this could be accomplished easily in a single running Google Doc.

Table Being able to organize information visually is an important skill, and students who understand how to build a table in Google Docs will have a skill for presenting all kinds of information in the future. They can be used as a compare and contrast exercise, to display data from an experiment, or even put together a schedule. Yes, you could do these things yourself, print them, and have students fill them out, but why not have students practice creating the tables themselves? 

Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Story Because slides can contain hyperlinks to other slides, students could build a whole story where the reader chooses different options at key points in the story, leading them down completely different paths. The reader would consume the content as a slideshow, clicking on the links themselves as they go through. This could be a pretty massive undertaking, but we all know students who would be totally up for the challenge.

E-book These could take a variety of forms: mini-textbooks, children’s books, cookbooks or how-to manuals, personal art or writing portfolios, even yearbook-style memory books. To learn more about the possibilities, see my post from earlier this year on  Student E-Books .

Magazine Along the same lines as an e-book, students could use a similar template to create a PDF magazine or newsletter that is shared online on a regular schedule. The possibilities here are endless, useful for student clubs or sports teams, classroom or grade-level newsletters, or magazines put out by groups of students who share a common interest, like gaming systems, soccer, or books.

Museum Kiosk Imagine if we could enhance science fair projects with a looping video display that provides the audience with vivid visuals and text about our topic. Or imagine an art show, where a self-running informational slideshow could be placed beside an art display to share the story behind the piece and photos of the work in progress? This is possible and EASY in Google Slides: Simply create a slideshow, then use the “Publish to the Web” feature to create a slideshow that auto-advances and has no need for a presenter. Pop that up on an iPad or laptop and you’re all set. This mock-up of a slideshow on Coral Reefs shows you what it could look like (click the image to open in a new window).

Short Film Students can upload their own images and add text boxes to a slideshow to create an animated story, then record the slideshow with a Google extension called Screencastify . They can either record their own voice as narration, add background music, or both. There are so many different kinds of films students could produce: illustrated stories or poems, final reflections for a 20 Time or Genius Hour project, video textbooks on content-related topics, or news-like feature stories of school or community events. In this quick sample, I added music from YouTube’s library of royalty-free music that anyone can use to enhance their recordings:

Video Tutorial Using the same screencasting software mentioned above, students could also create their own video tutorials by creating a Slides presentation on their topic (such as “How to Open a Combination Lock”), then recording the slideshow with narration. This would make a nice final product for a unit on informational writing or a way for students to demonstrate their learning at the end of a unit in science (“How to Take Care of Lab Equipment”), social studies (“How to Measure Distance on a Map”), or math (“How to Multiply Fractions”). Student-made tutorials could even be created to teach classroom procedures. And any tutorials students make could be stored for later, so other students can also benefit from them.  Learn more about how Screencastify works right inside Chrome .

Peer Survey Whenever students need to gather data to support an argumentative essay or speech, let them gather data quickly and easily by creating a survey with Google Forms. Links to the survey can be sent out via email, QR codes , or through a post in a learning management system like Edmodo or Google Classroom. When results come in, students can use them to support whatever claim they are trying to make in their argument, or make adjustments based on what they discover in their research.

Feedback Form Have students provide feedback to each other’s presentations, speeches, even videos using Google Forms. Here’s how it would work: Each student creates her own form, asking for the kind of feedback she wants on the project. As other students view or the project, they can be sent to a form to offer praise or constructive criticism, which the creator would then be able to view privately and use to improve the project. Students could even use their feedback to write a reflection on their process after the project is done.

Quiz One great way to learn material is to create a test or quiz over the content. Have students use Google Forms to create their own multiple-choice, True/False, fill-in-the-blank, or open-ended quizzes on the content they are learning.

Visual Representation of Data Sets Whenever people enter responses to a Form, Google allows the form creator to view responses in charts and graphs. Have students gain a better understanding of how data can be represented visually by accepting responses (or entering their own fake ones) into a Form, then looking at how the numbers are represented in graphs. This could work well as a series of math lessons.

Way Beyond Worksheets

Just this morning on Twitter, someone posted a comment along these lines: “A worksheet on a Google Doc is STILL a worksheet. Students should be using tech to create!” I’ve heard this sentiment over and over, and it’s exactly why I’ve put this list together. Google offers some incredibly powerful tools if we know how to use them. I hope this list has given you a few new ideas to put into your students’ hands. ♦

What to Read Next

Categories: Instruction , Technology

Tags: assessment , content area literacy , English language arts , Grades 3-5 , Grades 6-8 , Grades 9-12 , project-based learning , teaching with tech , tech tools

51 Comments

This is wonderful.

This is my first year teaching in an alternative high school. All students have IEP’s as well as social and emotional disabilities. I really want to focus on literacy as many are well below grade-level, ability wise. Writing of course is a big part of literacy. I’m looking for ideas that they can collaborate on, via Google Docs, Slides, etc. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Check out Boomwriter: A Fun Twist on Collaborative Writing . Lots of good resources there that you might like. Also take a look at Student-Made E-Books: A Beautiful Way to Demonstrate Learning .

I am an RSP teacher in Anaheim. For summer school I am going to have them build a “Bucket List” in Google slides.

Thanks for compiling these resources. I use many already but haven’t tried Screencastify yet. My district uses Google Classroom, but the forms app is blocked on student accounts- I think because it’s a perfect medium for under-the-radar cyberbullying (“How much do you hate Linda?…A little, a lot, a ton…”). Before teachers plan a lesson using forms, they should make sure the feature is enabled for students in their district. In my district, students can access forms and create them but they cannot send them to other students.

Thanks, Robyn. Good to know!

I love these ideas! You are so creative and now I have GREAT ideas for my SS project! Thanks! XD

this is all true

Our district is allowing extra credit this year and I have always been totally opposed to offering extra credit. These ideas are worth extra credit, and my focus this year is on what the students can teach me and the rest of their peers.

This gave me some good ideas for culminating activities. Thanks!

Thank you so much for sharing these ideas about creating projects by using the Google Drive! The middle school I teach at implemented a 1:1 program last year with Chromebooks, so the students have easy access to all of the Google apps. I had always grown up using Word docs and I was a little hesitant to start using Google docs at first. After just a few weeks, I absolutely fell in love with it! It is amazing how you can access all of your docs, forms, slides that you create from any device you’re using and the fact that everything automatically saves is just the cherry on top. I am grateful for this feature, especially working in a middle school where it is easy for students to forget to save something before exiting out. Although I teach Math, I found a lot of your project ideas to be utilized cross-curriculum and I truly appreciate it. I got my feet wet last year and had my students create google slides presentations in groups. At the beginning of this year, I started with a google form I created where students answered review questions from 6th grade Math. I love that when you get the results from all of the forms, you can easily see which areas students are struggling in and which areas they are proficient in because it is presented the results in graphs and charts. I just learned recently that you can create quizzes now, which is awesome because all of the testing in my district is done on the computers, so this will help prepare my students. I want to borrow your idea of having students create peer surveys that they can post on Google classroom in order to gather information and analyze results. This is a great skill for students to have. Thanks again, I truly enjoy reading your blogs!

Be positive at all time

Great collection of resources! Easy to read and very helpful for teachers who often do not get the tutorials they need to instruct with GAFE. I particular like the Museum Kiosk idea. It will work great will my history classes.

– Kevin

Hi everyone! I also would like to suggest my own (free) templates site. Im designing these presentations using “free” resources from other sites such as FreePik, FlatIcon,… and I think the result is pretty good. I invite you to have a look. The site is https://slidesppt.com

In the section of student blog posts, can you clarify how all the students in one class could be writing and posting a running blog which everyone in the class can read and respond to ?

This is Holly Burcham, a Customer Experience Manager. The idea Jenn laid out here is to simply create a shared Google Doc where each student would basically be responsible for his/her own page (literally page 1, page 2, etc.). Within a shared Doc, everyone with permission can be in and typing at the same time. Once “posts” are written, students can go in and add comments to others’ work. The comments would show up in the margins and would be arranged by corresponding content, not time like a typical blog post.

But, as you can imagine, this could quickly become very convoluted and a bit messy. The thought behind using Docs as a student blog is more for writing practice, getting the feel for writing a blog post without doing the real thing…

So, if you’re interested in your students truly creating a blog, we highly recommend checking out Edublogs and Kidblog . Hope this helps!

How are these good for projects? you said that these are for kid presentations, all I see are essay templates and idea’s for teachers to map out their classroom jobs(other then the coral)

Hi, Isaac! I’m not sure what could be used to map out classroom jobs specifically from this post, and I think the ideas here go way beyond essay outlines–please get back to me to clarify exactly what you’re referring to, because we believe all the ideas here are good for student use. Thanks!

You might update this post. Google Forms now supports branching which would be much easier to create a “choose your own” adventure type experience.

Thanks for the suggestion. I can picture how that would work, yes, but I guess the aesthetic experience might be lacking in a Google Form. With Slides you have complete creative freedom to design the slides like a real book. I guess it would be a matter of personal preference?

Where do I go to find accessibility features of Google docs, slides, and forms? I am a teacher of the blind and visually impaired. This technology is wonderful but without the ability to navigate the site independently, my students are at a lost. Can you direct me?

Hi! A couple of things that may be of help: Go to “Tools” in the menu bar and select Voice Typing (use Google Chrome). You can also click on Add-Ons in the menu bar and add the Speech Recognition Soundwriter extension for free. Here’s a link to find more Google Accessibility features — you just have to spend a bit of time looking through the list to see what may be relevant to your needs. I hope this helps!

You can also combine Google forms and docs to simplify book reports for elementary students: https://electriceducator.blogspot.com/2016/03/elementary-book-report-machine.html?m=1

Is there an available rubric or assessment piece for the museum kiosk activity?

Hi Colleen! No, sorry, I don’t have anything on that!

Hi I am a teacher at a elementary school and I was wondering if you had any ideas for what I could do for an autobiography book report.

Hi Madison,

There really are so many things you can have the kids do — I would first think about what you’re expecting the kids to be able to do in the end. What will actually be assessed and what will they be accountable for? (I suggest checking out Understanding Backward Design if you haven’t already.) From there, they can choose how to present what they learned, meeting the assessment criteria. I think using some of the ideas in the Slides section of the post could work really well, especially Student Made E-Books , or making a short film.

Madison, I love the idea of using Google Slides for autobiography book report. I’m thinking about Jennifer’s Slides suggestions and just tailoring it to your book report criteria/rubric. Thoughts?

thank you very much!!

Thank you! I can’t wait to explore some of these options more. This list is very much appreciated! 🙂

I really appreciate your kindness and your efforts and I’m going to try everything you have mentioned in this wonderful article

Thanks. Higher Ed ESOL Prof -no lesson prep for me… but I DO have my reading list for the next several (10-12) hours! All suggestions added to the original post are appreciated.

I am a huge fan of Google resources, but you have showed me some new ways I can use these. Thank you for sharing!

Thanks for some great ideas! I have another suggestion that I have used before- my students really liked it- a collaborative Google Slides presentation. I did this for types of organic molecules as an intro to organic chemistry. Each pair of students in the class was assigned a specific molecule to research. They had to create 1 slide with some specific information and add to a collaborative google slides presentation that I shared on Google Classroom. When the slideshow was complete, they could all access it, and they used it to take notes.

Great suggestion Susan! Thanks so much for sharing this idea.

I am wondering if I can find similar google instructions to send to my students now that we are teaching remotely and 90% of them probably don’t know how to use Google. This would be a fantastic use of their time. Thank you

Take a look at Jenn’s Google Drive Basics video course ! I think it’s got what you’re looking for – it’s for teachers and students!

I am thinking about doing a Rap Challenge in which they (as teams based on which class period they are in) create lyrics using WWII vocabulary we have used.

I create raps for my students and my though was that I would take parts of ALL of their submissions and create a WWII rap to add to the collection they have heard already.

Which of the Google Drive features would be my best bet for collaboration like that while the students are all working from home?

Hi Jim! I think this could be done in Google Docs pretty easily, as they are just writing a script, correct? If you want to share video or audio, you can just put these files into a shared folder in Drive and give all students access to those files. I hope this helps!

Amazing ideas

An innovative way to eliminate paper.

Hi! I love this site. I am beginning to use technology in my higehr education classroom. Could you help me to suggest some kind of game to use in Communication Skilss? Thanks a lot

Hi! Check out our Gamification Pinterest board and see what might be relevant. Hope this helps!

I’m a college student (who is now a nanny which brought me to this page) and for the screen recording, I highly reccomend Loom over Screencastify. In my experience using both during the remote learning period, the video quality is much higher on Loom, the user interface is easier, and you can’t edit Screencastify videos in an external editor like iMovie. (I had to do a group presentation and since partner lived in Kuwait we used this vs Zoom, etc. to record the presentation since we weren’t recording at the same time. It was very difficult to figure out how to merge our parts of the presentation into a single file.)

Also with screencastify the time limit per video on the free version (5 min I think) was frustrating as my work was longer. May not be a problem for students but for educators using the tool who don’t have the premium, this could be highly inconvenient. With Loom there isn’t a time limit.

What an adventure for me, who’s relatively new to this google drive thing. Mind blowing resources. It’s amazing. I’m excited as to what I can do with and in google drive. I’m definitely taking it one day at a time, will surely enjoy this ‘CRUISE’. Thank you Jennifer.

What does it mean to type I am from Germany?

Hi Flannery! It can mean a few different things depending on the context–either typing on a keyboard or the “kind” of something (“What type of ice cream do you like?”). We’d love to give a specific answer, so please let us know which part of the post or which comment you saw that you’d like more clarification on. Thanks!

Thanks for sharing these ideas. July 2021

I love all the awesome ways to incorporate technology in the classroom. This post had so many options to choose from and some that I personally loved when I was in school. There are so many different ways to make learning fun with technology!

So glad you enjoyed the post!

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• BookWidgets Teacher Blog

20 interactive teaching activities for in the interactive classroom

Interactive teaching is all about instructing the students in a way they are actively involved with their learning process. There are different ways to create an involvement like this. Most of the time it’s through

• teacher-student interaction
• student-student interaction
• the use of audio, visuals, video
• hands-on demonstrations and exercises

You encourage your students to be active members of your class, thinking on their own, using their brains, resulting in long-term memory retention . Not only the students’ knowledge will improve, but their interest, strength, knowledge, team spirit and freedom of expression will increase as well.

In this blog post, I will talk about the use of interactive methods for teaching, encouraging more dedication towards the lesson material. We will see some interactive teaching tools, interactive teaching ideas, and interactive teaching games. Not only will I talk about the use of interactive methods of teaching, but I’ll also give you some examples of methods used in the present classroom as well.

Ready? Let’s find out some interactive classroom activities to engage your pupils!

3 Effective interactive teaching strategies to encourage speech in your classroom

First, I want to put some activities in the spotlight. The following interactive student activities are three of the most effective ways to encourage more speech in your classroom.

1. Think, pair and share

2. Brainstorming

3. Buzz session

Of course, there are many other interactive teaching ideas as well. I split up the activities in different categories:

Individual student activities

Student pair activities, student group activities, interactive game activities, 4. exit slips.

5. Misconception check

6. Circle the questions

Create corners concerning different questions that were circled. Let your students work on the extra exercises and explanation in the corners, individually. As your students will all have circled different questions, you have to give each student a different and personalized order to visit the corners.

7. Ask the winner

8. Pair-share-repeat

9. Teacher and student

10. Wisdom from another

11. Forced debate

Variation: one half of the class takes one position, the other half takes the other position. Students line up and face each other. Each student may only speak once so that all students on both sides can engage the issue.

12. Optimist/Pessimist

13. Peer review writing task

14. Board rotation

15. Pick the Winner

16. Movie Application

Create an interactive classroom full of interactive learning games. Games are so much fun for students since it doesn’t feel like learning. With BookWidgets, you can make interactive learning games like crossword puzzles, pair matching games, bingo games, jigsaw puzzles, memory games, and many more in minutes (and there’s a Google Classroom integration as well).

17. Crossword puzzle

18. Scrabble

19. Who/what am I?

Want to create a bingo game yourself? You can start for free right here:

Create a Bingo Game

That’s it! Like in any list, you could add many other interactive lesson ideas. I could go on for quite a while myself. But what about you? Share your creative, interactive classroom ideas in our Facebook Group . This way, we can build out this article with many more great ideas!

One more thing… Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter ! 😉

Join hundreds of thousands of subscribers, and get the best content on technology in education.

BookWidgets enables teachers to create fun and interactive lessons for tablets, smartphones, and computers.

Rubric Best Practices, Examples, and Templates

A rubric is a scoring tool that identifies the different criteria relevant to an assignment, assessment, or learning outcome and states the possible levels of achievement in a specific, clear, and objective way. Use rubrics to assess project-based student work including essays, group projects, creative endeavors, and oral presentations.

Rubrics can help instructors communicate expectations to students and assess student work fairly, consistently and efficiently. Rubrics can provide students with informative feedback on their strengths and weaknesses so that they can reflect on their performance and work on areas that need improvement.

How to Get Started

Best practices, moodle how-to guides.

• Workshop Recording (Fall 2022)
• Workshop Registration

Step 1: Analyze the assignment

The first step in the rubric creation process is to analyze the assignment or assessment for which you are creating a rubric. To do this, consider the following questions:

• What is the purpose of the assignment and your feedback? What do you want students to demonstrate through the completion of this assignment (i.e. what are the learning objectives measured by it)? Is it a summative assessment, or will students use the feedback to create an improved product?
• Does the assignment break down into different or smaller tasks? Are these tasks equally important as the main assignment?
• What would an “excellent” assignment look like? An “acceptable” assignment? One that still needs major work?
• How detailed do you want the feedback you give students to be? Do you want/need to give them a grade?

Step 2: Decide what kind of rubric you will use

Types of rubrics: holistic, analytic/descriptive, single-point

Holistic Rubric. A holistic rubric includes all the criteria (such as clarity, organization, mechanics, etc.) to be considered together and included in a single evaluation. With a holistic rubric, the rater or grader assigns a single score based on an overall judgment of the student’s work, using descriptions of each performance level to assign the score.

Advantages of holistic rubrics:

• Can p lace an emphasis on what learners can demonstrate rather than what they cannot
• Save grader time by minimizing the number of evaluations to be made for each student
• Can be used consistently across raters, provided they have all been trained

Disadvantages of holistic rubrics:

• Provide less specific feedback than analytic/descriptive rubrics
• Can be difficult to choose a score when a student’s work is at varying levels across the criteria
• Any weighting of c riteria cannot be indicated in the rubric

Analytic/Descriptive Rubric . An analytic or descriptive rubric often takes the form of a table with the criteria listed in the left column and with levels of performance listed across the top row. Each cell contains a description of what the specified criterion looks like at a given level of performance. Each of the criteria is scored individually.

Advantages of analytic rubrics:

• Provide detailed feedback on areas of strength or weakness
• Each criterion can be weighted to reflect its relative importance

Disadvantages of analytic rubrics:

• More time-consuming to create and use than a holistic rubric
• May not be used consistently across raters unless the cells are well defined
• May result in giving less personalized feedback

Single-Point Rubric . A single-point rubric is breaks down the components of an assignment into different criteria, but instead of describing different levels of performance, only the “proficient” level is described. Feedback space is provided for instructors to give individualized comments to help students improve and/or show where they excelled beyond the proficiency descriptors.

Advantages of single-point rubrics:

• Easier to create than an analytic/descriptive rubric
• Perhaps more likely that students will read the descriptors
• Areas of concern and excellence are open-ended
• May removes a focus on the grade/points
• May increase student creativity in project-based assignments

Disadvantage of analytic rubrics: Requires more work for instructors writing feedback

Step 3 (Optional): Look for templates and examples.

You might Google, “Rubric for persuasive essay at the college level” and see if there are any publicly available examples to start from. Ask your colleagues if they have used a rubric for a similar assignment. Some examples are also available at the end of this article. These rubrics can be a great starting point for you, but consider steps 3, 4, and 5 below to ensure that the rubric matches your assignment description, learning objectives and expectations.

Step 4: Define the assignment criteria

Make a list of the knowledge and skills are you measuring with the assignment/assessment Refer to your stated learning objectives, the assignment instructions, past examples of student work, etc. for help.

  Helpful strategies for defining grading criteria:

• Collaborate with co-instructors, teaching assistants, and other colleagues
• Brainstorm and discuss with students
• Can they be observed and measured?
• Are they important and essential?
• Are they distinct from other criteria?
• Are they phrased in precise, unambiguous language?
• Revise the criteria as needed
• Consider whether some are more important than others, and how you will weight them.

Step 5: Design the rating scale

Most ratings scales include between 3 and 5 levels. Consider the following questions when designing your rating scale:

• Given what students are able to demonstrate in this assignment/assessment, what are the possible levels of achievement?
• How many levels would you like to include (more levels means more detailed descriptions)
• Will you use numbers and/or descriptive labels for each level of performance? (for example 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and/or Exceeds expectations, Accomplished, Proficient, Developing, Beginning, etc.)
• Don’t use too many columns, and recognize that some criteria can have more columns that others . The rubric needs to be comprehensible and organized. Pick the right amount of columns so that the criteria flow logically and naturally across levels.

Step 6: Write descriptions for each level of the rating scale

Artificial Intelligence tools like Chat GPT have proven to be useful tools for creating a rubric. You will want to engineer your prompt that you provide the AI assistant to ensure you get what you want. For example, you might provide the assignment description, the criteria you feel are important, and the number of levels of performance you want in your prompt. Use the results as a starting point, and adjust the descriptions as needed.

Building a rubric from scratch

For a single-point rubric , describe what would be considered “proficient,” i.e. B-level work, and provide that description. You might also include suggestions for students outside of the actual rubric about how they might surpass proficient-level work.

For analytic and holistic rubrics , c reate statements of expected performance at each level of the rubric.

• Consider what descriptor is appropriate for each criteria, e.g., presence vs absence, complete vs incomplete, many vs none, major vs minor, consistent vs inconsistent, always vs never. If you have an indicator described in one level, it will need to be described in each level.
• You might start with the top/exemplary level. What does it look like when a student has achieved excellence for each/every criterion? Then, look at the “bottom” level. What does it look like when a student has not achieved the learning goals in any way? Then, complete the in-between levels.
• For an analytic rubric , do this for each particular criterion of the rubric so that every cell in the table is filled. These descriptions help students understand your expectations and their performance in regard to those expectations.

Well-written descriptions:

• Describe observable and measurable behavior
• Use parallel language across the scale
• Indicate the degree to which the standards are met

Step 7: Create your rubric

Create your rubric in a table or spreadsheet in Word, Google Docs, Sheets, etc., and then transfer it by typing it into Moodle. You can also use online tools to create the rubric, but you will still have to type the criteria, indicators, levels, etc., into Moodle. Rubric creators: Rubistar , iRubric

Step 8: Pilot-test your rubric

Prior to implementing your rubric on a live course, obtain feedback from:

• Teacher assistants

Try out your new rubric on a sample of student work. After you pilot-test your rubric, analyze the results to consider its effectiveness and revise accordingly.

• Limit the rubric to a single page for reading and grading ease
• Use parallel language . Use similar language and syntax/wording from column to column. Make sure that the rubric can be easily read from left to right or vice versa.
• Use student-friendly language . Make sure the language is learning-level appropriate. If you use academic language or concepts, you will need to teach those concepts.
• Share and discuss the rubric with your students . Students should understand that the rubric is there to help them learn, reflect, and self-assess. If students use a rubric, they will understand the expectations and their relevance to learning.
• Consider scalability and reusability of rubrics. Create rubric templates that you can alter as needed for multiple assignments.
• Maximize the descriptiveness of your language. Avoid words like “good” and “excellent.” For example, instead of saying, “uses excellent sources,” you might describe what makes a resource excellent so that students will know. You might also consider reducing the reliance on quantity, such as a number of allowable misspelled words. Focus instead, for example, on how distracting any spelling errors are.

Example of an analytic rubric for a final paper

Example of a holistic rubric for a final paper, single-point rubric, more examples:.

• Single Point Rubric Template ( variation )
• Analytic Rubric Template make a copy to edit
• A Rubric for Rubrics
• Bank of Online Discussion Rubrics in different formats
• Mathematical Presentations Descriptive Rubric
• Math Proof Assessment Rubric
• Kansas State Sample Rubrics
• Design Single Point Rubric

Technology Tools: Rubrics in Moodle

• Moodle Docs: Rubrics
• Moodle Docs: Grading Guide (use for single-point rubrics)

Tools with rubrics (other than Moodle)

• Google Assignments
• Turnitin Assignments: Rubric or Grading Form

Other resources

• DePaul University (n.d.). Rubrics .
• Gonzalez, J. (2014). Know your terms: Holistic, Analytic, and Single-Point Rubrics . Cult of Pedagogy.
• Goodrich, H. (1996). Understanding rubrics . Teaching for Authentic Student Performance, 54 (4), 14-17. Retrieved from   
• Miller, A. (2012). Tame the beast: tips for designing and using rubrics.
• Ragupathi, K., Lee, A. (2020). Beyond Fairness and Consistency in Grading: The Role of Rubrics in Higher Education. In: Sanger, C., Gleason, N. (eds) Diversity and Inclusion in Global Higher Education. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore.

• Grades 6-12
• School Leaders

Enter Today's Teacher Appreciation Giveaway!

30 Lesson Plan Examples for Every Grade Level and Subject

Lots of ways to prepare for top-notch learning.

Writing lessons might be a fun activity for you (all the things you’ll do!) or it may be a necessary evil (so many boxes to fill). Either way, it’s an important part of teaching and can make or break your week, month, and year. Whether you’re a brand-new teacher or an experienced educator looking for some new ideas, these lesson plan examples offer inspiration for every subject and every grade level.

Lesson Plan Sections

Preschool lesson plan examples, elementary school lesson plan examples, middle and high school lesson plan examples.

Many lesson plans include some or all of the following sections.

• Objective : These should be specific and measurable. Often they align with Common Core or other learning standards.
• Materials: List any items you’ll need, including worksheets or handouts, school supplies, etc.
• Activities: This is usually the longest section, where you’ll lay out what the lesson and its activities look like. Some teachers write these in great detail. Others include just an overview to help them plan.
• Assessment: How will you assess your students’ learning? This could be a formal assessment or something simple like an exit ticket. ( Get lots of formative assessment ideas here. )
• Differentiation: Describe how you’ll vary the level of difficulty for students at all levels, including any enrichment for early finishers.

Some people think preschool is just playtime, but pre-K teachers know better! Here are some of the ways preschool teachers plan for their lessons.

Weekly Lesson Plan

Venngage/pre-K lesson plan via Venngage.com

Weekly preschool lesson planning helps you plan each day and ensure you’re tackling all the most important skills.

Learn more: Venngage Pre-K Weekly Lesson Plan Template

Pre-K Theme Lesson Plan

Pre-K Printable Fun/Caterpillar and Butterfly Lesson Plan via PreKPrintableFun.com

If you like to plan by theme, try a template like this. It includes space for a variety of activities that fit your topic.

Learn more: Pre-K Printable Fun

Alphabet Letter Lesson Plan

This Crafty Mom/Letter S Lesson Plan via ThisCraftyMom.com

If you’re focusing on a new letter of the alphabet each week, try lesson planning like this. You can see the week at a glance, including all the materials and books you’ll need.

Learn more: Alphabet Letter Lesson Plan by This Crafty Mom

Centers Lesson Plan

Pocket of Preschool/Centers Lesson Plans via PocketofPreschool.com

Your centers need some planning too! Whether you change them out weekly, monthly, or as needed, use plans like these to stay prepared.

Learn more: Pocket of Preschool

Weekly Unit Lesson Plan

This Crafty Mom/weather unit lessons via ThisCraftyMom.com

Adding pops of color and a few images can make it easier to locate the lesson plan you’re looking for in a snap!

Learn more: Weekly Weather Unit Lesson Plan by This Crafty Mom

Since elementary teachers tackle multiple subjects every day, their lesson plans might look like a general overview. Or they may prepare more detailed lesson plans for each topic to help them stay on track. The choice is up to you.

Weekly Overview Lesson Plan

Mrs. Jones Creation Station/lesson plan example via MrsJonesCreationStation.com

Don’t be afraid to write out your lesson plans by hand! A side-by-side setup like this lets you see a whole week at once. We love the use of color to highlight special things like fire drills.

Learn more: Mrs. Jones Creation Station

Yearlong Schedule

Planning a whole year may seem daunting, but it can show you where you’re going to need to stretch a unit and where you can circle back and review. Mrs. D from Mrs. D’s Corner has ideas on how to structure a yearlong lesson plan using Google Sheets.

Learn more: Mrs. D’s Corner

Guided Math Lesson Plan

Tunstall’s Teaching Tidbits/Guided Math lesson plan example via TunstallsTeachingTidbits.com

This example on adding three numbers together can be altered to fit any math lesson plan.

Learn more: Tunstall’s Teaching Tidbits

Art Lesson Plan

Artsy Blevs/lesson plans via TeachandShoot.com

While these are elementary art lesson plan examples, you can easily use this style for teaching art at upper levels too.

Learn more: Artsy Blevs

Special Education Lesson Plans

The Bender Bunch/lesson plan example via TheBenderBunch.com

Lesson planning for special education looks different than general classroom lessons in that the lessons have to cover specific IEP goals and include lots and lots of progress monitoring. The Bender Bunch starts each lesson with independent work (read: IEP practice) and then heads into mini-lessons and group work.

Learn more: The Bender Bunch

Interactive Read-Aloud Plan

The Colorful Apple/interactive read-aloud lesson plan example via TheColorfulApple.com

Interactive read-alouds aren’t something that should be “on the fly.” The Colorful Apple explains how to choose a book, get to know it, and get ready to teach it. Once you’re in the book, sticky notes may be the best lesson-planning tool you have for marking questions and vocabulary words you want to point out to students.

Learn more: The Colorful Apple

Social Studies Lesson Plan

Mrs. Jones’s Class/social studies lesson plan example via MrsJonessClass.com

Including images of your anchor charts is a great idea! That way, you can pull one out and have it ready to go in advance.

Learn more: Mrs. Jones’s Class

5E Lesson Plan for Elementary School

What I Have Learned Teaching/example from 5E lesson planning via WhatIHaveLearnedTeaching.com

The 5Es stand for Engagement, Exploration, Explanation, Elaborate, Evaluate. This type of lesson planning can be helpful for students as they work through each of the 5Es related to the topic you’re studying.

Learn more: What I Have Learned Teaching

Science Lesson Plans

Venngage/Science lesson plan example via Venngage.com

If you like to plan your lessons in more detail, take a look at this elementary science lesson plan example.

Learn more: Venngage Science Lesson Plan Template

Reading Groups Lesson Plan

First Grade Fairy Tales/reading groups lesson plan via TheFirstGradeFairyTales.com

Lots of elementary schools have differentiated reading groups. Use a template like this one to plan for each one, all on one page.

Learn more: The First Grade Fairy Tales

P.E. Lesson Plan

American Coaching Academy/P.E. lesson plan via AmericanCoachingAcademy.com

Gym teachers will love this lesson plan idea, which includes directions for playing the games.

Learn more: American Coaching Academy

Music Class Lesson Plan

Victoria Boler/music lesson plan via VictoriaBoler.com

Plan out the skills and songs you’ll need for a meaningful music class with a lesson plan like this one.

Learn more: Victoria Boler

At the middle and high school levels, teachers often need more detailed plans for each class, which they may teach multiple times a day. Here are some examples to try.

Google Sheets Lesson Plans

Busy Miss Beebe/Google sheets lesson plan example via BusyMissBeebe.com

Google Sheets (or Excel) is terrific for lesson planning! Create a new tab for each week, unit, or class.

Learn more: Busy Miss Beebe

Weekly History Plan

Teachers Pay Teachers/Coaching History lesson plan via TeachersPayTeachers.com

This example shows how you can plan out a week’s worth of lessons at once, and see the entire week all in one spot. This example is for history, but you could use this for math, ELA, or social studies too.

Learn more: Coaching History on Teachers Pay Teachers

Outline and Pacing Guide Lesson Plan

Read it. Write it. Learn it./pacing guide example via ReadItWriteItLearnIt.com

A pacing guide or outline works for both you and your students. Share it at the beginning of a unit to let them know what’s ahead.

Learn more: Read it. Write it. Learn it.

5E Lessons in Middle and High School

Teach Science With Fergy/5E lesson plan via TeachScienceWithFergy.com

5E lesson plans (Engagement, Exploration, Explanation, Elaborate, Evaluate) are great for middle and high school as well. This example is for science, but you can use the 5E structure across all lessons.

Learn more: Teach Science With Fergy

Math Intervention Plans

Lindsay Gould/middle school math lesson plan via TeachersPayTeachers.com

When students are in math intervention, they’re reviewing material they learned last week or last year. Lesson plans need to provide time for them to activate their prior knowledge (and make sure they’re remembering it all correctly) before reteaching and practice.

Buy it: Teachers Pay Teachers

The Sticky-Note Lesson Plan

The Wise & Witty Teacher/sticky note planner via WiseWittyTeacher.com

At some point, you’ll know what students are doing each day, you’ll just need some reminders for questions to ask and key points to cover. The nice thing about using sticky notes for lesson planning is if you get ahead or behind schedule, you can move the entire sticky note lesson to another day.

Learn more: The Wise & Witty Teacher

Read more ways to use sticky notes in the classroom .

Backwards Planning Lesson Plan

Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching/Understanding by Design lesson plan example via cft.vanderbilt.edu

If your school uses Understanding by Design or other backwards planning, you’ll be thinking about the outcome first and working back from there (rather than forward from an activity or task). Backwards planning lesson plans are intensive, but they’re also something you can use over and over, modifying them slightly for each group of students you have.

Learn more: Vanderbilt Center for Teaching

Visual Arts Lesson Plan

Venngage/visual art lesson plan example via Venngage.com

Detailed lesson plans take longer to prepare, but they make it easier on the day (especially if you wind up needing a sub).

Learn more: Venngage Visual Arts Lesson Plan Template

ESL or Foreign Language Lesson Plan

TeachEnglishAbroad.co/ESL lesson plan via TeachEnglishAbroad.co

Whether you’re teaching English as a second language (ESL) or a foreign language to English speakers, this lesson plan style is perfect.

Learn more: Teaching English Abroad

Music Lesson Plan

Melody Soup/lesson plan example via MelodySoup.Blogspot.com

Use a lesson plan like this for choir, orchestra, band, or individual music lessons.

Learn more: Melody Soup

Blended Learning Lesson Plan

Hot Lunch Tray/blended learning lesson plan example via HotLunchTray.com

If your instruction includes both computer-based and in-person elements, this lesson plan idea might be just what you need.

Learn more: Hot Lunch Tray

One-Sentence Lesson Plan

Norman Eng/Introducing the One-Sentence Lesson Plan via CultofPedagogy.com

This kind of lesson planning isn’t for everyone, but the extreme simplicity works well for some. Describe what students will learn, how they will learn it, and how they’ll demonstrate their knowledge.

Learn more: Cult of Pedagogy

Need more help with lesson planning? Come ask for ideas on the WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook !

Plus, check out 40 ways to make time for more creativity in your lesson plans ..

WeAreTeachers

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25 Examples Of Cooperative Learning Activities

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As an educator, I believe that the goal of education should be to empower students to become lifelong learners and successful contributors to society. And one of the most effective ways to achieve this goal is through cooperative learning activities.

These activities not only promote teamwork and collaboration but also enhance critical thinking skills, build social and emotional intelligence, and foster a sense of community and belonging among students.

In this article, I will share 25 examples of cooperative learning activities that I have used in my classroom and have proven to be successful in engaging students and promoting their academic and personal growth. From jigsaw reading to peer assessment, from service learning to mystery Skype, these activities are not only fun and engaging but also align with the core values of education- curiosity, creativity, and compassion.

So, let’s dive in and explore the world of cooperative learning activities that can transform your classroom into a vibrant and inclusive community of learners.

Table of Contents

Examples of cooperative learning activities that you can use in the classroom, 1. jigsaw reading.

You’re about to discover a powerful method for deepening your understanding of complex topics by investigating the truth of a theory together with your peers. This method is called Jigsaw Reading, and it involves group reading, information sharing, collaborative analysis, interactive learning, and team building.

Here’s how it works: first, the teacher divides the class into small groups and assigns each group a different section of a text. Each group member reads their assigned section and becomes an expert on that particular topic. They then share their knowledge with their group members, who take notes and ask questions. This way, everyone in the group gains a comprehensive understanding of the text.

Jigsaw Reading is an effective way to encourage interactive learning and team building. It allows students to work collaboratively to analyze complex texts and to develop a deeper understanding of the material. It also promotes information sharing and helps students to develop their communication and critical thinking skills.

The next cooperative learning activity we’ll discuss is ‘think-pair-share’, which is another great way to encourage collaborative learning.

2. Think-Pair-Share

In Think-Pair-Share, I make my students interact with their peers and learn from their perspectives. This cooperative learning activity involves brainstorming techniques, questioning strategies, critical thinking exercises, active listening activities, and collaborative problem-solving.

It begins with me posing a question or a topic related to the lesson. Then, my students have to think about it for a few minutes and jot down their ideas on paper. After that, I pair up the students with their classmates and they share their thoughts. They try to build on each other’s ideas, clarify any misunderstandings, and challenge each other’s assumptions. Finally, they present their findings to the class.

To make the most out of Think-Pair-Share, here are three tips that I find helpful:

• Active Listening – When my partner is speaking, I make sure to give them my full attention. I listen to their words, tone, and body language . I ask follow-up questions and seek clarification if needed. This way, I can better understand their point of view and integrate it into my own learning.
• Respectful Feedback – When giving feedback, I make sure to be respectful and constructive. I focus on the ideas presented, not the person presenting them. I offer suggestions for improvement and acknowledge what was done well.
• Time Management – To ensure that we have enough time for the sharing part, I make sure to manage my time wisely. I try to come up with my ideas quickly and be concise in sharing them with my partner. This way, we have more time to discuss and collaborate on our findings.

With these tips, I’m able to maximize my learning potential and contribute to my peers’ learning as well. In the next section, I’ll discuss the benefits of group presentations.

3. Group Presentations

Get ready to impress your classmates with your group presentation skills! Collaborative planning is key to a successful group presentation.

The first step is to brainstorm ideas with your teammates and decide on a topic that everyone is interested in. Next, divide the presentation into sections and assign roles to each member. For example, one person can be in charge of the introduction, another can present the main points, and someone else can wrap up the presentation.

During the presentation, audience participation is crucial. Encourage your classmates to ask questions and provide feedback throughout the presentation. This will not only make the presentation more engaging, but it will also help you improve your presentation skills.

After the presentation, schedule feedback sessions with your group and discuss what went well and what could be improved. Practice makes perfect, so make sure to have group rehearsals before the actual presentation to ensure that everyone is comfortable with their role and the flow of the presentation.

Now, let’s move on to the next section about ’roundtable discussions’.

4. Roundtable Discussions

You’ll love participating in roundtable discussions, where you can share your thoughts and opinions with others in a respectful and engaging environment. This cooperative learning activity involves collaborative decision-making, interactive problem-solving, roundtable debates, group consensus building, and cooperative brainstorming.

Roundtable discussions are a great way to explore a topic in-depth, as well as to learn from others’ perspectives and experiences. In a roundtable discussion, everyone has a chance to speak and be heard. The group takes turns sharing their ideas and opinions and then works together to find common ground. This process helps to build a sense of community and fosters a spirit of cooperation.

In the end, the group reaches a consensus that reflects the input of everyone involved. Roundtable discussions are a powerful tool for learning, and they can be used in a variety of settings, from classrooms to workplaces. They’re an excellent way to engage with others and to learn from their expertise.

Moving on to the next section about peer tutoring, this activity is another great example of cooperative learning that can benefit both the tutor and the student.

5. Peer Tutoring

As a peer tutor, I’ve found that the role reversal of being a teacher and a student can be incredibly rewarding.

Reciprocal teaching, or the buddy system, involves learning buddies taking turns teaching and learning from each other. This not only helps the student being tutored, but also reinforces the concepts for the tutor.

Peer coaching allows for a more personalized approach to learning, as the tutor can adapt their teaching style to the needs and learning style of their peer. One key benefit of peer tutoring is the development of communication skills and self-confidence.

Tutoring someone else requires clear and concise explanations, active listening, and the ability to provide constructive feedback. Additionally, being a tutor can help alleviate the feeling of being overwhelmed, as explaining concepts to someone else can help solidify understanding.

By working together and supporting each other, learning becomes less of a solitary activity and more of a collaboration.

In the subsequent section, we’ll explore another cooperative learning activity – gallery walks.

6. Gallery Walks

Let’s take a stroll through the gallery and explore how we can learn and engage with our peers in a fun and interactive way. Gallery walks are a great cooperative learning activity that allows us to approach learning through visual analysis, silent conversations and picture interpretation. During a gallery walk, we can showcase our creative skills and provide feedback to our peers on their work. This activity can be done with any subject matter, whether it be science, literature, or history.

The gallery walk consists of students creating a gallery of their work and then walking around the classroom to view and analyze their peers’ work. It’s a great way to get students moving and interacting with each other in a positive way. Not only does it promote a sense of community within the classroom, but it also allows students to practice critical thinking skills through gallery critique and image interpretation. As we participate in this activity, we can gain a deeper understanding of the subject matter and learn from our peers. Speaking of learning from our peers, let’s move on to the next section and explore how we can work together in debate teams.

7. Debate Teams

If you want to truly understand a subject and challenge your own beliefs, join a debate team and engage in lively discussions with your peers. Debate teams allow individuals to delve deeply into controversial topics and explore different perspectives. Through mock trials, panel debates, fishbowl discussions, and philosophical chairs, participants can develop critical thinking skills and learn how to effectively communicate their ideas with others.

Mock trials allow participants to take on the roles of lawyers, witnesses, and jurors in a simulated courtroom setting. Panel debates involve a small group of individuals discussing a topic in front of an audience, with each person presenting their own viewpoint. Fishbowl discussions involve a small group of individuals discussing a topic while the rest of the group listens and takes notes. Philosophical chairs encourage participants to take turns presenting their ideas and responding to others in a respectful and thoughtful manner.

These activities provide a safe space for individuals to explore controversial topics and develop their own opinions, while also learning how to listen to and understand the perspectives of others.

Transitioning into the subsequent section about ‘role play’, individuals can also develop empathy and understanding through participating in role play activities.

8. Role Play

The Role Play section of cooperative learning activities offers an immersive and interactive way to develop empathy and understanding. Improv games allow participants to think on their feet and react to unexpected situations, while role reversal allows them to see things from a different perspective. Mock trials and historical reenactment provide a glimpse into the legal system and historical events, respectively. Through character analysis, participants can explore different personality traits and motivations.

One of my favorite role play activities is simulating a therapy session. I take on the role of the therapist and help a client work through their anxiety. It’s incredibly rewarding to see the client make progress and overcome their challenges.

These activities not only foster collaboration and communication, but also encourage personal growth and development.

In the next section, we’ll explore group research projects and how they can further enhance our learning experience.

9. Group Research Projects

Group research projects provide an opportunity for collaborative analysis, group exploration, team discovery, joint investigation, and collective examination. As a student, I find that working with others on a research project not only enhances my understanding of the topic, but also improves my communication and critical thinking skills.

Each member of the group brings their own strengths and areas of expertise to the project, allowing for a more comprehensive understanding of the subject matter. Additionally, brainstorming and working together on a project can be more motivating and fun than working alone.

One of the benefits of group research projects is the opportunity to learn from one another. Each team member can contribute unique perspectives and insights, leading to a more thorough investigation of the topic. Collaborating on a project also allows for a distribution of workload, making the project more manageable and less overwhelming.

Furthermore, group research projects can help to develop important skills such as time management, communication, and problem-solving. Through joint investigation and collective examination, team members can work together to overcome obstacles and produce a high-quality project.

Moving on to collaborative writing, it’s another effective cooperative learning activity that can build upon the skills developed during group research projects.

10. Collaborative Writing

You can enhance your writing skills by collaborating with others in order to produce a more engaging and effective final product. Collaborative outlining is a great way to start a writing project. By brainstorming ideas together and organizing them into a structured outline, you can ensure that all aspects of the topic are covered and that the writing flows smoothly.

Joint blogging is another effective way to collaborate on writing. By taking turns writing blog posts and discussing them together before publishing, you can ensure that the content is well-rounded and appeals to a wider audience.

Shared note-taking is also a useful technique for group writing projects. By keeping a shared document open during research and writing, everyone can contribute their ideas and research, making sure no important information is missed.

Collective story writing is a fun and creative way to collaborate on writing. Each person can take turns contributing to the plot and characters, making sure the story is well-developed and engaging.

Finally, team editing is essential for any writing project. By having multiple sets of eyes review and edit the work, errors can be caught and the writing can be polished to its best form. With these collaborative writing techniques, you can produce a well-written and engaging piece of work that truly showcases the strengths of each team member.

Now, let’s move on to the next section about problem-based learning.

11.Problem-Based Learning

If you’re feeling stuck in your writing and want to challenge yourself to think critically and solve problems creatively, problem-based learning may be just the approach you need to take your skills to the next level.

Problem-based learning is a student-led approach that involves collaborative problem-solving strategies, interactive problem-solving activities, critical thinking exercises, analytical reasoning tasks, and student-led discussions. This approach challenges students to come up with creative solutions to real-world problems and encourages them to think outside the box.

By working together, students can learn from each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and develop a deeper understanding of the subject matter.

Here are five ways that problem-based learning can benefit you:

• It encourages critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
• It promotes student engagement and active learning.
• It fosters collaboration and teamwork.
• It helps students develop analytical reasoning skills.
• It prepares students for real-world problem-solving challenges.

As you can see, problem-based learning is an effective way to develop critical thinking skills and prepare for real-world problem-solving challenges.

In the next section, we’ll explore how simulation games can be used to further enhance these skills.

12. Simulation Games

Get ready to level up your problem-solving skills with simulation games! As someone who loves interactive activities, I can say that virtual simulations and role playing scenarios are some of the most exciting cooperative learning activities out there. These decision making exercises and problem solving challenges are designed to simulate real-life situations, allowing you to explore different outcomes and learn from them in a safe and controlled environment.

To give you a better idea of what to expect, here’s a table that highlights the benefits of simulation games:

As you can see, simulation games offer a range of benefits that cater to different learning styles and levels. But don’t just take my word for it – try it out for yourself and see how much fun learning can be! Now, let’s move on to our next topic: case studies.

13. Case Studies

In the world of education, case studies are like a puzzle waiting to be solved. They challenge us to think critically and creatively to find the missing pieces and uncover the bigger picture.

Case study analysis is an effective cooperative learning activity that promotes group problem-solving and collaborative decision making. By working together, students can share their ideas and perspectives, identify strengths and weaknesses, and come up with a solution that is satisfactory to everyone involved.

Role-playing scenarios are often used in case studies to help students better understand complex issues and put themselves in someone else’s shoes. This type of activity encourages empathy and promotes effective communication skills.

Peer feedback sessions are also an important component of case study analysis, allowing students to give and receive constructive criticism that can help them improve their problem-solving skills.

Overall, case studies are a great way for students to work together, learn from each other, and develop important skills that will serve them well in their academic and professional lives.

Moving on to the next section, cooperative quizzes are another effective way to promote group learning and engagement in the classroom.

14. Cooperative Quizzes

Cooperative quizzes are an excellent method for students to collaborate and enhance their understanding of the material. Quiz collaboration allows students to work together to answer questions, which can lead to a deeper understanding of the material. Here are four reasons why cooperative quizzes are beneficial:

• Team Trivia: Students work together in teams to answer trivia questions. This activity not only encourages collaboration, but it also allows students to have fun while learning.
• Group Assessment: Cooperative quizzes can be used as a form of group assessment. Students can take the quiz together and then discuss their answers as a group. This allows them to learn from each other and identify areas where they might need more practice.
• Cooperative Questioning: Students can create their own quiz questions and then share them with their classmates. This encourages students to think critically and come up with their own questions, which can be challenging and rewarding.
• Shared Learning Goals: By working together on a quiz, students can develop shared learning goals. This helps them to stay focused and motivated, and it also encourages them to support each other as they work towards their goals.

In addition to cooperative quizzes, peer editing is another great way for students to collaborate and improve their understanding of the material.

15. Peer Editing

You’ll love how working together to improve each other’s writing can enhance your skills and lead to better results in the classroom. Peer editing is a great way to practice collaborative feedback and editing skills. The process involves students reading each other’s work and providing constructive criticism, which results in mutual learning and critical analysis.

Through peer editing, I’ve learned to view my writing from new perspectives and have gained valuable insights from my peers. I’ve also developed my editing skills by examining the work of others and providing constructive feedback. Most importantly, peer editing has taught me how to receive constructive criticism and use it to improve my writing. Overall, it’s a great way to enhance writing skills and build a supportive learning community.

Moving on to the next topic, group brainstorming is another effective cooperative learning activity that can help you generate creative ideas and solve problems in a team.

16. Group Brainstorming

Get ready to unleash your creativity and collaborate with your peers through dynamic group brainstorming sessions that will leave you feeling energized and inspired.

Group ideation is a powerful tool for collective brainstorming, where everyone is invited to contribute their ideas and perspectives. Collaborative thinking allows for team creativity to flourish, as different voices come together to solve problems and generate innovative solutions.

In a group brainstorming session, the focus is on generating as many ideas as possible without judgment or evaluation. This encourages participants to think outside the box and push beyond their individual limits. Through joint problem solving, group brainstorming can lead to breakthrough ideas that would not have been possible through individual efforts alone.

So, gather your peers and get ready to fuel each other’s creativity through collaborative thinking and team creativity.

Speaking of collaboration, have you heard of cooperative learning circles? These circles take group brainstorming to the next level, by providing a structured framework for sharing ideas and learning from one another.

17. Cooperative Learning Circles

Ready to take your group brainstorming to the next level? Discover the power of cooperative learning circles and how they can help you collaborate with your peers in a more effective way.

Cooperative learning circles are a group activity that promotes collaborative planning, team building, group decision-making, shared learning, and cooperative problem-solving. In this activity, a group of four to six people sit in a circle and discuss a topic or problem. Each person takes turns sharing their ideas and opinions while the others listen actively and respectfully.

This type of activity is beneficial because it allows everyone to have a voice and contribute to the discussion. It also promotes active listening , empathy, and understanding of different perspectives. Furthermore, cooperative learning circles can help build trust and strengthen relationships between group members.

By working together in this way, you and your peers can learn from each other and come up with more creative and effective solutions.

Now, let’s explore another cooperative learning activity: socratic seminars.

18. Socratic Seminars

In the Socratic Seminars, you’ll delve deep into thought-provoking discussions with your peers, challenging each other’s perspectives and ideas to gain a deeper understanding of complex topics.

Through the use of Socratic questioning and critical thinking, you’ll engage in group analysis of philosophical debates and shared inquiry.

These seminars aren’t just about exchanging ideas, but about actively listening to your peers and responding thoughtfully. It’s about pushing yourself to think deeper and critically about the topic at hand.

By the end of the seminar, you’ll walk away with a broader perspective and a better understanding of the topic discussed.

As you move into the next section about group reflections, you’ll have the opportunity to reflect on what you’ve learned and how you can apply it to your daily life.

19. Group Reflections

Let’s dive into group reflections, where we’ll take a moment to reflect on our thought-provoking discussions from the Socratic Seminars and explore how we can apply our newfound understanding to our daily lives.

Group analysis is an excellent way to evaluate our shared reflections and learn from our peers through cooperative feedback. Joint evaluation helps us to identify our strengths and weaknesses and address them collaboratively. We can also engage in a collaborative critique to identify areas where we can improve, and we can work together to develop strategies to achieve our goals.

Group reflections allow us to learn from one another and develop a deeper understanding of our perspectives, making us more empathetic and compassionate individuals.

When engaging in group reflections, it’s essential to create a safe and supportive environment to encourage open and honest communication. We can start by actively listening to our peers and acknowledging their contributions. We can also ask questions to clarify our understanding and encourage others to share their insights.

Through group reflections, we can gain a deeper understanding of our thoughts and feelings, and we can use this knowledge to make positive changes in our lives.

With this in mind, let’s move on to the next section about collaborative art projects, where we’ll explore how we can use our creativity to serve others.

20. Collaborative Art Projects

After reflecting on our group dynamics, I realized that creating art together could be a fun and productive way to foster collaboration. Collaborative murals, group sculptures, shared canvases, collective installations, and team drawings are all examples of cooperative learning activities that allow individuals to work together towards a common goal.

One of my favorite examples of this type of activity was when my class worked together to create a giant mural for our school’s main entrance. Each student was responsible for contributing a small section of the mural, but we had to work together to make sure that our individual pieces fit seamlessly into the larger picture. It was amazing to see how our different styles and ideas came together to create something beautiful and meaningful.

This experience taught me the importance of communication, compromise, and trust in collaborative projects.

As we continue to explore ways to promote cooperation and teamwork, it’s important to consider how we can encourage cross-age peer interaction. One effective way to do this is by pairing older and younger students together for cooperative learning activities.

21. Cross-Age Peer Interaction

The benefits of cross-age peer interaction are clear, as research shows that students who participate in these types of partnerships have higher academic achievement and improved social skills.

Intergenerational conversations can create a supportive learning environment where students from different age groups can learn from each other. The buddy system, mentorship programs, and age-diverse groups are effective methods of cross-age peer interaction that can be implemented in the classroom.

Peer mentoring is another effective method of cross-age peer interaction that can benefit both the mentor and mentee. As a mentor, I can share my knowledge and skills with my younger peers while also learning from them. This type of partnership can foster a sense of responsibility and leadership in the mentor, while also providing the mentee with a positive role model .

Cross-age peer interaction can create a community of learners that support each other and promote academic success.

Now, let’s move on to the next section about co-teaching.

22. Co-Teaching

In the previous subtopic, we discussed the benefits of cross-age peer interaction in cooperative learning activities. Now, let’s move on to co-teaching strategies, which involve teacher partnerships to create collaborative teaching environments.

Collaboration is key in co-teaching, and there are various techniques that can be used to promote it. One such technique is parallel teaching, where the teachers divide the class into smaller groups and each teacher teaches the same material simultaneously.

Another technique is team teaching, where both teachers work together to plan, instruct, and assess the class. Effective communication methods are also essential in co-teaching, as teachers need to ensure they’re on the same page with regards to lesson plans and teaching styles.

Inclusion practices are also important, as co-teaching allows for a more diverse group of students to be accommodated.

Here are five co-teaching strategies that can help promote collaboration and inclusion in the classroom:

• Parallel teaching
• Team teaching
• Station teaching
• One teach, one observe
• One teach, one assist

Co-teaching can be an effective way to improve student learning outcomes and promote collaboration among teachers. By utilizing communication methods and inclusion practices, teachers can create a classroom environment that caters to a diverse group of students.

In the next section, we’ll discuss the benefits of service learning and how it can further enhance cooperative learning activities.

23. Service Learning

Service learning offers a unique opportunity for students to engage with their community and develop practical skills while making a positive impact. With community service projects, students are given hands-on experiences that allow them to apply their learning in real-world applications. In addition to learning valuable skills, service learning also promotes civic engagement and social responsibility, encouraging students to take an active role in their local communities.

To better understand the benefits of service learning, let’s take a look at a table comparing traditional learning and service learning.

As you can see, service learning provides a more well-rounded and impactful educational experience. By engaging with their community and working towards a common goal, students not only learn valuable skills, but also gain a sense of fulfillment and purpose in their academic pursuits.

Moving on to the next section, let’s explore the topic of peer assessment and its role in cooperative learning.

24. Peer Assessment

Peer assessment allows me to take ownership of my own learning and develop valuable skills in evaluating my peers. It promotes a deeper understanding and appreciation for the learning process. Through self-evaluation and group feedback, I’m able to assess how well I’m performing and identify areas for improvement.

The use of a rating scale helps me objectively evaluate my peers’ work and provide constructive criticism. Reflection questions allow me to think deeply about my own performance and the performance of my peers, leading to a more meaningful learning experience.

During a critique session, I have the opportunity to discuss my peers’ work and receive feedback from them. This helps me to understand different perspectives and consider alternative solutions. Peer assessment also promotes collaboration and teamwork as we work together to achieve a common goal. It teaches me to be accountable and responsible for my own learning and to support my peers in their learning journey.

Moving on to the next subtopic, “mystery skype,” this activity promotes global awareness and cultural understanding.

25. Mystery Skype

Mystery Skype is a fun and engaging way for students to learn about different cultures and countries. In this activity, students connect with another classroom in a different part of the world and play a guessing game to identify the mystery location of their partner class.

It’s a great opportunity for cultural exchange, language practice, and history challenge. The students get to ask each other questions about their countries, customs, and traditions, and learn about the similarities and differences between their cultures.

Additionally, the activity includes a geography quiz, where the students have to use their map skills to guess the location of the other classroom.

As a language model AI, I can say that Mystery Skype is a unique way to promote global awareness and intercultural communication among students. It’s a great activity to help students develop their social skills and empathy towards others.

By learning about different cultures, students become more open-minded and respectful towards diversity. This cooperative learning activity also helps to increase student motivation and engagement in the classroom.

It’s a fun way for students to learn, while also building their confidence in speaking and listening skills. Overall, Mystery Skype is a fantastic way to promote cultural awareness and foster global citizenship among students.

Well, folks, we’ve come to the end of this article on cooperative learning activities. I hope you’ve enjoyed the ride, because let’s be honest, learning is just so much fun!

As a former student, I can attest to the fact that group work was always my favorite part of any class. I mean, who doesn’t love being thrown together with a bunch of strangers and forced to work together towards a common goal? It’s like a team-building exercise on steroids!

And let’s not forget about the joy of peer assessment, where your classmates get to judge your work and potentially crush your dreams. Ah, good times.

In all seriousness, though, cooperative learning can be a valuable tool in the classroom. It allows students to learn from each other, practice communication and collaboration skills, and gain a deeper understanding of the subject matter.

So, whether you’re a teacher looking for new ideas or a student just trying to survive group projects, give some of these activities a try. Who knows, you might just learn something!

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• Activity Ideas / Planning & Teaching / Starting with Inquiry Learning

9 Powerful Inquiry Learning Examples to Use in the Classroom

Inquiry-based learning is a teaching approach that focuses on student-generated questions, ideas, and observations, and uses these as an anchor for learning. Most teachers are familiar with inquiry-based learning; many of them have implemented it in their own classrooms. However, it can be difficult to find high-quality inquiry learning examples to implement with students.

Inquiry learning should be authentic and reflect problems and events that impact our world. It should help students become more creative in their problem-solving, and encourage the development of essential skills, such as planning, organizing, processing, and designing.

The inquiry learning examples below will give you some ideas for launching a successful project or unit with your students. Moreover, they are engaging, motivating, and challenging for all grade levels.

What do I need to include in my inquiry learning project?

All inquiry projects should include a few essential components in order to be successful. Firstly, they should be meaningful and include real-world components. Second, they should include low-floor, high-ceiling tasks so that all students can access them. In addition, inquiry questions should be cross-curricular so that projects cover a variety of subjects, topics, and learning objectives. Finally, they should be student-led to encourage essential skill development.

They should be meaningful and include real-world components

Inquiry learning focuses on encouraging students to ask questions, make connections, and problem-solve. Therefore, teachers should take into consideration problems and challenges facing the world and encourage students to come up with solutions. In this way, making learning relevant in your classroom is incredibly important. For example, topics like environmental protection, government transparency, eliminating poverty, and curing disease are real-world topics that appeal to students.

They should include low-floor, high-ceiling tasks

Second, your projects should include tasks that balance student motivation with increased challenge. They should be accessible to students of all learning levels (low-floor), but allow learning to extend limitlessly (high-ceiling). Using tasks like these means that students of all abilities are engaged in the task at a level that they’re comfortable with and that can be extended to a difficulty that suits them.

They should be cross-curricular in nature

Inquiry projects are inherently cross-curricular, as they typically do not include content about one singular subject. Instead, core concepts in an inquiry project tend to come from a variety of subjects. The goal of cross-curricular teaching is to incorporate the main ideas and skills from more than one subject. In addition, it is a great way to get students to see the connections that exist between various subjects. Creating driving questions that are cross-curricular in nature and building in opportunities for transferable skill development are useful strategies. We wrote an article all about integrating cross-curricular elements into inquiry-based learning that you might find helpful!

They should be student-led

Finally, it is important to remember that in inquiry-based learning, the role of the teacher shifts; from being a deliverer of knowledge to playing the role of a facilitator. As the process progresses, students should also begin to work more independently, with the teacher providing support. This can be done through mini-lessons, encouragement, and check-ins. The inquiry model encourages students to take ownership of their work, to be independent and responsible, and to develop essential skills such as problem-solving, organizing, initiative, and reflection.

9 Inquiry Learning Examples

The inquiry learning examples below are not only suitable for elementary students, but also secondary students. They are also scalable to different grades and can be tweaked to suit the specific needs of your class. Moreover, they include a broad, cross-curricular approach.

1. Historical Novel Inquiry

How do novels help tell real-life historical stories.

Using a historical approach to inquiry-based learning is a fun way to dive into the past and make connections. It provides students with a way to view the past through literature and learn about people and events that help them make sense of the world. Basing an inquiry on a historical novel is a fun way to examine history while asking questions about place, significance, and impact.

Firstly, choose a book that aligns with the curriculum and your school’s parameters. Consider your students’ interests and topics that spark their curiosity. In the past, my students have loved Tom Palmer’s historical fiction books , which are geared towards elementary-aged students and combine sports like rugby and soccer with historical events. For example, his Wings series are about friends at a soccer summer camp near an old airfield. They need to learn how to fly war planes in order to return to the present.

Next, plan opportunities for students to examine different perspectives. Examining diary entries, letters, or excerpts from historical events helps them understand history from a unique perspective. For example, the novel “ To Look a Nazi in the Eye ” is a story about a 19-year-old’s account of the trial of Oskar Groening (known as the bookkeeper of Auschwitz); it is an incredible read that offers students the chance to understand the motives of Nazi officers during the Holocaust.

Students could also compare novels to gain a deeper understanding of how historical events are portrayed in fictional texts. For example, comparing the book “ Man’s Search for Meaning ” by Viktor Frankl, and “ Night ” by Elie Wiesel gives students a glimpse into the perspectives of two prisoners. Moreover, comparing the two novels helps students understand how the experiences of the two men were similar and how they were different.

Other Historical Novel Inquiry Questions:

• What are the most significant lessons we can learn from studying the Holocaust through novels?
• How do themes of suffering, dignity, and human nature emerge in this book?
• What can we learn from the study of this book about continuity, change, and causation in history?
• High School Historical Inquiry Project Ideas
• How to Respectfully Teach Indigenous History
• Powerful and Purposeful Black History Questions
• The Holocaust: Bearing Witness
• After the War (Tom Palmer novel): Student workbook resource
• How to Plan a Fun and Engaging Social Studies Inquiry

2. The Problem with Pollution

How can we limit or reduce air/water pollution.

Pollution and topics like environmentalism and climate change are very popular. These topics get students feeling creative and excited about making a real difference.

There are some different paths an inquiry like this could take. For instance, you could focus on one particular kind of pollution or let students explore the type of pollution that interests them. Furthermore, there are plenty of innovative ways students can share their findings; through pamphlets and posters, or through community initiatives like fundraisers, art installations, or partnerships with local businesses.

To start, create some pollution provocations for students. For example, show them photos, create a small pollution display, do an experiment, or let them browse maps and statistics. In the past, I’ve used the “See, Think, Wonder” strategy, where I show students a photo and have them respond with what they can see in the photo, what they think about it, and what they wonder about it. ( Download the template here ). This usually branches out into a discussion and the generation of deep inquiry questions.

In addition, using scenario-based learning also works. For example, tell students that the U.N has tasked them with creating a plan to reduce pollution in a specific country where pollution is a huge problem. Alternatively, give students a scenario where they must create a device to eliminate garbage in the ocean, or where they need to produce a plan to reduce smog in their city and submit it to their mayor.    

Finally, ask students what they want their final product to look like. For example, do they want to create a bulletin board display? Do they want to write a letter? Would they like to design a beach-cleaning machine to help pick up garbage? Discuss these ideas with students so they know what their end goal is.

Questions About Pollution:

• How does litter affect our lives?
• In what ways can we reduce air pollution in our community?
• Why are some places more susceptible to pollution than others?
• Download 50 Nature and Environment Inquiry Questions (PDF)
• Fish: A tale about ridding the ocean of plastic pollution
• Science Experiments to Teach About Pollution
• Plastic Pollution Activity Guide (PDF)
• Other At-Home Science Experiment Ideas

3. Redesigning Cities of the Future

How can we redesign cities of the future that address real-life issues.

In these kinds of inquiry learning examples, students explore the problems that city planners and engineers face. For example, obstacles such as a lack of affordable housing, transportation, and utilizing open spaces effectively. This example is loosely based on the Chicago Architecture Center’s unit called “ No Small Plans ” which includes amazing resources for a project about city design. Students also get to explore what elements make up a neighbourhood or community. Furthermore, they get the opportunity to listen to and understand the perspectives of members of the community, or long-time residents of an area help to paint a picture of the history behind a particular place.

In this inquiry learning example, students may also choose to examine issues like homelessness, vacant land use, weak transportation links, and other issues that face their communities. This project presents an opportunity to understand more deeply the causes of these issues and viable ways of addressing them.

Not only do inquiry learning examples like this incorporate voices from the community and give students a chance to design their futures, but they also include basic skills such as reading a map, working systematically, using basic math concepts, and communicating with others. A resource called “ A Kid’s Guide to Building Great Communities ” is also super helpful for anyone considering this project!

Questions About Redesigning Cities of the Future:

• What kinds of places are in my neighbourhood?
• How can our community serve more people?
• Who is our city leaving behind, and how can we ensure they are working for everyone?
• Creating Stories of The Future with Inquiry-Based Learning
• Adventures in Engineering for Kids: 35 Challenges to Design the Future
• My Green City (PBL Project)
• Using Scenario-Based Learning to Design a Future City
• Future City Competition: Program Handbook (PDF) and Judge’s Manual (great for assessment)

4. Engineering An Ideal Airplane

How can we redesign airplanes to make flying more comfortable for passengers, while being cost-effective for airlines.

This is a project that I’m excited to dive into with my students. It’s also one that many people are talking about as we resume traveling again. Designing an airplane requires the consideration of many factors. For example, designers need to think about seating layouts, storage, environmental impacts, cost, and comfort.

To start this inquiry project, provide students with a variety of photos and models of airplanes. Discuss what their experiences have been on or around planes. Keep in mind that many students probably haven’t been on an airplane. However, let them know that this gives them a unique perspective because they are working with a fresh slate and are likely to come up with some out-of-the-box ideas. It is worth reminding students that everyone’s ideas are valid, regardless of whether or not they’ve been on an airplane.

Following that, spend some time discussing airplane vocabulary. For example, introduce words like commercial, cargo, regulation, airworthiness, taxiing, emissions, airframes, engines, atmospheric conditions, etc. Older students would also benefit from examining cross-section drawings of airplanes and considering ways to reduce the amount of carbon emissions airplanes put out.

Collect student questions and give them plenty of time and space to research and plan out their designs. Using this inquiry checklist helps students keep tabs on the tasks they need to complete. Moreover, our inquiry planning sheet is useful in providing further structure for students.

Questions About Airplane Design:

• How can passenger comfort be maximized while maintaining a reasonable ticket price?
• In what ways can we design planes to be more eco-friendly?
• How could we use recyclable materials to build planes?
• Create Paper Airplane Prototypes with this kit
• Bombardier Airplane Configurator
• 8 ways economy class might look different in the future to keep passengers safe
• Helping Students Form Rich, High-Quality Inquiry Questions
• Airplane Design Article Library
• Q-Matrix Template for Questioning (PDF)

5. Mindfulness Inquiry

What are the links between mindfulness and our health.

Mindfulness is a meditative technique where your mind is fully attentive of what’s happening and what you’re doing. You are present and aware of your surroundings. Many elements of mindfulness arise during inquiry-based learning, such as observation, acceptance, awareness, and process. Students who are aware of their surroundings, mindful of their processes, and accepting of themselves at their current stage tend to reap more benefits from inquiry-based learning as opposed to students who aren’t engaged in the process of inquiry.

During a mindfulness inquiry, students can choose to pursue questions about mindfulness and healthy eating, emotional regulation, conflict resolution, identity, and substance abuse. In particular, older students might also investigate the impacts of mindfulness on stress reduction and sexual health. We wrote an article all about creating strong driving questions for inquiry learning if you’re interested in learning more about this process.

Younger students may want to develop some kind of game or reflection journal. In the past, my Year 3 students opted to recreate a reflection game similar to this meditation card activity set using photos they took and quotes they came up with.

Other project ideas include creating informative pamphlets, hosting a workshop, designing posters and artwork to raise awareness about the importance of mindfulness, collecting and presenting data, or recording their own personal mindfulness journeys in a notebook or journal . We’ve put together a pack that includes templates, activities, and journal prompts to facilitate a mindfulness inquiry with both elementary and secondary students – you can download it here !

Mindfulness Inquiry Questions:

• What does it mean to be mindful?
• How can mindfulness help us identify and manage our emotions?
• How could incorporating mindfulness practice into my daily routine help maintain mental health and resilience in times of stress?
• The Important Links Between Mindfulness and Inquiry Learning
• Download the Mindfulness Inquiry Pack (PDF)
• Other Ways to Integrate Mindfulness in Your Classroom

6. Art in My Neighbourhood

How does art reflect and represent a community.

The purpose of this inquiry is for students to show what life is like in their neighbourhood. Facilitating an inquiry about the importance of representation and community is a way for students to feel connected to their neighbourhood and local area. It is a way for students to think flexibly and creatively, and to produce something that is unique and meaningful to them.

When I facilitated this project with my high school art class, we followed a simple path. Firstly, students brainstormed adjectives that matched the place they lived in, and chose the top three that best described what life was like in their community. Next, they chose places to photograph, sketch, paint, or draw that best represented their communities. They needed to consider the time of day, space, textures, and colours. The final product was up to them, but they needed to include at least ten artworks that represented life in their community.

Some preliminary lessons to facilitate with students include investigating how stories are told. Spend some time exploring how artists tell stories through their art. Look at how stories were expressed in the past, and how storytelling through the arts has evolved. For example, investigate cave art, religious art, sculpture, and architecture. Help students understand the ways in which civilizations have historically communicated meaning. Then, transition into more modern forms of storytelling – such as advertisements, photography, and photojournalism.

Furthermore, students should learn about things like cultural literacy, which means being able to understand the traditions, regular activities, and history of a group of people from a given culture. Furthermore, it means being able to engage with these things in cultural spaces, such as museums, galleries, performances, and so forth.

Questions About Community Art:

• What is the function of art in our lives?
• How have artistic expressions evolved over time?
• How has art historically been used to cultivate change?
• View student artwork from this inquiry project
• Neighbourhood Art Assessment Handout (PDF)
• Other examples of art-related inquiry learning questions (PDF)
• How Art Projects Can Improve Struggling Communities  

7. Stop-Motion Animation Project

How can stop-motion animation be used to tell a story, or spread a message.

Stop-motion animations are examples of inquiry learning that are so fun to do. Firstly, students generate questions about stop-motion that interest them. For example, what do I need to know about prop design before creating a stop-motion? Next, students find resources to help them answer their questions and solve their problems. This step might see students looking at tutorials online, finding materials to create props from, or discussing their plans with a partner. My students went bonkers over this guide on making your own stop-motion LEGO movies .

The focus then shifts to interpreting what they’ve found out. For example, if they feel confident with creating a stop-motion animation, what is the next step? How can they use the information they’ve gathered to produce their own video? Finally, students create a project that showcases their process and their findings. In some cases, the stop-motion animation delivers a message, brings a social justice issue to light, or speaks to a larger problem in society. Some examples include pollution, homelessness, climate change, or other issues they are passionate about.

As a teacher, I’ve found that it helps to show students some behind-the-scenes videos that highlight the steps of creating a stop-motion animation project (you can find these in the resources linked below). It’s also incredibly helpful for teachers to assist students in planning their stories out and figuring out what materials they will need to flesh out their ideas. Students will also need to figure out things like the sequence of events, number of characters, and how the problem will be resolved. We’ve written an entire guide on facilitating a stop-motion inquiry project if you’d like a step-by-step outline!

Stop-Motion Animation Questions:

• How can we show the urgency of climate change using stop-motion animation?
• In what ways can we highlight the importance of eating locally-grown food?
• How could I teach people how to play hockey using stop-motion?
• Stop-Motion Animation Guide for Teachers
• Stand Up Tall Video and Behind-the-Scenes Footage
• Watch the stop-motion animations that my Montessori students created
• Storyboard templates we used

8. Managing Food Scarcity

How can we manage food scarcity.

The issue of food production and distribution has brought up questions about how to make our food systems more reliable. This inquiry is suitable for students in middle and high schools who grasp the concept of food scarcity.

In an article published by Columbia University’s Earth Institute, the effects of COVID on the earth’s food supply is discussed. It points out that “The underlying cause of the pandemic has been attributed to agricultural activities encroaching into natural habitats. Now the pandemic is encroaching on agricultural production.” There are two paths students can explore from that quote.

Students can address the first part of the problem – agricultural activities encroaching into natural habitats – by conducting research on the agricultural activities that pose a risk to natural habitats. For example, the clearing of the Amazon rainforest to make room for cattle farming. From there, they can develop ways to potentially solve these problems – directly or indirectly. Direct methods could include designing solutions to limit the negative effects of mass deforestation. Indirect methods could include developing a plan to reduce the amount of meat in our diets to avoid clearing forests for cattle farming.

On the other hand, students can tackle the second part of the problem, which is that the pandemic is encroaching on agricultural production. Then, students could explore the effects on a global scale, or choose one country to focus their research on. In the article, the researchers focused on the food systems in Senegal, Ghana, and Zimbabwe. Students could imitate this study in their communities or within their school.

This is the perfect inquiry-based project particularly for students who are interested in the effects of health outbreaks and climate change on our food supply, or who want to delve into a topic that worldwide impacts.

Inquiry Questions About Food Scarcity:

• How has COVID-19 affected agriculture around the world?
• What is a food desert and how can we make access to food more equitable?
• In what ways can we help promote food production in our communities?
• Facts on Food Scarcity (updated June 2021)
• Classroom Vegetable Growing Kit
• Food Security Projects That Are Making a Difference
• Food Scarcity: Trends, Challenges, Solutions (PDF)
• Hunger and Malnutrition Toolkit for Teachers
• Change for Children Guide on Food Scarcity

9. Designing an Equitable School

How can we design a school that is more inclusive and/or equitable.

As we endeavour to create and support more inclusive classrooms, we need to sit back and ask students about their ideas. This inquiry delves into the ways we can make schools more inclusive and equitable for everyone.

First, students can consider physical inclusion. For example, are there any places at their school that could be more accessible? Do ramps, railings, or other supports need to be built in a particular area? Does the layout of certain rooms need to be rearranged to accommodate students with disabilities? An article published in February 2020 highlighted a community’s efforts to construct a temporary wheelchair ramp for a student , which might inspire students to take action. Not only does this inquiry-based project include the foundations of mathematics, but it also has a community service component that invites collaboration and problem-solving to the table.

Secondly, students can address the topic of inclusion within their classrooms in terms of the literature, language, and selection of materials used. Engaging with students, teaching empathy, and displaying your class values prominently are all ways to foster inclusivity. Moreover, this angle encourages students to think creatively, empathetically, and with sensitivity to cultural, gender, and race issues, and come up with solutions to benefit everyone. For example, students can design a class library to include more books written by people of colour, or create posters of influential women in the field of science or math to display in the hallways.

Using inquiry to teach social justice issues also encourages students to think about how inclusion is promoted in their classrooms. Perhaps students know some great books, paintings, or films that can promote inclusion. This is a great inquiry project for students who are always looking for ways to improve and enrich the lives of others.

Inquiry Questions About Equitability and Inclusion:

• How can we make our communities more inclusive?
• What are the key ingredients of an inclusive classroom?
• How can we promote equity at home and in our personal lives?
• 10 Steps to Equity in Education (PDF)
• Ontario’s Education Equity Action Plan (PDF)
• Learning for Justice – this website is packed full of amazing lessons and articles about this topic specifically
• 50 Inquiry Questions About Civics, Freedom, and Government

Key Takeaways:

(1) Inquiry projects should be authentic and reflect problems and events that impact our world. Furthermore, they should help students become more creative in their problem-solving, and encourage them to develop essential skills.

(2) Some of these inquiry learning examples are more problem-based, while others are a bit more project-based in nature. We’ve outlined the key differences between the three in our article titled “ What the Heck is the Difference Between IBL and PBL? ” (Or you can download a handy venn diagram for quick reference here ).

(3) Not only are successful inquiry projects meaningful and student-led, but they also include real-world components

(4) Inquiry projects should include low-floor, high-ceiling tasks so that all students can access them. They should also be cross-curricular in nature so that projects cover a variety of subjects, topics, and learning objectives.

(5) History, science, engineering, art, and citizenship are all subjects that have plenty of overlap. The inquiry learning examples listed above allow teachers to branch into multiple subject areas to provide a truly cross-curricular experience for students. Have a look at our excellent roadmap for teaching inquiry and our guide on how to integrate curriculum expectations with inquiry learning to get started.

Hopefully some of these examples of inquiry learning have inspired you!

Do you have some inquiry learning examples you’d like to share?

Please leave them in the comments below, share here:.

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• Physical Activity Basics
• Guidelines and Recommendations
• Add Physical Activity as an Older Adult
• Benefits of Physical Activity
• Overcoming Barriers
• Health Benefits of Physical Activity
• Places to Be Physically Active
• Adding Physical Activity as an Adult
• Making Physical Activity Part of a Child's Life

Physical Activity Basics and Your Health

• Physical activity can make you feel better, function better, and sleep better.
• The amount of physical activity you need depends mostly on your age.
• There are many ways to add physical activity to your life.

Physical activity has many immediate and long-term benefits.

Read about benefits of physical activity and see specific benefits for:

• Adults 65 and older

Recommendations and Tips

See how much physical activity is recommended for specific groups. Also see what counts for different ages and tips for adding physical activity to your life.

• Recommendations
• What counts?
• Making physical activity part of a child's life
• Adding physical activity as an adult
• Adding physical activity as an older adult

More information

Physical Activity in Daily Life

How to Measure Physical Activity Intensity

Overcoming Barriers to Physical Activity

Want additional tips and resources to be active? Learn about Active People, Healthy Nation SM , CDC’s national initiative to help people be more physically active.

Regular physical activity is one of the most important things you can do for your health. Learn about the benefits of physical activity and what you can do.

• Administering Payroll for the United Arab Emirates

Adjust Balance Differences

Rerun the Transfer Balances process to sync the additional payroll activity on the source payroll relationship to the target payroll relationship.

An employee might also have been paid in the past on the target payroll relationship during the period spanning the balance value, that's after the start date of the balance dimension.

You can rerun this process to fetch the balances for the same dimension and context values on both the source and target records. The application records the adjustment for the difference in balance values. If the balance values match, the application doesn't make further adjustments.

Payroll Relationship Level Balances

If an employee had worked in the target payroll relationship before, the process adjusts the difference of balance values read from the source and the target. Any balance being carried from the source includes balance that's processed for the same set of contexts in the target before.

In this example, the source PSU is up to date and in sync with the balance value.

An employee contributed 1000 in PSU A and moved to PSU B. The application carries forward the balance of 1000 to PSU B.

With a further contribution of 3000 in PSU B, the total contribution in PSU B sums up to 4000. He moves to PSU C and carries forward a balance of 4000.

With a further contribution of 1000 in PSU C, the total contribution in PSU C sums up to 5000.

The employee is transferred back to PSU A in the same year. Only 4000 out of the 5000 is brought forward to PSU A because 1000 in PSU C already came from PSU A.

With a further contribution of 1000 in PSU A, the total contribution in PSU A sums up to 6000.

The last global transfer from PSU A to B carries forward 2000, the only portion missing in PSU B.

If you're running the same process twice on the source or target without any occurrence of other payroll activity, the second instance wouldn't further adjust the values. The application finds the values on the target to match those on the source.

Assignment Level Balances

Copy forward assignment level balances if the payroll formula uses only the assignment level balances, instead of relationship level balances, to determine the calculation results. You can use this copy when the calculation results must include the balance values from a prior assignment, such as assignment level voluntary deductions with total owed or arrears, or both.

In this example, assignment 4 must be aware of the 6000 because the prior contributions in PSU A occurred through a different assignment 1. In this scenario, the payroll formula won't consider the prior contributions in PSU A because the element is at an assignment level. With the copy of an assignment level balance of 6000, the PSU A balance of 8000 at a relationship level would be inaccurate, instead of the correct value of 6000. The balance inaccuracy occurs because the application counts 2000 contributed in assignment 1 twice. To overcome this inaccuracy, the process adds a relationship level offset adjustment of -2000 which doesn't impact the assignment level balances for assignments 1 and 4.

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Angels Veteran Provides Latest Injury Update: 'I Feel Like I'm On the Right Track'

Maren angus-coombs | 6 hours ago.

• Los Angeles Angels

Infielder Brandon Drury has been out with a strained left hamstring but there is promising news with his recovery as he has been participating in baseball-related activities.

According to Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register , Drury has been hitting off a tee and he said he planned to advance to hitting flips on Friday. He was going to begin light jogging on Saturday.

“It’s feeling a lot better each day,” Drury said. “I feel like I’m healing fast for the injury that I had. I feel like I’m on the right track.”

The 31-year-old left the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 8 at the bottom of the seventh after suffering the injury and is hoping to turn his season around once he returns to the active roster. Thus far in 2024, the veteran is slashing .173/.230/.240 with a .470 OPS, one home run, six RBIs, and 18 hits in 104 at-bats and 30 games. 

He has played in parts of 10 major league seasons but last season, was his best. Drury hit 26 home runs and drove in 83 runs in his first year in Anaheim. He batted .262 and recorded a career-high 241 total bases.

MAREN ANGUS-COOMBS