Determining learning experiences for students to develop skills, actively construct knowledge and deepen understanding.
Activities are the experiences that allow students to achieve learning outcomes. These may consist of readings, lectures, group work, labs or projects to name a few. While situations and learning outcomes are unique, there are best practices that have proven to be more effective across contexts.
· improves critical thinking skills
· increases retention and transfer of new information
· increases motivation
· improves interpersonal skills
· decreases course failure
· provides practice and feedback
For further evidence please see active learning’s effectiveness.
On the teaching methods page you will find student-centered teaching methods that are inherently more active than lecturing.
Often, there are concerns about difficulty of implementing active learning in large courses or with limited support. We address several of these concerns here:
The chart below offers a variety of suggested activities that can support learning outcomes.
Method Grouping | Category | Activity |
---|---|---|
Lecture-based | Interactive Lecture |
|
Writing |
| |
Discussion-based |
| |
Inquiry-based | Small Group Learning |
|
Experiential-based | Experiential-based |
|
Project-based |
|
Further information about these activities is in the Build section of course development.
Use the Couse Design Template Download docx(75 KB) to determine the activities that will support your learning outcomes and assessments.
After choosing your activities, you have now completed the design phase of course development. Next, you will begin building the elements of your course.
Overview of activities that encourage active learning.
Additional active learning techniques and examples to consider integrating into your course design.
Further active learning examples in higher education.
Active learning examples and directions.
SUNY OSCQR – Importance of activities to develop higher order thinking and encourage real world applications.
SUNY OSCQR – Importance of activities to develop higher order thinking and encourage real world applications.
For further information about active learning, see the following readings.