Hi Betsy,
I love it! Competition is a great thing when it makes a better student academically. Students enjoy playing games and they retain from game playing. The perfect mixture is to have fun while learning.
Patricia Scales
I developed a way to prepare students for the final exams. We call it "Wine Wars".
Throughout the term, students are asked to write down questions from each section we study, using their notes from their textbooks, lecture, presentations, guest speakers and tastings. I collect these questions for use at the end of the term.
Students are split into small groups of 4, and all teams are required answer the collected questions.
The next day, we put all questions into a glass bowl and play wine wars - family feud style.
It has been a fun and fairly active, competitive way to students to review what they have learned!
Hi Lisa,
I love it! What a great way to get students excited/motivated and ready. This helps to hold them accountable as well.
Patricia Scales
In the one class that I teach we discuss how to be a successful student, person and professional so about half way through the term I make the class get into groups of two and have them create their "receipe for success". Each group needs to create the receipe for how to be successful by instructing the class on the ingredients that one needs as well as how much of each indgredient they need and when they get add to the situation along with instructions on how to cook or create success in one's life. Each group presents this receipe to the class in so kind of fun and creative manner, i.e. cooking show, power point, cookbook.
Hi Jana,
Super! It sounds like you do a fine job training your instructors. Students love it when active learning is involved. I am sure you have an impressive list of various active learning activities. Active learning makes for an exciting classroom.
Patricia Scales
My students need to learn grammar in a way that usually involves some lecturing and note taking. However, one way to give students an opporunity to be active would be to have students work on editing grammar mistakes in groups of two
As a Director of Academic Affairs, it is my role is to provide instructor training on “how to†deliver course content effectively to students. I could use a pure lecture method in my training but this would not model effective teaching techniques that I want my faculty to use in the classroom.
In an effort to demonstrate active learning methods in my training I would have the instructors work in small groups. I would ask them to develop group activities that promote critical and analytical thinking. I would then have them share their ideas with the other groups. This would get them engaged and thinking outside the box. In addition, they would have a long list of active learning activities that they could use in their own classrooms.
I would highlight that I used an active learning activity in my own training. So, not only would my instructors learn about active learning methods but they would participate in an active learning activity.
Hi Craig,
Students love hands-on. Experimenting will definitely excite the students and get them involved.
Patricia Scales
While teaching baking, instead of lecturing on the science of flours, I can let them experiment on how the different flour glutin percentages react in recipies.
Hi Paul,
Culinary Arts I am sure is very interesting because of all of the hands-on activities. Your students must do in order to learn this art.
Patricia Scales
When teaching Culinary Arts, there is no reason not to use active learning. The senses are great tools for evaluation, personal histories make the material relevent and there are few people who don't want to talk about something they love, food.
As a Gen Ed instructor, I'm fortunate that a number of the classes I teach don't require a lot of information that must be memorized before students can comment on it. Therefore, I work small discussions into lectures in order to gain their personal insights into the material, as well as build in topical examples for them to debate or discuss.
When I observe other instructors who are utilzing lectures, the best also present problems/scenarios where what was just covered is now put into practice so students can analyze and create solutions.
Hi Amy,
Competition can be a good thing, especially when learning is involved.
Patricia Scales
Hi Michael,
Active learner is getting the students involved through hands-on activities. You will be surprised the involvement you will get from your students through active learning.
Patricia Scales
Hi Lisa,
Students love learning when it is made painless through fun and games.
Patricia Scales
Hi Bonnie,
Students love it when humor is involved in the learning process. When learning is made fun and funny, students tend to really remember the information.
Patricia Scales
Hi Joseph,
Awesome! Students really learn when games are involved in the learning process. A perfect mixture is to have fun while learning.
Patricia Scales
In the past I owuld just review class material for the exams/quizzes. I now use all sorts of games, and make it a competition. It is a helthy competition, of course. It challenges the students to retain the information so that they will be considered a valuable part of their team.
I frequently find myself exclusively lecturing about certain algebraic concepts. I need to involve the students more in the development of algorithms and procedures rather than simply explaining them with me creating the examples.
I too have tried the jepardy game as a review. I have divided the class into teams and they have enjoyed the friendly competition. This is a great way to help the students be involved in the learning process and a less painful way to study for a test.
