4.1 Tips to encourage active learning

Tips

• Ask students to state their expectations for the course.
• Some instructors require simple assignments to critique and share Websites on a particular topic or discipline. If you take the assignment a step further and require students to develop some deliverable where a group determines the critique score for each Web site - you will increase interaction and see more active learning.
• Pose the hard discussion questions requiring critical thinking and problem solving.
• Develop self-checking or mastery type quizzes to allow students to check their own understanding of the content.
• Ask students to teach a particular topic within the discipline to their peers.
• Encourage opinions supported by facts.
• Ask students to reflect on their own learning.
• Use simulations, case studies, role-plays, and real-life scenarios to prompt engagement with content.
• Use peer review.
• Develop shared writing assignments.
• Occasionally, quote student postings as a means of summarizing a discussion.
• Require students or groups to moderate discussion topics.
• Constantly encourage students.