active learning

Negotiating European Integration Yourself: Role Playing, Simulations, and Counterfactuals in Teaching Political Science

by Sener Akturk, Political Science
All theories “make sense” at some level, making it difficult for students to find their weaknesses. Hence, many students believe that the political development of the region they study (Europe, Middle East, etc.) could not unfold differently than it did…To overcome these problems, I set aside a section in mid-semester for students to act out 50 years of EU political development in a simulation.

Teaching the 3-Speed Class

by Jason Purcell, Political Science
In the Spring of 2008, I realized that I had a problem: I was teaching a 3-speed class. While some students were content with the pace of section, others were struggling to keep up, and still others were starting to get bored. How can one GSI keep pace with students learning at three very different speeds?

Teaching Young Scientists to Speak the Way They Think

by Seemay Chou, Molecular and Cell Biology
I found that the problem was not rooted in lack of comprehension but an imprecision in their scientific language, owing to their lack of experience in the field. They felt that they knew the answers but could not express what they were trying to say…They needed to think and speak in the same language as scientists.

Training Molecular MacGyvers Using the Immunologist’s Toolbox

by Nicholas Arpaia, Molecular and Cell Biology
I designed what I called the Immunologist’s Toolbox, a running list of techniques that the students could refer to when it came time for them to design experiments. They were able to draw from this list to act like molecular MacGyvers and use the reagents that they were given in particular scenario-based questions to answer them.

The Theory Scare: Teaching Students How to Grasp Abstract Ideas

by Polina Dimova, Comparative Literature
I needed to teach my students to trace complicated theoretical arguments and pinpoint and articulate the concepts that underlay them. I had to empower my students through theory and not let them despair by succumbing to the theory scare, to their assumption that theory is just too tough and they just don’t get it.

A Voice in the Sciences

by Ryan Steele, Chemistry
I had to humbly undergo a transformation that allowed me to let the students’ discussion guide the session. Frankly, I had to shut up. Letting students speak and make mistakes does not mean conceding control of the classroom or the teacher’s sense of authority.

Critical Objectivity and Sentence Style Improvement

by Monica Gehlawat, English
This activity is all about perspective. By creating a new way for the students to look at their writing, I was able to empower them to see how to change it. Tackling the sentences on the board all together with a clear set of drills transformed the debilitating immediacy of one’s writing into a liberating problem-solving experience.

Implementing the Scientific Learning Cycle in the Confines of a Classroom

by Carolyn Sparrey, Mechanical Engineering
Due to the restrictions of the classroom I could not simply bring in tissue for the students to experiment with. Rather, I needed something tissue-like but without the mess and, because I was supplying the materials myself, at minimal cost. The solution was chewing gum.