Active Learning Strategies

Some Basic Active Learning Strategies
Engaging students in individual or small group activities–pairs or trios especially–is a low-risk strategy that ensures the participation of all. The sampling of basic activities below can be adapted to almost any discussion or lecture setting. Using these strategies, or variations on them, ensures that you'll hold your students' attention in class and throughout the semester.

Ice Breakers
Background Knowledge Probe
Two Column Method
Think / Pair / Share
One Minute Paper
Scenarios / case studies
Numbered Heads Together
Roundtable
Generating Questions
Corners
Ten-Two Strategy
Shared Brainstorming
3- 2- 1 Format
Jigsaw Teamwork

Ice Breakers
Ask participants, for example, to consider what one thing each hopes to offer during the workshop, then have the group get up to rove the room for five minutes gathering a sense of what others have come to offer. After five minutes you can ask participants to return to their seats and jot down an individual goal for the session.

Background Knowledge Probe
BKPs questionnaires ask for basic, simple responses from students who are about to begin a unit.
BKP helps students focus attention on what will be important material.

Think/Pair/Share
1. Have attendees reflect on (and perhaps jot notes) for one minute in response to a question.
2. Participants pair up with someone sitting near them and share responses/thoughts verbally for two minutes
3. The discussion leader randomly chooses a few pairs to give thirty-second summaries of ideas.
The activity can help to organize prior knowledge; brainstorm questions; or summarize, apply, or integrate new information.

Two Column Method
Head two columns on the board/flip chart
Ask half the room to be responsible for the two minutes of listing "Favorable to A" and the other half to provide "Favorable to B" listing; then you could take a minute to have participants generally add to this base of information.
e.g. Active Learning Vs Passive Learning

Think/Pair/Share
1. Have attendees reflect on (and perhaps jot notes) for one minute in response to a question.
2. Participants pair up with someone sitting near them and share responses/thoughts verbally for two minutes
3. The discussion leader randomly chooses a few pairs to give thirty-second summaries of ideas.
The activity can help to organize prior knowledge; brainstorm questions; or summarize, apply, or integrate new information.

One Minute Paper/Free Write
Ask participants to write for 1 minute on a topic or in response to a question that you've developed for the session.

Scenarios/Case Studies
Participants discuss and analyze the scenario
Participants can simply record their findings on a flipchart
The examples above triggers students thinking to reach the structure of the present and the past questions in context.

Numbered Heads Together
This strategy works best in groups of 4 - 6. Students in each group are numbered based on how many students are in the group. All students share within their own group. However, one person (number) is called upon to share for the entire group.
Numbered Heads Together encourages discussion, problem solving and collaboration.

Roundtable
A question is posed by the teacher. Each student writes one answer on paper (or flipchart) that's passed around the group. Each group shares/presents their answer to the entire class.

Generating Questions
Have participants create five types of questions with each question moving to a "higher" level of thinking. Begin with a question asking for an important fact.

Corners
The presenter places a flipchart with a question in each corner of the room.
Groups move from corner to corner and write an answer to each posed question.
The next group expands/ illustrates that response with additional information, if possible.
Different colored markers can be used for each group to see what each group wrote for each question.

Ten-Two Strategy
Presenter shares information for ten minutes and then stops for two minutes to encourage listeners to pair and share their ideas, fill in any gaps or misunderstandings, and allow each other to clarify information.

Shared Brainstorming
Presenter disseminates sheets of paper to the groups. On each sheet is a different question.
Groups jot down answers to the given question.
The presenter then instructs each group to rotate to another sheet containing a different given question to answer.
At the end of this activity, each group returns to their original question sheet, reviews the given responses, generates a summarization of ideas, and shares their conclusions etc. with the entire group.

3 - 2 - 1 Format
Presenter instructs participants to jot down and share with their group:
3 ideas/issues etc. presented
2 examples or uses of the idea/information covered
1 unresolved/remaining question/area of possible confusion

Jigsaw Teamwork
A general topic is divided into smaller, interrelated pieces. each member of a team is assigned to read and become an expert on a different piece
Then, each expert teaches the other team members about her piece.