Active learning activities
| Site: | WelTec Moodle |
| Course: | Academic induction module for new tutors 2017 |
| Book: | Active learning activities |
| Printed by: | Guest user |
| Date: | Sunday, 24 November 2024, 11:09 PM |
Description
An introduction to class activities to use in your lesson plans. Remember adult learners need to know:
WHAT they're learning
WHY they're learning it
WHERE it's leading them
If you remember this, your learners will be more likely to engage with the activity.
1. warm-up activities
At the beginning of a class session you need to get your students engaged with the topic. Here are three possible ways to do this.
1. brainstorm
3. KWL
When you begin to write your lesson plans, you must include a warm-up activity. It can be one of these ones, or another way that you get your class started.
2. Making sense (doing) activities
During every class session your learners should be involved in an activity where they are actively doing something with the content (theory).
Here are three activities that get learners involved. There are lots more that you may already know and use.
1. think-pair-share
The tutor asks students a question, the students think about it on their own for a minute, then talk to a partner for a minute or two and then report their shared thoughts back to the group. This provides a good basis for wider discussion. It's also a good strategy for a tutor to use to break up a powerpoint session or lecturette (10 minutes of lecture).
2. buzz groups
The learners work in small groups and discuss an issue or topic. They can record their ideas and answers. After a set time, they give feedback about their findings to the class.
A "hands on" method to get learners to put topics or ideas into order of importance.
When you come to write your lesson plans, you must include at least one "doing" activity. It can be one of these ones, or another way that you get your class actively engaged with the material.
3. Evaluation or feedback activities
1. muddiest point
On a post-it or scrap paper, each student writes one thing they really didn't understand from the session. This can be anonymous and is done with the understanding that comments will be used by the tutor for improvement of future sessions.
2. one minute paper
You can make a small handout with 2-3 relevant questions according to your session. Some suggestions are:
What is the most significant thing you learned today?
What question do you have at the end of today's session?
List one way this session could be improved.
3. stop start keep
Learners write short response about the session next to each heading.
Your lesson plan should include one of these activities at the end so you can get some feedback from your learners and act on it.