Improving Learning

Strategies for Student Participation
Purpose
Strategy
Activate Prior
Knowledge
Ask students to think about and communicate what

they already know about a subject, so they can
connect new knowledge and become aware of
preconceptions
Enable students to test their recall or

Improve Recall and
comprehension of new knowledge prior to taking
Comprehension
an exam or completing a graded assignment
Easy Example
Background Knowledge Probe: at the beginning of class, ask
students to write briefly about two or three open-ended
questions regarding what they already know or believe about
the topic, and then discuss.
More Involved Example

Misconception/Preconception Check: prior to class, consider the topics or
ideas about which students may have preconceived notions or
misconceptions. Create a short survey or ungraded quiz about these ideas
that you can administer and discuss in class.
Game Show: develop a set of questions and set up a game show in which
Minute Paper: at the end of class, ask students to write a couple
students can compete in teams to answer questions. Templates for many
of sentences in response to the following questions:
popular game shows can be found on the Internet.
1. What was the most important thing we talked about in class
today?
2. What idea or concept is still most confusing?
Practice Critical
Thinking and
Analysis
Enable students to practice thinking critically or

engaging in analysis of relevant issues
Pros and Cons: Ask students to consider an important issue

related to the topic of study, and list pros and cons, costs and
benefits, or advantages and limitations of different sides of the
issue; then discuss.
Invented Dialogs: Ask students to create an imaginary dialog between two

important figures in a discipline, illustrating their different approaches to or
perspectives on an issue. Have students work in pairs to write up their dialogs,
then select a few good ones to be acted out for the class.
Think-Pair-Share: Present a problem or open-ended question to

Case Studies: find or write a case or scenario that presents a problem that is
Practice Problem- Enable students to practice solving problems using the class. Ask students to think individually about the problem,
relevant to the topic being studied. Ask students to work in small groups to
important course concepts
turn to their neighbor to discuss and solve the problem, then
Solving
solve the problem, present their solution, and justify their reasoning.
share their solution with the class.
Reflect on
Attitudes and
Values
Ask students to reflect on their attitudes, values,

beliefs, and perspectives on the subject matter
Enhance Learner Enable students to practice assessing and

Self-Awareness improving their own learning process
Class Reflection: at the end of class, ask students to write about

their reactions to class activities and topics, reflecting on how
new ideas compare with their existing beliefs, how they might
use new knowledge in the future, or how their class experiences
have changed their view of a discipline.
Ethical Dilemmas: find or write an ethical dilemma that requires the use of key
course concepts in order to analyze and respond to it appropriately. Have
students discuss the dilemma in small groups to see if they can come to a
consensus on how to approach the dilemma, and report back to the larger
group.
Punctuated Lectures: During a lecture, stop every fifteen or

twenty minutes and ask students to spend a minute or two
thinking and writing about what they were doing during the
lecture to pay attention, process information, or take notes.
Collect their writings at the end of class; during the next class,
share some of the more effective strategies.
Learning Logs: Give students a set of questions they can use to continually
assess their approach to learning during class and outside of class. To
monitor their learning outside of class, include questions about their study
environment, approach to reading the text, ability to anticipate and plan work
rather than procrastinate, and so forth.
Angelo, T. A. and Cross, K. P. (1993). Classroom assessment techniques: A handbook for college teachers. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Improving Learning

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Improving Learning

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Strategies for Student Participation

Ask students to think about and communicate what

Enable students to test their recall or

More Involved Example

Enable students to practice thinking critically or

Pros and Cons: Ask students to consider an important issue

Invented Dialogs: Ask students to create an imaginary dialog between two

Think-Pair-Share: Present a problem or open-ended question to

Ask students to reflect on their attitudes, values,

Enhance Learner Enable students to practice assessing and

Class Reflection: at the end of class, ask students to write about

Punctuated Lectures: During a lecture, stop every fifteen or

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