Visual Lists - Here students
are asked to make a list--on paper or on the blackboard; by working in
groups, students typically can generate more comprehensive lists than they
might if working alone. This method is particularly effective when students
are asked to compare views or to list pros and cons of a position.
One technique which works well with such comparisons is to have students
draw a "T" and to label the left- and right-hand sides of the cross bar
with the opposing positions (or 'Pro' and 'Con'). They then list everything
they can think of which supports these positions on the relevant side of
the vertical line. Once they have generated as thorough a list as they
can, ask them to analyze the lists with questions appropriate to the exercise.
For example, when discussing Utilitarianism (a theory which claims that
an action is morally right whenever it results in more benefits than harms)
students can use the "T" method to list all of the (potential) benefits
and harms of an action, and then discuss which side is more heavily "weighted".
Often having the list before them helps to determine the ultimate utility
of the action, and the requirement to fill in the "T" generally results
in a more thorough accounting of the consequences of the action in question.
In science classes this would work well with such topics as massive vaccination
programs, nuclear power, eliminating chlorofluorocarbons, reducing carbon
dioxide emissions, and so forth.
Active Learning For The College Classroom - 0 views
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Note Comparison/Sharing - One reason that some students perform poorly in classes is that they often do not have good note-taking skills. That is, while they might listen attentively, students do not always know what to write down, or they may have gaps in their notes which will leave them bewildered when they go back to the notes to study or to write a paper. One way to avoid some of these pitfalls and to have students model good note-taking is to have them occasionally compare notes. The instructor might stop lecturing immediately after covering a crucial concept and have students read each others' notes, filling in the gaps in their own note-taking. This is especially useful in introductory courses or in courses designed for non-majors or special admissions students. Once students see the value of supplementing their own note-taking with others', they are likely to continue the practice outside of class time.
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Reading Quiz - Clearly, this is one way to coerce students to read assigned material! Active learning depends upon students coming to class prepared. The reading quiz can also be used as an effective measure of student comprehension of the readings (so that you may gauge their level of sophistication as readers). Further, by asking the same sorts of questions on several reading quizzes, you will give students guidance as to what to look for when reading assigned text. If you ask questions like "What color were Esmerelda's eyes?" (as my high school literature teacher liked to do), you are telling the student that it is the details that count, whereas questions like "What reason did Esmerelda give, for murdering Sebastian?" highlight issues of justification. If your goal is to instruct (and not merely to coerce), carefully choose questions which will both identify who has read the material (for your sake) and identify what is important in the reading (for their sake).
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