The author has written a class activity based on real life experience. After sitting through many years of unproductive and frustrating team meetings, the author decided to incorporate those experiences into a simulated exercise that could be incorporated during classes that include a chapter(s) on teams and /or teamwork. The goal of the activity…

Play provides an opportunity for students to learn information and concepts in an active format while facilitating different ways of learning. This puzzle activity is designed to increase student engagement, leverage different learning styles, help students make connections in communication theories, and enhance memory of important communication…

Course: Civil discourse, argumentation, debate, persuasion, political communication. Objectives: This unit activity will help students build an understanding of civil discourse and its function in society. Students will: (1) increase their capacity to examine arguments critically, (2) enhance their own ability to self-reflect critically, and (3)…

We present a short, inquiry-based learning course on concepts and methods underlying ordinary least squares (OLS), least absolute deviation (LAD), and quantile regression (QR). Students investigate squared, absolute, and weighted absolute distance functions (metrics) as location measures. Using differential calculus and properties of convex…

It is well known that interesting questions can stimulate thinking and invite participation. Class exercises are designed to make use of questions to engage students in active learning. In a project toward building a community skilled in software verification and validation (SV&V), we critically review and further develop course materials in…

This book offers valuable teaching strategies to engage a diverse group of teens in thinking, understanding, and learning activities. It uses classroom examples to illustrate the eight "ENGAGING" factors: (1) Entice Effort and Build Community; (2) Negotiate Meaning; (3) Group Collaboratively; (4) Active Learning and Authentic Assessment; (5)…

Stimulating, engaging, and effective, the games and activities in this book offers students alternatives to learning by rote or performing drills. This book makes it easy for teachers to develop their linguistic functions through active learning. The specific skills and vocabulary taught in each game or activity is highlighted, as are the…

Notes that while active learning strategies enable students to grasp important concepts, they also help students become enthusiastic and confident writers and interpreters of literature. Suggests that the more active students are in the lesson, the more engaged they will be in the subject matter and the better opportunity they will have to learn…

Suggests that field trips may best be seen as an example of short-term experiential education. Explains how field trips may be helpful in a range of sociology classes; notes the basic steps to planning, undertaking, and evaluating field trips; and addresses advantages of, and objections to, such excursions. (DSK)

Describes four approaches to improve students' abilities and inclination to think better: provide classroom learning environments that make thinking possible and students willing to engage in it; make the invisible substance of thinking visible and explicit; support student execution of newly encountered or complex thinking operations during…

Provides a conceptual framework for introducing active learning into the classroom as a tool for assessment. Notes that formative assessment can be a powerful tool for transforming a passive classroom into one filled with active participants. Discusses what is assessed, what are the criteria, who will assess, and how the object of assessment will…

Discusses how a literature and multimedia course for 11th and 12th graders used active-learning experiences to engage students with Shakespeare's "Henry IV, Part One." Describes how shouting Hal's soliloquy; constructing a chart of character relations; rewriting a scene in their own words; performing, filming, and critiquing a scene; and…

Explains the fight or flight reaction and presents a hands-on activity for high school students. Uses crayfish behavior as an example. (Author/SOE)

Discusses an exercise that uses objects from everyday life to demonstrate to students how their personal biographies intersect with history. Encourages active engagement between teacher, students, and subject matter in a mutual quest for knowledge and understanding. Outlines the exercise, assesses its success, and makes additional recommendations.…

Describes a technique for teaching undergraduates some of the problems associated with constructing self-report delinquency surveys. Argues that the exercise, requiring students to critique a flawed survey, increases students' interest in the problems and ultimately may lead to a better understanding of them. Outlines procedures, evaluation…