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slido.com 476602

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Slido is the ultimate Q&A and polling platform for live and virtual meetings and events. It offers interactive Q&A, live polls and insights about your audience.

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contributed by Meg Price, the ei experience

Social-emotional learning (SEL) by definition is a process for learning life skills, including how to deal with oneself, others, and relationships, and work in an effective manner.

Although there are many great SEL programs, SEL can also be incorporated into each lesson as a way of teaching for students to really understand how to action the skills in a variety of situations and form positive habits. All students start school with some level of social and emotional skills and all will develop their social and emotional skills at a different rate.

Parents and teachers are both responsible for teaching students life skills and certainly, much of what they learn will be by watching our actions. The five strategies below are will not only benefit students' social-emotional learning, but can also be beneficial to teachers' well-being, too.
5 Strategies For Incorporating Social Emotional Learning Into Your Classroom 1. Through mindfulness
Mindfulness is: paying attention, in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally.

We are hearing more and more about the benefits of mindfulness for children. Increased attention leads to better performance academically and increased emotional and social intelligence. Children are better able to learn, nurture themselves, and be aware of their own emotional needs.

Mindfulness practices help students pay attention to their breath, body, thoughts, feelings, and the world around them. When they can observe their thoughts and feelings they have the freedom to choose how they will speak and act-which can lead to a happier, more harmonious classroom.

There are many mindfulness activities available for free-on YouTube, for example. Further, there are mindfulness and meditation apps that can provide frameworks for getting started. Why not start each lesson with a different mindfulness activity?
2. Clarify that thoughts lead to feelings
Research shows that students who are more resilient are more academically successful. Resilient students bounce back quicker, are mindful of their thinking, understand their beliefs, and importantly are able to challenge their beliefs and thoughts to create more positive outcomes.

This is an important concept because we may not always be able to influence what happens to us but we do have a powerful influence on how we interpret what happens to us and how we deal with it. Many students are unaware that their thoughts play a large role in influencing how they feel.

No matter what happens to you, nobody can take this away from you and it is an empowering lesson to teach whenever you hear a student express frustration, anger, and other negative emotions. As a teacher, you can help by listening for the emotion, then helping your student understand where that emotion came from and how to adjust their thinking in a way that contributes to their social-emotional well-being.
3. Model persistence and determination
A really important aspect of wellbeing and SEL is the ability to accomplish things in life. Many students naturally strive to better themselves in some way, whether they are seeking to master a skill, achieve a valuable goal, or win in some competitive event.

Other students need some coaching in this area. Teaching students each and every lesson that to accomplish things takes effort, patience, and perseverance are really important. Praise for effort is critical in this area of SEL. Each student will need to be encouraged to set stretch goals during lessons to feel a sense of accomplishment.

By being mindful, and challenging negative thoughts students can be encouraged to dig deep to find the determination to succeed.
4. Listen with empathy
Put another way, listen to be surprised.

Part of SEL is an understanding of the importance of positive relationships. To have these relationships we need to have and teach empathy. Teachers have a wonderful ability to model empathy. Encourage students to listen to others, then ask them to listen to be surprised, and try to understand how other students might be feeling. What opportunities do you have each class to find ways for students to help each other and learn something new about other people's ideas?

Use the opportunity in class to teach students to ask questions framed to encourage response not encourage defensiveness. For example, when John says "Sam, why can't you just follow the instructions?" encourage John to re-frame his question for a better understanding of what Sam is seeking "Sam, can we work through these instructions together to ensure they make sense?

Tone matters in teaching.
5. Emphasize gratitude
Once again research is showing us that a really important aspect of well-being is gratitude. This research indicates those who regularly express gratitude have more energy and enthusiasm, less stress, and better physical wellbeing. There are some very simple ways to increase your experience and expression of gratitude; however, this may require that we train ourselves to think differently.

For students, this can be done by incorporating some simple exercises into each lesson. At the end of each class ask students to reflect on the class using these three questions:

- What aspects of this class did you enjoy today?

- Who did you enjoy working with today?

- What areas of this topic would you like to learn more about?

Most importantly above all have fun in each and every class; learning should be fun and play is a really important part of SEL!

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5 Strategies For Incorporating Social Emotional Learning Into Your Classroom

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contributed by Meg Price, the ei experience Social-emotional learning (SEL) by definition is a process for learning life skills, including how to deal with oneself, others, and relationships, and work in an effective manner.

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There are various ways that Padlet can be used:
Student Portfolio
Group Work - splitting students into Groups can encourage engagement as it allows students to take ownership of their learning.
Maps -
Timelines
Questions and Polls using the 'like' and 'grade' features'.
Chat - used for gathering students' feedback and creating a informal chat with students e.g. Just a Minute-type activity.

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Russel Tarr, International School of Toulouse

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ClassTools.net: Create your own interactive learning resources

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Dozens of templates, quiz generators and learning tools for use in the classroom

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There is no shortage of formative assessment strategies, techniques, and tools available to teachers who use formative instructional practice in their classrooms. Here is an extensive list of 75 digital tools, apps, and platforms that can help you and your students use formative assessment to elicit evidence of learning. We didn't just add any old tool to this list. Here are the criteria we used for those that made the cut:

Supports formative instructional strategies and ways to activate learners to be resources for themselves and peers

Is free or awful close to it (under $10 per year, where possible)

Allows both students and teachers to take the activator role when possible (sometimes teachers need to get things started)

Before you dig into the tools, I encourage you to spend some time thinking about exactly what you want to accomplish with your students. "How to pick the right digital tool: Start with your learning goal" by Erin Beard can help you wrap your head around goals and guide you in choosing the best tool for the task. "27 easy formative assessment strategies for gathering evidence of student learning" can help you decide what strategies work best for you and your students.

Record audio and video

Create quizzes, polls, and surveys

1. Crowdsignal Lets you create online polls, quizzes, and questions. Students can use smartphones, tablets, and computers to provide their answers, and information can be culled for reports.

2. Edulastic Allows you to make standards-aligned assessments and get instant feedback.

3. FreeOnlineSurveys Helps you create surveys, quizzes, forms, and polls.

4. Gimkit Lets you write real-time quizzes. And it was designed by a high school student!

5. Kahoot! A game-based classroom response system that lets you create quizzes using internet content.

6. MicroPoll Helps you create polls, embed them into websites, and analyze responses.

7. Naiku Lets you write quizzes students can answer using their mobile devices.

8. Obsurvey Designed to make surveys, polls, and questionnaires.

9. Poll Everywhere Lets you create a feedback poll or ask questions and see results in real time. Allows students to respond in various ways. With open-ended questions, you can capture data and spin up tag clouds to aggregate responses.

10. Poll Maker Offers unique features, like allowing multiple answers to one question.

11. ProProfs Helps you make quizzes, polls, and surveys.

12. Quia Lets you create games, quizzes, surveys, and more. Access a database of existing quizzes from other educators.

13. Quizalize Helps you create quizzes and homework.

14. Quizizz Guides you through designing quizzes and lets you include students in the quiz-writing process.

15. Quizlet Lets you make flashcards, tests, quizzes, and study games that are mobile friendly.

16. Survey Hero Designed to build questionnaires and surveys.

17. SurveyMonkey Helpful for online polls and surveys.

18. SurveyPlanet Also helpful for online polls and surveys.

19. Triventy Lets you create quizzes students take in real time using individual devices.

20. Yacapaca Helps you write and assign quizzes.

21. Zoho Survey Allows you to make mobile-friendly surveys and see results in real time.

Brainstorm, mind map, and collaborate

Present, engage, and inspire

Generate word or tag clouds

1. EdWordle Generates word clouds from any entered text to help aggregate responses and facilitate discussion. Word clouds are pictures composed of a cloud of smaller words that form a clue to the topic.

2. Tagxedo Allows you to examine student consensus and facilitate dialogues.

3. Wordables Helps you elicit evidence of learning or determine background knowledge about a topic.

4. WordArt Includes a feature that allows the user to make each word an active link to connect to websites, including YouTube.

Get real-time feedback

Foster family communication

1. Remind Lets you text students and stay in touch with families.

2. Seesaw Helps you improve family communication and makes formative assessment easy, while students can use the platform to document their learning.

3. Voxer Lets you send recordings so families can hear how their students are doing, students can chat about their work, and you can provide feedback.

Strengthen teacher-to-student or student-to-student communication

Keep the conversation going with live chats

1. Yo Teach A backchannel site great for keeping the conversation going with students.

2. Chatzy Supports live, online chats in a private setting.

Create and store documents or assignments

1. Google Forms A Google Drive app that allows you to create documents students can collaborate on in real time using smartphones, tablets, and laptops.

2. Piazza Lets you upload lectures, assignments, and homework; pose and respond to student questions; and poll students about class content. This tool is better suited for older students as it mimics post-secondary class instructional formats.

Learn more

There are several resources for learning more about formative assessment and responsive instruction strategies. Consider our formative practices workshops, where school and district teams can gain a better understanding of the role formative practice plays in instruction and the four foundational practices to use in the classroom. Or for a quick start, download our eBook "Making it work: How formative assessment can supercharge your practice."

Jump in, try new tools and methods, and have fun!

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75 digital tools and apps teachers can use to support formative assessment in the classroom

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We've compiled an extensive list of 75 digital tools that can help teachers use formative assessment to elicit evidence of student learning.

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✅ Doodly Whiteboard Video Maker Review [HONEST, NOT SPONSORED PRODUCT REVIEW

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Practical tips for engaging students via online forums: Flower Darby

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Dr Phil Anthony, learning technologist from the division of natural sciences at the University of Kent, joins us to talk about his international digital teaching best practice community, where sector professionals from all around the world now engage to share advice, experiences and ideas about teaching online and digitally.

Phil is a brilliant guest, full of ideas and insights from what he's learned from setting up the community. The group has proved a huge success in so many ways, reassuring staff around the world on mutual experiences (enter the great cameras on or off debate again, Phil shares a really interesting story there).

Phil also shares his top tips on making online teaching engaging, and how you can join in with the online community yourself - by visiting the link in our show notes.

Thank you to Phil for sharing his experiences!

View Phil's twitter profile

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Beyond the Technology: How to share best practice with teachers around the world

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Dr Phil Anthony, learning technologist from the division of natural sciences at the University of Kent, joins us to talk about his international digital teaching best practice community, where sector professionals from all around the world now engage to share advice, experiences and ideas about teaching online and digitally.

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5 Steps to Rethink your Remote Pedagogy: Rachel Bolton King

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What are the 4 stages of social learning theory?

The social learning theory proposes that individuals learn through observation, imitation, and reinforcement. According to the theory, there are four stages of social learning:

1. Attention: In this stage, individuals must first pay attention to the behavior they are observing. This requires focus and concentration on the model's behavior.

2. Retention: In this stage, individuals must remember the behavior they observed. This involves cognitive processing and memory storage.

3. Reproduction: In this stage, individuals attempt to reproduce the behavior they observe. This may involve practicing and refining the behavior until it can be performed accurately.

4. Motivation: In this stage, individuals must have a reason or motivation to perform the behavior. This may involve reinforcement, punishment, social approval, disapproval, or other incentives.

What is the main idea of social learning theory?

Social Learning Theory, proposed by Albert Bandura, posits that people learn through observing, imitating, and modeling others' behavior. This theory posits that we can acquire new behaviors and knowledge by watching others, a process known as vicarious learning.

Bandura emphasized the importance of cognitive processes in learning, which set his theory apart from traditional behaviorism.

He proposed that individuals have beliefs and expectations that influence their actions and can think about the links between their behavior and its consequences.

Why is social learning theory important?

Social learning theory helps us understand how our environment and the people around us shape our behavior. It helps explain how individuals develop new skills and behaviors by paying attention to the behavior of others and then trying to reproduce that behavior themselves.

It is an important theory for psychologists, educators, and anyone interested in human behavior and development.

Who is Albert Bandura?

Albert Bandura was a prominent Canadian-American psychologist known for his work in social learning theory and the concept of self-efficacy.

His groundbreaking research on observational learning, through experiments such as the Bobo Doll experiment, shifted the focus of psychological theory from behaviorism to cognitive processes.

Bandura's work significantly influenced the understanding of how individuals learn within social contexts.

Albert Bandura is best known for his contributions to the field of psychology, particularly in the areas of social learning theory, self-efficacy, and aggression. He is considered one of the most influential psychologists of the 20th century.

Bandura's work has significantly impacted our understanding of human behavior and has informed fields such as education, psychology, and social work.

References

Ahn, J. N., Hu, D., & Vega, M. (2020). "Do as I do, not as I say": Using social learning theory to unpack the impact of role models on students' outcomes in education. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 14(2), e12517.

Bagès, C., Verniers, C., & Martinot, D. (2016). Virtues of a hardworking role model to improve girls' mathematics performance. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 40(1), 55-64

Bandura, A. Ross, D., & Ross, S. A. (1961). Transmission of aggression through the imitation of aggressive models. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 63, 575-582

Bandura, A. (1965). Behavioral modification through modeling procedures. In L. Krasner & L. P. Ullman (Eds.), Research in behavior modification. New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.

Bandura, A. (1969). Principles of behavior modification. New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.

Bandura, A. (1971). Social learning theory. New York: General Learning Press.

Bandura, A. (1972). Modeling theory: Some traditions, trends, and disputes. In R. D. Parke (Ed.), Recent trends in social learning theory (pp. 35-61). New York: Academic Press.

Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Bennett, S., Farrington, D. P., & Huesmann, L. R. (2005). Explaining gender differences in crime and violence: The importance of social cognitive skills. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 10(3), 263-288.

Cheryan, S., Siy, J. O., Vichayapai, M., Drury, B. J., & Kim, S. (2011). Do female and male role models who embody STEM stereotypes hinder women's anticipated success in STEM? Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2(6), 656-664.

Dasgupta, N. (2011). Ingroup experts and peers as social vaccines who inoculate the self-concept: The stereotype inoculation model. Psychological Inquiry, 22(4), 231-246.

Deaton, S. (2015). Social learning theory in the age of social media: Implications for educational practitioners. Journal of Educational Technology, 12(1), 1-6.

Fryling, M. J., Johnston, C., & Hayes, L. J. (2011). Understanding observational learning: An interbehavioral approach. The Analysis of verbal behavior, 27, 191-203.

Grusec, J. E. (1994). Social learning theory and developmental psychology: The legacies of Robert R. Sears and Albert Bandura.

Huesmann, L. R., & Kirwil, L. (2007). . Cambridge University Press.

Lin-Siegler, X., Ahn, J. N., Chen, J., Fang, F. F. A., & Luna-Lucero, M. (2016). Even Einstein struggled: Effects of learning about great scientists' struggles on high school students' motivation to learn science. Journal of Educational Psychology, 108(3), 314-328.

Lockwood, P., & Kunda, Z. (1997). Superstars and me: Predicting the impact of role models on the self. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73(1), 91-103.

Marx, D. M., & Ko, S. J. (2012). Superstars "like" me: The effect of role model similarity on performance under threat. European Journal of Social Psychology, 42(7), 807-812.

Nabavi, R. T. (2012). Bandura's social learning theory & social cognitive learning theory. Theory of Developmental Psychology, 1(1), 1-24.

Overskeid, G. (2018). Do we need the environment to explain operant behavior?. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 302037.

Rosenthal, L., Levy, S. R., London, B., Lobel, M., & Bazile, C. (2013). In pursuit of the MD: The impact of role models, identity compatibility, and belonging among undergraduate women. Sex Roles, 68(7-8), 464-473.

Schunk, D. H. (2012). Learning theories an educational perspective (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.

Stout, J. G., Dasgupta, N., Hunsinger, M., & McManus, M. A. (2011). STEMing the tide: Using ingroup experts to inoculate women's self-concept in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100(2), 255-270

Weiner, B. (1979). A theory of motivation for some classroom experiences. Journal of Educational Psychology, 71(1), 3-25.

Olivia Guy-Evans, MSc
BSc (Hons) Psychology, MSc Psychology of Education

Associate Editor for Simply Psychology

Olivia Guy-Evans is a writer and associate editor for Simply Psychology. She has previously worked in healthcare and educational sectors.

Saul Mcleod, PhD
Educator, Researcher

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester

Saul Mcleod, Ph.D., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years experience of working in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

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Albert Bandura's Social Learning Theory In Psychology

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Social Learning Theory, proposed by Albert Bandura, posits that people learn through observing, imitating, and modeling others' behavior. This theory posits that we can acquire new behaviors and knowledge by watching others, a process known as vicarious learning.

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How to use Breakout rooms in Zoom for Teaching and learning

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What is the research behind reflective practice?

Educational researchers have long promoted the importance of reflecting on practice to support student learning and staff development.

There are many different models of reflective practice. However, they all share the same basic aim: to get the best results from the learning, for both the teacher and students.
Each model of reflection aims to unpick learning to make links between the 'doing' and the 'thinking'.

Kolb's learning cycle
David Kolb, educational researcher, developed a four-stage reflective model. Kolb's Learning Cycle (1984) highlights reflective practice as a tool to gain conclusions and ideas from an experience. The aim is to take the learning into new experiences, completing the cycle. Kolb's cycle follows four stages.

First, practitioners have a concrete experience. This means experiencing something new for the first time in the classroom. The experience should be an active one, used to test out new ideas and teaching methods.
This is followed by...

Observation of the concrete experience, then reflecting on the experience. Here practitioners should consider the strengths of the experience and areas of development. Practitioners need to form an understanding of what helped students' learning and what hindered it.
This should lead to...

The formation of abstract concepts. The practitioner needs to make sense of what has happened. They should do this through making links between what they have done, what they already know and what they need to learn. The practitioner should draw on ideas from research and textbooks to help support development and understanding. They could also draw on support from other colleagues and their previous knowledge. Practitioners should modify their ideas or devise new approaches, based on what they have learnt from their observations and wider research.
The final stage of this cycle is when...

The practitioner considers how they are going to put what they have learnt into practice. The practitioner's abstract concepts are made concrete as they use these to test ideas in future situations, resulting in new experiences. The ideas from the observations and conceptualisations are made into active experimentation as they are implemented into future teaching. The cycle is then repeated on this new method.

Kolb's model aims to draw on the importance of using both our own everyday experiences and educational research to help us improve. It is not simply enough for you to reflect. This reflection must drive a change which is rooted in educational research.

Gibbs' reflective cycle

The theoretical approach of reflection as a cyclical model was further developed by Gibbs (1998). This model is based on a six-stage approach, leading from a description of the experience through to conclusions and considerations for future events. While most of the core principles are similar to Kolb's, Gibbs' model is broken down further to encourage the teacher to reflect on their own thoughts and feelings.

Gibbs' model is an effective tool to help you reflect after the experience, and is a useful model if you are new to reflection as it is broken down into clearly defined sections.

Description
In this section, the practitioner should clearly outline the experience. This needs to be a factual account of what happened in the classroom. It should not be analytical at this stage.

Feelings
This section encourages the practitioner to explore any thoughts or feelings they had at the time of the event. Here the practitioner should explain feelings and give examples which directly reference the teaching experience. It is important the practitioner is honest with how they feel, even if these feelings might be negative. Only once the feelings have been identified can the practitioner implement strategies to overcome these barriers.

Evaluation
The evaluation section gives the opportunity for the practitioner to discuss what went well and analyse practice. It is also important to consider areas needed for development and things that did not work out as initially planned. This evaluation should consider both the practitioner's learning and the students' learning.

Analysis
This section is where the practitioner makes sense of the experience. They consider what might have helped the learning or hindered it. It is in this stage that the practitioner refers to any relevant literature or research to help make sense of the experience. For example, if you felt the instructions you gave were not clear, you could consult educational research on how to communicate effectively.

Conclusion
At this stage, the practitioner draws all the ideas together. They should now understand what they need to improve on and have some ideas on how to do this based on their wider research.

Action plan
During this final stage, the practitioner sums up all previous elements of this cycle. They create a step-by-step plan for the new learning experience. The practitioner identifies what they will keep, what they will develop and what they will do differently. The action plan might also outline the next steps needed to overcome any barriers, for example enrolling on a course or observing another colleague.

In Gibbs' model the first three sections are concerned with what happened. The final three sections relate to making sense of the experience and how you, as the teacher, can improve on the situation.

'Reflection-in-action' and 'reflection-on-action'

Another approach to reflection is the work by Schön. Schön (1991) distinguishes between reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action.

Reflection-in-action is reflection during the 'doing' stage (that is, reflecting on the incident while it can still benefit the learning). This is carried out during the lesson rather than reflecting on how you would do things differently in the future. This is an extremely efficient method of reflection as it allows you to react and change an event at the time it happens. For example, in the classroom you may be teaching a topic which you can see the students are not understanding. Your reflection-in-action allows you to understand why this has happened and how to respond to overcome this situation.

Reflection-in-action allows you to deal with surprising incidents that may happen in a learning environment. It allows you to be responsible and resourceful, drawing on your own knowledge and allowing you to apply it to new experiences. It also allows for personalised learning as, rather than using preconceived ideas about what you should do in a particular situation, you decide what works best at that time for that unique experience and student.

Reflection-on-action, on the other hand, involves reflecting on how practice can be developed after the lesson has been taught. Schön recognises the importance of reflecting back 'in order to discover how our knowing-in-action may have contributed to an unexpected outcome' (Schön, 1983).

Reflection-on-action means you reflect after the event on how your knowledge of previous teaching may have directed you to the experience you had.

Reflection-on-action should encourage ideas on what you need to change for the future. You carry out reflection-on-action outside the classroom, where you consider the situation again. This requires deeper thought, for example, as to why the students did not understand the topic. It encourages you to consider causes and options, which should be informed by a wider network of understanding from research.

By following any of the above models of reflection, you will have a questioning approach to teaching. You will consider why things are as they are, and how they could be. You will consider the strengths and areas of development in your own practice, questioning why learning experiences might be this way and considering how to develop them. As a result, what you do in the classroom will be carefully planned, informed by research and previous experience, and focused, with logical reasons. All of these models stress the importance of repeating the cycle to make sure knowledge is secure and progression is continued.

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Getting started with Reflective Practice

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Educational researchers have long promoted the importance of reflecting on practice to support student learning and staff development. There are many different models of reflective practice. However, they all share the same basic aim: to get the best results from the learning, for both the teacher and students.Each model of reflection aims to unpick learning to make links between the 'doing' and the 'thinking'.

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"Active learning is anything course related that all students are called upon to do other than simply watching, listening, and taking notes." (Felder & Brent, 2009)

Active learning is an approach to instruction that requires students to thoughtfully engage with the course material, and often with one another. Instructor design and guidance is crucial in the active learning classroom, although a greater degree of responsibility for learning is placed on the student compared to more passive teaching and learning approaches, such as lectures. Active learning does not need to replace the lecture, but incorporation of active learning into a lecture, or designing active learning tasks to occur during some class times, will enhance student engagement and lead to deeper learning.

In simple terms, active learning involves students in course-related activities and causes students to think about what they are doing (Bonwell & Eison, 1991). Active learning is an evidence-based approach to teaching which is at the core of the teaching philosophy at the Centre for Teaching and Learning at Western. Many different examples of active learning are described in section 3 below.

"At this point, it is unethical to teach any other way." (Dirks, cited in Waldrop, 2015)

The consensus across years of investigation into teaching and learning in higher education concludes that active learning enhances student learning. The way that active learning is incorporated into a class will vary, but students have much to gain when they are made active contributors in their learning.

Students perceive greater knowledge and understanding gains with active learning (Braxton et al., 2008) and demonstrate this knowledge gain with enhanced test scores compared to traditional learners (Mello, 2013). Students can retain knowledge and understanding longer and are better able to broadly apply what they have learned (Waldrop, 2015) when engaged in an active learning environment.

In addition to enhanced course content mastery, students find their course work more personally rewarding (Braxton et al., 2008) and are better able to tolerate obstacles in the learning process (Lobatto, 2007) when active learning is brought into a course. Students also build social skills through the process of active learning (Yazedjian, 2007), which logically flows from the formative learning experiences of engaging with their colleagues.

It takes time to incorporate active learning into one's class, but time alone is not the reason for these enhanced learning outcomes (Prince, 2004). Instead, it has been found that the nature of the active engagement activity is what causes students to have a deeper learning experience.

Identify a concept or principle your students are studying and ask students to come up with one to three applications of the principle from everyday experience, current news events, or their knowledge of particular organizations or systems discussed in the course.

Brainstorming is a technique designed to generate many responses to a given question or problem. Typically, students respond verbally to a prompt by the instructor and the instructor records the responses in some way. Use the following guidelines for facilitating brainstorming to reduce social inhibitions among group members, stimulate responses, and increase group creativity.

1) Withhold criticism - Ask students to refrain from critiquing responses during the brainstorm and focus on adding to or extending contributions.

2) Welcome unusual ideas - Encourage students to examine the question/problem from different perspectives and consider the assumptions/biases that may be influencing their responses.

3) Quantity breeds quality - Aim to get as many responses as you can so that you can provide a later opportunity to sift through the answers and identify the best or most creative responses.

Buzz Groups are small discussion groups (typically 3 - 5 students) formed to generate ideas, solve problems, or reach a common viewpoint on a topic within a specific period of time. Large groups are often divided into buzz groups after an initial presentation in order to cover different aspects of a topic or maximize participation. Groups may appoint a spokesperson to report the results of the discussion to the larger group if time permits.

This active learning activity involves groups of students examining a real life, authentic, or contextualized situation that requires the group of students to assess, evaluate, and respond. The case study activity can provide opportunity for students to apply previously learned concepts, or drive students to further investigate the research or course material so that students can appropriately respond.

This strategy allows the instructor to pose a question, be it a pre-assessment, conceptual, problem solving, prediction, or opinion question, and receive real-time feedback from all students in the class that can be instantly and graphically displayed. Western currently supports iClicker, an audience response software that can be used by faculty and students at no cost. Students can submit their responses in class from any web-enabled device over Western's WiFi. Multiple choice, short answer, and heat-map type questions can be posed, and the results can be displayed as a bar graph, list, or heat-map, respectively. The instructor can then tailor further instruction based on this classroom assessment technique feedback, for example by further delving into a challenging concept, clarifying misconceptions, or moving on from a concept the class has obviously grasped.

One especially effective technique with clickers is to pose a question, have students respond individually, and if the results are not near consensus on the correct answer, have students take a few moments to discuss in pairs or small groups to "convince your peer you are correct", then vote again based on these discussions. This allows students to teach one another, for example explaining their rationale for their conclusions. The instructor can then follow-up with any necessary explanations and conclusions.

Ask students to draw and identify the connections between various concepts discussed in a single class, or across multiple classes, by drawing a schematic map. This map could include key ideas, terms or sketches, with lines drawn between these entries to indicate relationships. For example, factors that contribute to plant metabolism could be connected, or the relationships between contributions to air pollution could be identified. Alternatively, you can ask students to develop a metaphor or image to simplify and explain a given concept.

Working in pairs or small groups would allow students to collaboratively reach consensus. You can move around the room to gauge student responses, have students submit this work via paper, or submit online. For a larger class, you could collect all the papers, and then randomly display some on the document camera and provide general feedback on some responses.

This is a technique for voting and assessing agreement among students. Typically, different coloured dot stickers are used (available at dollar stores), but students can also vote using pens/markers. First, present students with various options related to an issue, question, or idea. These options can be posted around the classroom. Second, provide students with a set number of dot stickers and have them to move around the room to review the options and place a dot sticker next to the ones they agree with most. The options with the most dots at the end of voting "win" and can provide the focus for ensuing class discussion or the next steps in an activity or assignment. Variations include using different colour dots to signify different values (e.g., green for "like" and red for "dislike").

This technique focuses on helping students analyze their own learning and areas of confusion. Ask your students, "What was the muddiest point in. . . (today's lecture, the reading, the homework)?" Give them one to two minutes to write on an index card or paper and then collect their responses. You can also facilitate this learning activity online via iClicker (short answer) or Google Survey. Be sure to review these reflections and address any concerns in the next class.

The most common fishbowl configuration is an "inner ring" (Group A - discussion group), surrounded by an "outer ring" (Group B - observation group). To start the activity, the instructor gives a question or issue to Group A to discuss. Group B observes the interactions without interacting or interrupting. After a set amount of time, the two groups exchange places.

This activity is particularly useful when the topic can be divided into distinct positions or arguments. The goal of fishbowl is to have groups gain insight on another group's perspective through active listening and observation. As a whole, the class can reflect on their experiences, ask questions, and provide peer feedback.

This strategy requires more up-front preparation on the part of the instructor and students, and can be applied to an individual class or an entire course. The instructor provides materials for the students to review prior to attending class, such as short instructional videos, YouTube videos, readings, or online modules. Face-to-face class time is then devoted to active learning activities in which the newly-learned material is applied or analyzed in an interactive way. The instructor may still have short segments of instruction, but most of class time involves the students working with the material.

Games are most frequently used as review or recap activities to assess whether students have achieved the desired lesson outcomes and to review important concepts in a fun and active fashion. For example, you can use the free mobile app, " Kahoot! " to create multiple choice questions for use in class. Students answer the questions by logging on through their devices. Instructors can also use the formats for popular television gameshows to formulate questions and structure guidelines for how students play the game. Example gameshows include: Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, Family Feud, and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

This strategy involves students becoming "experts" on one aspect of a topic, then sharing their expertise with others. Divide a topic into a few constitutive parts ("puzzle pieces"). Form subgroups of 3 - 5 and assign each subgroup a different "piece" of the topic (or, if the class is large, assign two or more subgroups to each subtopic). Each group's task is to develop expertise on its particular subtopic by answering questions, developing ideas, and/or researching. Once students have become experts on a particular subtopic, shuffle the groups so that the members of each new group have a different area of expertise (you have now created "learner" groups). Students then take turns sharing their expertise with the other group members, thereby creating a completed "puzzle" of knowledge about the topic.

This activity establishes individual student opinions in a quick and visual way by asking them to line up according to how strongly they agree or disagree with a statement or proposition. For example, students could be asked to pick a number from 1 to 5 that best describes their position on a given issue. The instructor would then ask the students who have chosen "1" to stand at a designated point along the wall of the room, and so on, until all of the students are lined up. From this point, a discussion could be initiated between students at the extremes with those in the middle.

Pose one to two questions in which students identify the most significant things they have learned from a given lecture, discussion, or assignment. Give students one to two minutes to write a response on an index card or paper. Collect their responses and look them over quickly. Their answers can help you to determine if they are successfully identifying what you view as most important.

Post-it Parade is a brainstorming technique that allows the instructor to compile student opinions in a visual way. The strategy has the added benefit of giving students who are reluctant to speak in class the opportunity to share their ideas/opinions in a written format. For this activity, the instructor poses a question (or series of questions). Students respond to the question(s) on post-it notes, and post their answers on the board (or different areas of the classroom depending on how many questions you have). The students should have time to walk around and review the ideas posted by their peers. If there are many responses, consider asking students to group similar responses together or assign themes/categories. You can follow up with a large class discussion about the responses and themes that emerged from this activity.

This strategy gets students working collaboratively and thinking deeply, while the instructor provides resources and feedback along the way. Rather than absorbing information in a lecture format, students are presented with a complex, authentic problem, which requires students to apply what they currently know, and then delve into other resources to acquire the new skills and knowledge required to solve the problem. A well-designed problem is required to keep students engaged and to reach the course learning outcomes.

This discussion is conducted entirely in the form of questions. The instructor begins by sharing a challenging/provocative question or statement (e.g., "Should potential employers use Facebook as a means of gathering information about their applicants?") and students MUST respond to this prompt by suggesting questions of their own (e.g., "What is the distinction between professional and personal information?"). As the Quescussion proceeds, students must wait for others to speak before they can speak again. If someone makes a statement, the rest of the class shouts "statement!" and the contribution must be withdrawn or revised. Questions can be recorded on the board and serve as a map to inform future class topics, activities, and assignments.

Individual students think about a question or issue posed by the instructor for a few minutes, and generate three reactions/comments/answers (e.g., identify three strategies to improve recycling programs on campus). Students then form groups of two and share their responses, reducing six individual responses to a consensus of the best three responses. Groups then merge and narrow down responses again. You can repeat the snowball process as many times as you want. The goal is to reach a whole class conclusion or consensus.

This is a form of brainstorming that works very well when introducing a new topic to students. The strategy allows the instructor to get a sense of what prior knowledge/experience exists among students. Begin by asking, "Tell me what you have heard about. . ." and insert the topic of interest into the question (e.g., global warming, acids and bases, Jane Eyre, etc.). Collect and theme responses to identify common knowledge, misconceptions and/or student questions/concerns.

Think-Pair-Share is a cooperative learning strategy that can promote and support higher-level thinking. The instructor asks students to think about a specific topic or problem individually for a short period of time. Students then pair with another peer to discuss their thinking and, after that, share their ideas with the larger group.

Think about what you want your students to be able to do by the end of your lesson or course. What activity would allow your students to practice and progress toward this outcome? The active learning you choose to incorporate into your teaching will be based on your outcomes, but is only restricted in format by your imagination. Active learning can be used to introduce new information, analyze or apply concepts, create extensions and applications to concepts, and facilitate peer feedback. Active learning can also be the platform for instructors to give and receive feedback on their teaching and students' learning. It can also create a positive, supportive, and collaborative learning environment. You can begin with simpler strategies, such as a Think-Pair-Share, and explore more involved active learning strategies as you and your class progress, such as Problem-Based Learning.

Once you have considered your learning outcomes and goals for your lesson or course, begin to think about how you can actively involve your students in the learning process. You can design your own active learning activities or use one of the ideas presented above as a springboard to bring into your own classroom. As you reflect on which active learning strategies will work best for your course and students, consider how you will navigate any apparent restrictions.

What are your time constraints?

Do you have two minutes, ten minutes, or a week to dedicate to this active learning? Some brief activities, such as the minute paper, go a long way in allowing students to process their newly acquired knowledge and reflect upon their learning process. If you want to dedicate more time, you could consider some problem-based learning and allow students to delve deeply into a presented issue. As you move along your journey in teaching with active learning, you may find that spending multiple brief segments or some larger chunks of time spent on active learning (and less time lecturing) actually improves the depth of your students' learning!

What is your class size?

Although class size may initially be seen as a barrier to active learning, rest assured that great active learning can occur in large-enrollment classes. You may need to adjust the format of your activity, but the essence of your active learning is probably possible. Consider small group activities, paired activities such as Think-Pair Share, and using technology to facilitate collaboration and feedback with an audience response system/clicker.

What is your comfort level?

Perhaps your formal education was based on pure lecture mode, and you hesitate to deviate from this time-entrenched instructional method. Well, start small. Consider adding a brief, two-minute Buzz Group to your class to break up the lecture and allow students to discuss their conclusions or predictions with their classmates. Or, you could consider an Exit Ticket, giving students an opportunity to analyze their learning, and provide you with feedback on their learning as well. If you are comfortable with active learning, continue expanding your active learning repertoire with a Jigsaw activity or Problem-Based Learning, where a greater degree of the learning responsibility is placed on the student and your role moves to designer (selecting the Jigsaw readings and designing the problems), and facilitator (engaging with groups of students to check-in and provide feedback and guidance).

What is your class mode?

Active learning can occur in a face-to-face, blended or online learning environment. Again, you may need to be creative to format your activity, but having students engage with one another and the material is still possible. Consider a Quescussion on your OWL Forum or Brainstorming session over Blackboard Collaborate. See the eLearning Toolkit that can assist you in facilitating active learning in an online environment.

Braxton, J. M., Jones, W. A., Hirschy, A. S., & Hartley III, H. V. (2008). The role of active learning in college student persistence. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 115, 71-83.

Ebert-May, D., Brewer, C., & Allred, S. (1997). Innovation in large lectures: teaching for active learning. Bioscience, 47(9), 601-607.

Felder, R.M. & Brent, R. (2009). Active learning: an Introduction. ASQ Higher Education Brief, 2(4). available at http://asq.org/edu/2009/08/best-practices/active-learning-an-introduction.%20felder.html?shl=093530

Lopatto, D. (2007). Undergraduate research experiences support science career decisions and active learning. Life Sciences Education, 6, 297-306

Mello, D. & Less, C.A. (2013). Effectiveness of active learning in the arts and sciences. Humanities Department Faculty Publications & Research. Paper 45. Providence, Rhode Island : Johnson & Wales University.

Prince, M. (2004). Does active learning work? a review of the research. Journal of Engineering Education, 93, 223-232.

Waldrop, M.M. (2015). Why are we teaching science wrong, and how to make it right. Nature, 523, 272-274.

Yazedjian, A., & Kolkhorst, B. B. (2007). Implementing small-group activities in large lecture classes. College Teaching, 55(4), 164-169.

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"Active learning is anything course related that all students are called upon to do other than simply watching, listening, and taking notes." (Felder & Brent, 2009) Active learning is an approach to instruction that requires students to thoughtfully engage with the course material, and often with one another.

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Most interesting moment – instructional variables

·         Novelty – the information was new

·         Did it make you think?  (Cognitive Activation)

·         Did it challenge existing knowledge? (Cognitive Incongruity)

·         Did it overchallenge?

·         Was it useful?

·         Examples/stories – were they related to real life?

·         Was it entertaining? – joke or a light moment

·         Perceptions of the lecturer – enthusiasm, knowledge, accessibility