FIVE QUICK AND EASY ACTIVE LEARNING STRATEGIES

FOR THE COLLEGE CLASSROOM

(adapted from Classroom Assessment Techniques-

A Handbook for College Instructors by

T. Angelo and K. Cross, Jossey-Bass,
1993)

The Minute Paper. Stop class two
or three minutes early and ask students to respond briefly to some
variation on the following two questions: “What was the most
important thing you learned during class?” or “What important
question remains unanswered?” Students write their responses o index
cards or half-sheets of scrap paper and hand them in. Minute papers
provide manageable amounts of timely and useful feedback for a minimal
investment of time. The Minute Paper helps ensure students’
questions will be raised, and in many cases answered, in time to facilitate
further learning. They also help students learn how to distinguish the
major points from the details.

The Muddiest Point. This is about
the simplest classroom activity imaginable. Ask the student to jot down a
quick response to one question: “What was the muddiest point in
____________?” The focus of the activity might be a lecture, a
discussion, a homework assignment, a play or film, etc. Faculty can use
the feedback to discover which points are most difficult for students to
learn and to guide their teaching decisions about which topics to
emphasize.

The One Sentence Summary. This
simple technique challenges students to answer the questions “Who
does what to whom, when, where, how, and why?” about a given topic,
and then to synthesize those answers into a single, grammatical, and long
summary sentence. The One Sentence Summary enables teachers to find out
how concisely, completely, and creatively students can summarize a large
amount of information on a given topic. The teacher generally stipulates
the subject (Who) of the sentence. This assessment technique can provide
feedback on students’ grasp of just about any information that can
be represented in declarative form.

Directed Paraphrasing.  In this activity, students are
directed to paraphrase (in a few minutes using their own words) a part of
a lesson for a specified audience and purpose. Example 1 from Computer Science: In plain language, paraphrase
what you have read about computer viruses for a vice president of a large
insurance firm who is ultimately responsible for database security. Example 2 from Nursing: In one or
two sentences, paraphrase what you have learned about hospice care to
inform a dying, but still lucid, patient of it possible advantages over
hospital or home care.

Application Cards. After students
have heard or read about an important principle, generalization, theory,
or procedure, the instructor hands out an index card and asks them to
write down at least one possible practical or “real-world”
application for what they have just learned (allowing three to five
minutes). Example 1 from Statistics:
After the class had studied significance testing, the professor asked her
students to provide “three possible applications of statistical
significance testing to issues currently in the news.” Example 2 from Political Science:
“All politics is local” is an oft-repeated saying in American
political life. Suggest two practical applications of this generalization
to the politics of presidential campaigning. Imagine you are giving advice
to a candidate.