• AI Critic: Provide students with a project or materials that AI generated. Have students (individually or in a group) explain the problems of what AI produced, as well as benefits of what AI suggested.
• Dot-ocracy: Have students anonymously vote on ideas or solutions by placing dot stickers next to answers posted on a wall. 
• Minute Paper:  Stop class early and have students write for one or two minutes to answer the question “What was the most important thing you learned in class today?” 
• Muddiest Point: At the end of a class, week, or unit, have students identify the one thing they found the most difficult or confusing. 
• Passing Problems: Break a problem/ issue/ topic into as many parts as you have groups. Assign each group an aspect of it to solve and/or discuss. Gather together to discuss ways each group accomplished their task. 
• Relevance Cards: At the end of a lesson, have students write (on notecards, in a discussion board, or through a journal entry) one real-life application of your lesson’s topic. 
• Think-Pair-Share: Students first consider a prompt individually, then discuss their ideas with a partner before sharing with the larger group. OPTION: Add a writing component.

• Case Study:  Present a real-life issue and ask students how they might respond. In pairs, groups, or individually, discuss the pros and cons of various resolutions.
• Concept Map: Have students use the whiteboard, paper, or any type of collaborative space to visually map out relationships, contexts, and important considerations for a topic.
• Four Corners: Ask multiple choice questions and have students stand in the corner that represents their answer. Students then discuss with others why they chose their answer.
• Gallery Walk: Provide students with a question that requires brainstorming or asking additional questions. Instruct them to write ideas on post-its and post these on the wall under pre-assigned themes. They can walk around the room and discuss. 
• No Bad Questions: Have a discussion in which students can only answer each other in questions.
• Role-Playing: Assign students as stakeholders or concerned parties in a dilemma. They will then speak from that person’s viewpoint rather than their own. 
• Visual Syllabus: Have students (in groups or individually) create a one-page visual “cheat sheet” for the syllabus that highlights the most important dates, requirements, links, and grades for the class. 

• Emergency Response:  Explain a potential crisis in the field and assign students roles as first responders or problem solvers. They must collaborate and brainstorm ways they could, as a group, resolve or lessen the crisis.
• Media Response: Rather than a paper, exam, or essay, have students create their own responses using video or audio. 
• Share the Work: Divide up the lesson into multiple pieces and assign one to each student/group. Give students 15 minutes to read and process the information, then have them present the materials to the class.
• Student Teacher: Ask students to teach a section, concept, or important historical event to the class. Make these short but focused presentations backed up with research.
• World Café: Designate different tables (or breakout rooms) for a specific topic and have an “expert” ready to create discussion. Students then rotate to each topic table for small space of time while the expert helps them brainstorm and/or discuss.
• Worst-case Scenario: Ask the students to imagine the worst-case scenario if a professional in this field was unaware of key concepts. Once students decide what could go wrong, have them brainstorm ways to prevent this. 

Active learning in teaching is any instructional approach that asks students to do something meaningful with course content. This might include discussing, applying, analyzing, reflecting, creating, or solving problems. The goal is for students to engage with ideas rather than simply receiving information. 

Resources:

• Active Learning for Any Discipline [1:01:04] by Dr. Michelle Hardee

Active learning looks and feels different than traditional methods of lecturing. Research shows that students tend to prefer passive techniques that require less effort, even though that leads to worse performance on assessments. Learning and cognitive growth is difficult and can be uncomfortable for students as they try to fit new information into their current ways of thinking. That effort and discomfort that they feel is literally learning happening, they just don’t realize it.  Students may not feel like they learn much through these activities--even though they are! 

• Explain to students why you are doing what you are doing in class. Stressing the relevancy of an activity shows the students that activities are not just busy work. 

Resources:

• A Guide for Your Students about Active Learning [pdf]
• From Yawn to Yes!: Increasing Student Engagement through Active Learning Technologies  [58:56] by Dr. Kristin Harrell

What are the goals of the lesson, unit, or course? What do you want students to be able to do? Give them an opportunity to practice whatever those knowledge or skills are. Start small. Add a simple activity that asks students to think about, use, or respond to what they are learning instead of only hearing or reading about it. For example, after introducing a key concept, ask students to explain it in their own words, apply it to a real-world scenario, or discuss it with a peer before moving on. 

Resources:

• Active Learning Techniques: Usefulness and Other Considerations  [2:17] by Dr. Katherine Ryker
• Active Learning Instant Activity Deck [pdf]
• 302 Active Learning Ideas [pdf] compiled by Dr. Kevin Yee and organized by category (including some online and technology ideas).

Make sure to provide clear and purposeful opportunities for interaction and explain why. Active engagement is necessary for learning. Learning happens when we actively build knowledge through inquiry, experience, questioning, and reflection. This allows students to create their own representations of new concepts and to adjust how they see the world based on new information. 

• Keep in mind that active engagement doesn't need to take a long time. One-minute reflections and 5 minute paired discussions can allow for students to do something without missing out on content. 

Resources:

• Active Learning for Online Courses

Collaboration and guidance from others helps to build new aspects of knowledge and skills. Students benefit from hearing different perspectives and getting ideas from other students. They also benefit from having to articulate their own ideas or explain key concepts to other students. Even if they are all novices, the act of working out problems together and helping each other can increase all of their skills.

• Remember that group work and group assignments are different. Students can work together without being assessed based on someone else’s work, which is frequently the main objection. 

Have you tried games in your classroom? Game-based learning can alleviate some of the anxiety and concerns with group work while teaxhing valuable sklills.

Resources:

• Arizona State University's webpage on Cooperative Learning provides great advice and tips.

Active Learning is not just for small classrooms. Since these exercises are about activating new ways of cognitive thinking, active learning can be just as successful when used in partner and individual exercises.  The video below is from an award-winning professor at USC who has plenty of ideas that you could use in classes ranging from 50-500 students.

Resource:

• Active Learning for Large Classrooms  [01:18:33] by Dr. Katherine Ryker
• Join our Large Classroom Learning Community.

Active learning is not limited to technology use. For most activities, you can adapt a teaching strategy to either be digital or analog. For example, you can have active polling in the classroom using indicators other than polling software, such as having students raise their hands or an object. Another example would be having students doing the heavy lift in the classroom by finding their own case studies or solving a problem through research. If you are exploring active learning in the online classroom, consider consulting with an Instructional Designer about what tools you could use to facilitate virtual active learning.  

Resources:

• Unpacking Narrative Pedagogy: Harnessing Storytelling to Transform Learning and Teaching [45:41] by Dr. Kristin Harrell and Dr. Mitchell Dallas Herring
• Fanfiction: Combining Creativity and Disciplinary Identity in the Classroom  [43:43] by Dr. Kristin Harrel and Dr. Mitchell Dallas Herring
• Network with others and ask questions about researching the latest trends and debates in the CTE Active Learning and Technology Community of Practice.

There are quick, easy ways to participate in active learning inside and outside of your courses that encourage and motivate students regardless of discipline. For example, activating students’ prior knowledge through reflection activities can build confidence for upcoming tasks and assessments in any course. This can occur through self-checks, concept mapping, or written reflections during the semester. You can also research active learning strategies in your discipline by locating journals focused on teaching and learning in your subject area. Finally, you could consult with an Instructional Designer to discuss active learning strategies that align with your specific course and classroom expectations.  

Resources:

• Universal Design for Learning (useful for any discipline)
• Active Learning Strategies for Any Discipline  [01:01:04] by Dr. Michelle Hardee 

Rote memorization is not effective over time. To have deep learning, students need reflective and deliberate practice. It is just as important to provide opportunity for practice and feedback in class as it is to provide content. Be sure to identify the key things needed from the lesson and to focus deeply there.

• Keep in mind that active engagement doesn't need to take a long time. One-minute reflections and 5 minute paired discussions can allow for students to do something without missing out on content. 

Resource:

• Our Resource page offers quick ideas that you can use in your next class, as well as templates you can download. These range from less than 15 minutes to over a span of class sessions. There's something to fit your schedule!

Yes! In putting together these common concerns, we used the following references. For a deeper dive into the research, feel free to contact us.

• Deslauriers, L., McCarty, L. S., Miller, K., Callaghan, K., & Kestin, G. (2019). Measuring actual learning versus feeling of learning in response to being actively engaged in the classroom. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 116(39), 19251–19257.
• Dewsbury, B. M., Swanson, H. J., Moseman-Valtierra, S., & Caulkins, J. (2022). Inclusive and active pedagogies reduce academic outcome gaps and improve long-term performance. PLoS ONE, 17(6), e0268620.
• Freeman S., S. L. Eddy, M. McDonough, M. K. Smith, N. Okoroafor, H. Jordt, and M. P. Wenderoth (2014) Active Learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathmatics. National Academy of Science, 8410 - 8415.
• McConnell et. al. (2018). Instructional Utility and Learning Efficacy of Common Active Learning Strategies.  Journal of Geoscience Education, 65(4), 604–625.
• McDevitt, T. M., & Ormrod, J.E. (2024). Child development and education (8th ed.). Pearson. 
  Piaget, J. (1953). The origins of intelligence in children. Basic Books.
• Powell, K. C., & Kalina, C. J. (2009). Cognitive and social constructivism: Developing tools for an effective classroom. Education, 130(2), 241–250.