University of the Immaculate Conception

Davao City

INTERACTIVE TECHNIQUES

Instructor Action: Lecture

1. Picture Prompt – Show an image with no explanation, and ask them to identify/explain it, and
justify their answers. Or ask students to write about it using terms from lecture, or to name the
processes and concepts shown. Also works well as group activity. Do not give the “answer” until
they have explored all options first.
2. Think Break – Ask a rhetorical question, and then allow 20 seconds for students to think about
the problem before you go to explain. This technique encourages students to take part in the
problem-solving process even when discussion isn’t feasible. Having students write something
down for (while you write an answer also) helps assure that they will in fact work on the
problem.
3. Choral Response – Ask a one word answer to the class at large; volume of answer will suggest
degree of comprehension. Very useful “drill” new vocabulary words into students.
4. Instructor Storytelling – Instructor illustrates a concept, idea, or principle with a real-life
application, model, or case-study.
5. Pass the Pointer – Place a complex, intricate, or detailed image on the screen and ask for
volunteers to temporarily borrow the laser pointer to identify key features or ask questions
about items they don’t understand
6. Empty Outlines – Distribute a partially completed outline of today’s lecture and ask students to
fill it in. Useful at start or end of class.
7. Classroom Opinion Polls – Informal hand-raising suffices to test the waters before a
controversial topic.
8. Total Physical Response (TPR) – Students either stand or sit to indicate their binary answers,
such as True/False to the instructor’s questions.
9. Hand-Held Response Cards – Distribute or (ask students to create) standardized cards that can
be held aloft as visual responses to instructor’s questions. Example: green card for true, red for
false. Or hand-write a giant letter on each card to use in multiple-choice questions.
10. Student Polling – Select some students to travel the room, polling the others on a topic relevant
to the course, then report back the results to everyone.
11. Self-Assessment of Ways of Learning - Prepare a questionnaire for students that probes what
kind of learning style they use, so the course can match visual/aural/tactile learning styles
12. Quote Minus One – Provide a quote relevant to your topic but leave out a crucial word and ask
students to guess what it might be: “ I cannot forecast to you the action of________; it is a
riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma,” This engages them quickly in a topic and makes
them feel invested.

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13. Everyday Ethical Dilemmas – Present an abbreviated case study with an ethical dilemma related
to the discipline being studied.
14. Polar Opposites – Ask the class to examine two written-out versions of a theory (or corollary,
law of nature, etc.) where one is incorrect, such as the opposite or a negation of the other. In
deciding which is a correct, student will have to examine the problem from all angles.
15. Pop Culture – Infuse your lectures, case studies, sample word problems for use during class with
current events from pop culture world. Rather than citing statistics for housing construction, for
instance, illustrate the same statistical concept you are teaching by inventing statistics about
something students gossip about, like how often a certain pop star appears in public without
make-up.
16. Make Them Guess – Introduce a new subject by asking an intriguing question, something that
few will know the answer to (but should interest all of them). Accept blind guessing for a while
before giving the answer to build curiosity.
17. Make it Personal – Design class activities (or even essays) to address the real lives of the
individual students. Instead of asking for reflections on Down syndrome, ask for personal stories
of neurological problems by a family member or anyone they have ever met.
18. Read Aloud – Choose a small text (500 words or less) to read aloud, and ask students to pay
particular attention during this phase of the lecture. A small text read orally in a larger lecture
can focus attention.
19. Punctuated Lectures – Ask students to perform five steps: listen, stop, reflect, write, and give
feedback. Students become self-monitoring listeners.
20. Word of the Day – Select an important term and highlight it throughout the class session,
working it into as many concepts as possible. Challenge students to do the same in their
interactive activities.
21. Recall, Summarize, Question, Connect and Comment – This method of starting each session (or
each week) has five steps to reinforce the previous session’s material: recall it, summarize it,
phrase a remaining question, and connect it to the class as a whole and comment on that class
session.
22. Background Knowledge Probe – Use a questionnaire (multi-choice or short answer) when
introducing a topic.
23. Focused Listing – List several ideas relate to the main focus point. Helpful for starting new
topics.
24. Goal Ranking and Matching – students rank their goals for the class, and then instructor
matches those in her own list.
25. Interest/Knowledge/Skills Checklist – Assesses interest and preparation for the course, and can
help adjust teaching agenda.
26. Documented Problems Solutions – Keep tract of the steps needed to solve specific types of
problems. Model a list from students first and then ask them to perform similar steps.

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 Instructor Action: Lecture (Small Class size)
27. Pass the Chalk – Provide chalk or a soft toy; whoever has it must answer your next question, and
they pass on to the student of their choice.
28. Quaker Meeting – Students highlight key passages of the reading, and there is silence (like a
Quaker meeting) until someone wants to read his/her out and others follow. End with writing
about what they learned from the sentences.
29. Town Hall Meeting – Abdicate the front of the room for a student willing to speak out on a
controversial subject, and when she is done with her comment, she selects the next speaker
from the hands raised.
30. The Half-Class Lecture - Divide the class in half and provide reading material to one half. Lecture
on that same material to the other half of the class. Then, switch the groups and repeat, ending
with a recap by pairing up members of opposite groups.
31. Tournament – Divide the class into at least two groups and announce a competition for most
points on a practice test. Let them study a topic together and give that quiz, tallying points. After
each round, let them study the next topic before quizzing again. The points should be carried
over from round to round. The student impulse for competition will focus their engagement into
the material itself.

Student Action: Individual (many of these can be used as partner work or group
work instead; or may escalate to that after some individual effort)

32. One-Minute Papers – Students write for one minute on a specific question (which might be
generalized to “what was the most important thing you learned today”). Best used at the end of
the class session.
33. Misconception Check – Discover class’s preconceptions. Useful for starting new chapters.
34. Muddiest Point – Like the Minute Paper, but asks for the “most confusing” point instead. Best
used at the end of the class sessions.
35. Drawings for Understanding – Students illustrate an abstract concept or idea. Comparing
drawings around the room can clear up misconceptions.
36. Circle the Questions – Pre-make a handout that has a few dozen likely student questions (make
them specific) on your topic for that day and ask students to circle the ones they don’t know the
answers to, and then turn in the paper.
37. Ask the Winner – Ask the students to silently solve a problem on the board. After revealing the
answer, instruct those who got it right to raise their hands (and keep them raised); then, all
other students are to talk to someone with raised hand to better understand the question and
how to solve it next time.
38. What’s the Principle – After recognizing the problem, students assess what principle to apply in
order to solve it. Helps focus on problem TYPES rather than individual specific problems.
Principle (s) should be listed out.
39. Haiku – Students write a haiku (a three-line poem: 5-syllables, then 7, then 5) on a given topic or
concept, and then share it to others.

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40. Bookmark Notes – Distribute full-length paper to be used as bookmark for the current chapter.
On it, record prompts and other “reading questions”, and require students to record their notes,
observations, and objections while reading onto these bookmarks for collection and discussion
in class.
41. True or False – Distribute index cards (one to each student) on which is written a statement.
Half of the cards will contain that are true, half false. Students decide if theirs is one of the true
statements or not, using whatever means they desire. Variation: Designate half of the room a
space for those who think their statements are true and the other half for false.
42. “Real-World” – Have students discuss in class how a topic or concept relates to a real-world
application or product. Then have students write about this topic for homework. Variation: Ask
them to record their answer on index card.
43. Concept Mapping – Students write key words onto sticky notes and then organize them into a
flowchart. Could be less structured: students simply draw the connections they make between
concepts.
44. Advice Letter – Students write a letter to future students on how to be successful students in
the course.
45. Tabloid Titles – Ask students to write a tabloid-style headline that would illustrate a particular
concept currently being discussed. Share and choose the best.
46. Bumper Stickers – Ask students to write a slogan-like bumper sticker to illustrate a particular
concept from lecture. Variation can be used to ask them to sum up the entire course in one
sentence.
47. One-Sentence Summary – Summarize the topic into one sentence that incorporates all of
who/what/when/where/why/how creatively.
48. Directed Paraphrasing – Students are asked to paraphrase part of a lesson for a specific
audience.
49. Word Journal – First, summarize the entire topic on paper with a single word. Then use a
paragraph to explain your word choice.
50. Truth Statements – Either to introduce a topic or check comprehension, ask individuals to list
out “It is true that…” statements on the topic being discussed. The ensuing discussion might
illustrate how ambiguous knowledge is sometimes.
51. Objective Check – Students write a brief essay in which they evaluate to what extent their work
fulfills an assignment’s objectives.
52. Opposites – Instructor lists out one or more concepts, for which students must come up with an
antonym, and then defend their choice.
53. Student Storytelling – Students are given assignments that make use of a given concept in
relation to something that seems personally relevant (such as requiring the topic to be someone
in their family).
54. Application to Major – During the last 15 minutes of class, ask students to write a short article
about how a point applies to their major.
55. Pro and Con Grid – Students list out the pros and cons for a given topic.

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56. Harvesting – After an experience/activity in class, ask students to reflect on “what” they
learned, “so what” (why is it important and what are the implications), and “now what” (how to
apply it or do things differently.
57. Chain Notes – Instructor pre-distributes index cards and passes around an envelope on which is
written a question relating to the environment (i.e., are the group discussions helpful?) Students
write a very brief answer, drop in their own card, and pass the envelope to the nest student.
58. Focused Autobiographical Sketches – Focuses on a single successful learning experience, one
relevant to the current course.
59. Course-Related Self-Confidence Surveys – Simple questions that measure how self-confident
students are when it comes to a specific skill. Once they become aware they can do it, they
focus on it more.
60. Profiles of Admirable Individuals – Students write a brief profile of an individual in a field
related to the course. Students assess their own values and learn best practices for this field.
61. Memory Matrix - identify a key taxonomy and the design a grid that represents those
interrelationships. Keep it simple at first. Avoid trivial or ambiguous relationships, which tend to
backfire by focusing students on superficial kinds of learning. Although probably most useful in
introductory courses. This technique can also be used to help develop basic skills for students
who plan to continue in the field.
62. Categorizing Grid – Hand out rectangles divided into cells and a jumbled listing of terms that
need to be categorized by row and column.
63. Defining Features Matrix – Hand out a simple table where students decide if a defining feature
is PRESENT or ABSENT. For instance, they might have to read through several descriptions of
theories and decide if each refers to behaviorist or constructivist models of learning.
64. What/ How/Why Outlines – Write brief notes answering the what/how/why questions when
analyzing s message or text.
65. Approximate Analogies – Students provide the second half of an analogy (A is to B as to X is to
Y).
66. Problem Recognition Tasks – Offer case studies with different types of problems and asks
students to identify the TYPE of problem (which is different) from solving it).
67. Switch it Up! – Ask students to work on one problem for a few minutes and intentionally move
to a second problem without debriefing the first one, then solve the second one and only then
return to the first one for more work. A carefully chosen second problem can shed light on the
first problem, but this also works well if the problems are directly related to each other.
68. Reading Rating Sheets – Students fill-out a rating sheet on the course readings, on how clear,
useful, and interesting it was.
69. Assignment Assessments – Students give feedback on their homework assignments, and
evaluate them as learning tools.
70. Exam Evaluations – Students explain what they are learning from exams and evaluate their
fairness, usefulness, and quality of tests.
71. Group Work Evaluations – Questionnaires asking how effective group work was.
72. Teacher-Designed Feedback Forms - Rather than use standardized evaluation form, teachers
create ones tailored for their needs and their classes. Especially useful midway through the term

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73. Writing Fables – Students write an animal fable (or at least sketch its outline) that will lead to a
one-sentence moral matching the current concept discussed in class. Maybe done verbally
instead.

Student Action: Pairs

74. Think-Pair-Share – Students share and compare possible answers to a question with a partner
before addressing the larger class
75. Pair-Share Repeat – After a pair-share experience, ask students to find a new partner and
debrief the wisdom of the old partnership to this new partner.
76. Teacher and Student – Individually brainstorm the main point of the last homework, and then
assign roles of teacher and student to pairs. The teacher’s job is to sketch the main point, while
the student’s job is to cross off points on his list as they are mentioned, but come up with 2-3
ones missed by the teacher.
77. Wisdom of Another – After any individual brainstorm or creative activity, partner students up to
share their results. Then, call for volunteers of students who found their partner’s work to be
interesting or exemplary. Students are sometimes more willing to share in plenary the work of
fellow students than their own.
78. Forced Debate – Students debate in pairs, but must defend the opposite side of their personal
opinion. Variation: Half the classes take one position, half the other. They line and face each
other. Each student may only speak once, so that all students on both sides can engage the issue
79. Optimist/Pessimist – In pairs, students take opposite emotional sides of a conversation. This
technique can be applied to case studies and problem-solving as well.
80. Peer Review Writing Task – To assist students with a writing assignments, encourage them to
exchange drafts with a partner. The partner reads the essay and writes a three-paragraph
response: the first paragraph outlines the strength of the essay, the second paragraph discusses
the essay’s problems, and the third paragraph is a description of what the partner would focus
in the revision, if it were her/his essay.
81. Involved Dialogues – Students weave together real quotes from primary sources, or invent ones
to fit the speaker and content.
82. My Christmas Gift – Students mentally select one of their recent gifts as related to or
emblematic of a concept given in class, and must tell their partners how this gift relates to the
concept. The one with a closer connection wins.
83. Psychoanalysis – Students get into pairs and interview one another about a recent learning unit.
The focus, however, is upon analysis of the material rather than rote memorization. Sample
interview questions: Can you describe to me the topic that you would like to analyze today?
What were your attitudes/beliefs before this topic? How did your attitudes/change after
learning about this topic? How have your perceptions of others/events changed?

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Student Action: Groups
84. Jigsaw (Group Experts) – Give each group a different topic. Re-mix groups with one planted
“expert “on each topic, who now has to teach his new group.
85. Board Rotation – Assign groups of students to each of the boards you have set up in the room
(four or more works best), and assign one topic/question per board. After each group writes an
answer, they rotate to the next board and write their answer below the first, and so on around
the room.
86. Pick the Winner – Divide the class into groups and have all groups work on the same problem
and record an answer/strategy on paper. Then, ask groups to switch with a nearby group, and
evaluate their answer. After a few minutes, allow each set of groups to merge and ask them to
select the better answer from the two choices, which will be presented to the class as a whole.
87. Layered Cake Discussion – Every table/group works on the same task for a few minutes, then
there’s a plenary debrief for the whole class, and finally repeat with a new topic to be discussed
in the groups.
88. Lecture Reaction – divide the class into four groups after a lecture; questioners (must ask two
questions related to the material), example givers (provide applications, divergent thinkers must
disagree with some points of the lecture.), and agreers explain which points they agreed with or
found helpful). After discussion, brief the whole class.
89. Movie Application – In groups, students discuss examples of movies that made use of a concept
or event discussed in class, trying to identify at least one way the movie-makers got it right, and
one way they got it wrong.
90. Student Pictures – Ask students to bring their own pictures from home to illustrate a specific
concept to their working groups.
91. Definitions and Applications – In groups, students provide definitions, associations, and
applications of concepts discussed in lecture.
92. TV Commercial – In groups, students create a 30-second TV commercial for the subject
currently being discussed in class. Variation: ask them to act out their commercials.
93. Blender – Students silently write a definition or brainstorm an idea for several minutes on
paper. Then they form into groups, and two of them read their ideas and integrate elements
from each. A third student reads his, and again integration occurs with the previous two, until
finally everyone in the group has been integrated (or has attempted integration).
94. Human Tableau or Class Modeling – Groups create living scenes (also of inanimate objects)
which relate to the classroom concepts or discussions.
95. Build From Restricted Components – Provide limited resources (or a discrete list of ideas that
must be used) and either literally or figuratively dumps them on the table, asking students in
groups to construct a solution using only these things (note: maybe familiar from Apollo 13
movie). If possible, provide herrings, and ask students to construct a solution using the
minimum amount of items possible.
96. Ranking Alternatives – Teacher gives a situation, everyone thinks up as many alternative
courses of action (or explanations of the situation) as possible. Complete the list. In groups, now
rank them by preference.

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97. Simulation – Place the class into a long-term simulation (like as a business) to enable Problem-
Based Learning (PBL).
98. Group Instructional Feedback Technique – Someone other than the teacher polls group on
what works, what doesn’t, and how to fix it, then reports them to the teacher.
99. Classroom Assessment Quality Circle – A small group of students forms a “committee” on the
quality of teaching and learning, which meets regularly and includes the instructor.

100. Audio and videotaped Protocols – Taping students while they are solving problems assess the
learner’s awareness of his own thinking.
101. Imaginary Show and Tell – Students pretend they have brought an object relevant to current
discussion, and “display” it to the class while talking about its properties.
102. Six Degrees of “RNA Transcription Errors” – Like the parlor game ‘Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon”
(in which actors are linked by joint projects), you provide groups with a conceptual start point
and challenge them to leap to a given concept in six moves or fewer. One student judge in each
group determines if each leap is fair and records the nature of the leaps for reporting back to
the class.

Facebook
103. Replace Discussion Boards – Create a Facebook “group” (private/invite only) and use the Wall
as the class discussion board. Students are notified by home page notification when someone
replies to their thread.
104. Notify Students Quickly – Posting to Facebook will reach your students much faster than an
email, because most of them check Facebook regularly.
105. Fan Page – An alternative to a group is a “fan” page, which has the advantage that your “status
updates” will show up for students on their Live Feed. Disadvantage: some students turn off
Live Feed and only see status updates of their friends.
106. Direct Facebook Friendship – Allowing your students to “friend” you will give you unfettered
access to them (unless they’ve set up a special role for you), but more importantly, your status
updates will be visible to them on the home page (unless they block you manually).
Disadvantage: too much information will be revealed on both sides, unless both you and the
students set up ‘lists’ with limited access allowed.

Twitter
107. Report from the Field – Students use Smart phones to record their observations while
witnessing an event/location related to the course of study, capturing more honest and
spontaneous reactions.
108. Twitter Clicker Alternative – In large classes, a hashtag can amalgamate all posts by your
students in one place giving them a free-response place to provide feedback or guess at the
right answer. Also useful for brainstorming.

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109. Backchannel Conversations in Large Classes – Unlike a whispered conversation, a Twitter
conversation (searchable by agreed-upon hashtag ) becomes a group discussion. Students may
also help out other students who missed a brief detail during the lecture.
110. Follow an Expert – Luminaries in many disciplines, as well as companies and governmental
agencies, often publish a Twitter feed. Reading such updates provides a way to stay current.

111. Tweeted Announcements – Instead of Blackboard, use a Twitter to send out announcements
like cancelled classes.
112. Twitter Pictures and URLs – Twitpic and other services allows for photo upload to twitter; bit.ly
and other “link shorteners” allow for pasting long URLs as short ones.
113. Student Summaries – Make one student the “leader” for tweets; she posts the top five
important concepts from each session to twitter (one at a time); other students follow her
feed and RT for discussion/disagreements.
114. Quick Contact – since sharing cell phone numbers is risky, instructors may wish to let students
follow them on Twitter and send Direct Messages that way.
115. Community Building – a Twitter group for your specific class creates inclusiveness and
belonging.
116. Twitter Projects – Tweetworks and other apps can enable student groups to communicate with
each other more easily.
117. Brainstorm – Small Twitter assignments can yield unexpected brainstorming by students, since
it’s happening “away” from LMS.
118. Twitter Poll – PollDaddy and other apps enable Twitter to gather interest, information,
attitudes and guesses.
119. Post Links – News stories and other websites can be linked via “Twitter services such as bit. ly
will shorten URLs).

You Tube
120. Video Demonstration – Using a webcam, record a demonstration relevant to your topic and
post it to YouTube.
121. Student Videos – Student projects, presentations, or speeches can take the form of video
instead of PowerPoint, and uploaded for the whole class to see.
122. Closed Eyes Method – to prevent students at home from “reading’ presentations, (such as
poem recitations) that were supposed to be memorized for YouTube upload, require them to
give the performance with their eyes closed.
123. Interactive Video Quizzes – Using annotations (text boxes) and making them hyperlinks to
other videos, instructors can construct an on–screen “multiple choice” test leading to
differentiated video reactions, depending on how the student answers. Requires filming
multiple videos and some editing work.
124. Movie Clips – Show brief segments of popular movies to illustrate a point, start a conversation,
have students hunt for what the movie gets wrong, etc.

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 125. Embed Into PowerPoint – YouTube videos can be embedded into PPT as long as there is an
active Internet connection; create a Shockwave flash object in the Developer tab, and add the
URL for “Movie” in the properties (the URL will need to replace “watch?=v/” with just “/v/”).
Alternative: use one-button plugin from iSpringFree.
126. Shared Account – Instructor creates a generic Youtube username/account and gives the
password to everyone in the class, so student uploads all go to the same place.

Wikis
127. Group Wiki Projects – Instead of emailing a document, (or PPT) back and forth, student groups
can collaborate in real time with a free wiki such as wikispacs.com
128. Wiki Class Notes – offering a class wiki for the optional sharing of lecture notes aids srudents
who miss class, provides a tool for studying, and helps students see the materials from more
than one prospective.

Blogs
129. Question to Students – use the blog to “push” questions and discussion prompts to students
like you would email but in a different forum.
130. Provide Links – the native HTML nature of the blog makes it easy to give links to news stories
and relevant websites.
131. Substitute for Blackboard Discussion Board – Students can comment on each post 9or
previous comment) and engage in a dialogue that is similar to Blackboard, but while out in the
internet in general
132. Electronic Role Play – Students create their own blogs, and write diary-type entries while role-
playing as someone central to your content.

Creating Groups
133. Quick Division – Divide your class into two roughly equal segments for simultaneous, parallel
tasks by invoking their date of birth: “if your birthday falls on an odd-numbered day, do task
X…if your birthday is even, do task Y.” Other variations include males and females, months of
birth, odd or even inches in their height (5’10” vs 5’11”).
134. Question and Answer Cards – Make index cards for every student in the class; half with
questions about class content, half with right answers. Shuffle the cards and have students
find their appropriate partner by comparing questions and answers on their own cards.
135. Telescoping Images – When you need to form new groups, craft sets of index cards, that will
be grouped together by theme, and randomly pass them out for students to seek the other
members of their new groups. Example; one set of four index cards has pictures of Europe on
a map, then France, the Eiffel tower, then a person wearing a beret (thematically, the images
“telescope’ from far away to close up, and the students must find others in their particular set
of telescoping images).

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136. Speed Sharing – Students write definitions, concepts, quiz questions, etc. on index cards and
form two concentric circles, facing each other. For thirty seconds (or 60), they share their
knowledge with the person opposite them. Then, the outer circle “rotates’ so that everyone
has a new partner, and the sharing is repeated. This can be done until each student has
complete the circuit.
137. Trio Rotation – Group students into threes, and arrange the groups into a large circle. Each
team of three works on a problem. Then, each team assigns 1, 2, and 3 number to
counterclockwise. Newly formed teams then work on a new problem.

138. Go to Your Post – Tape a sign onto opposite sides of the walls with different preferences
(different authors, skills, a specific kind of problem to solve, different values ) and let students
self-select their working group.
139. Four Corners – Put up a different topic in each corner of the room and ask students to pick
one, write their ideas about it down, then head to their “corner” and discuss opinions with
others who also chose the topic.

Icebreakers
140. Introduce Your Partner’s Non-Obvious Trait - Students partner up and are tasked with
learning one thing about the other person that is not obvious by looking at them. Then, they
introduce their partner to the larger class. Instructors can use this time to record a crude
seating chart of the students and begin to learn their names.
141. Scrapbook Selection – Put students in groups and give each group a big pile of printed photos
(best if laminated-maybe different shapes/sizes/?). Ask them to choose one as a group that
epitomizes their reaction/definition of the topic being discussed, and explain why.
142. Brush with Fame – Students relate their closest encounter with someone famous, even if it
has to be a story about something that happened to a friend or relative.
143. Name Game – Students form circles in groups of 8-10 and one at a time state their name
with an alliterative action; “I’m Jumping James!” Optimally, they should perform the action as
well. They proceed around the circle, stating names and performing the actions, adding
names one at a time, until the last person in the circle will have to say everyone’s name and
perform all the actions.
144. Human Bingo – Students become acquainted at the start of a semester by performing a
scavenger hunt you design as a handout.; find someone who dislikes carrots, someone who
owns a German car, someone who has read a book about submarines, etc.
145. Line Dance – Students line up according to their level of agreement on a controversial
subject; strong agreement on one side strong disagreement on the other.
146. Two Truths and a Lie – Go around the room and ask each student to relate two true
statements and one falsehood about themselves, without giving away which is false.

Games (Useful for Review)

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147. Crossword Puzzle – Create a crossword puzzle as a handout for students to review
terms, definitions, or concepts before a test. Some online websites will automate the
puzzle creation.
148. Jeopardy – Play jeopardy like the TV show with your students. Requires a fair amount
of preparation.
149. Pictionary – for important concepts and especially terms, have students play
Pictionary: one draws images only; the rest must guess the term.
150. Super-Password – Also for concepts and terms; one student tries to get his partner to
say the key term by circumlocution, and cannot say any of the “forbidden words’ on a
card prepared ahead of time.
151. Guess the Password – The instructor reveals a list of words (esp nouns) one at a time
and at each point, ask students to guess what key term they are related to. The hints
become increasingly specific to make the answer more clear.
152. Twenty Questions – Assign a person, theory, concept, event, etc. to individual
students and have the partner ask yes/no questions or guess what the concept is.
Also works on a plenary level, with one student fielding the questions from the whole
class.
153. Hollywood Squares – Choose students to sit as “celebrities” at the front of the class.
Variation: allow the celebrities to use books and notes in deciding how to help the
contestants.
154. Scrabble – Use the chapter (or course) title as the pool of letters which to make
words (e.g., mitochondrialdna) and allow teams to brainstorm as many words as
possible from the list, but all words must be relevant to this test. Variation: actually
play scrabble on boards afterward.
155. Who am I ? - Tape a term on the back of each student, out of view. Each student then
wanders about the room, posing yes/no questions to the other students in an effort
to guess the term on his own back.

Interaction through Homework

156. Find the Company – Students search the internet for a corporation that makes use of
concepts/ideas from class, and must defend their choice in the next class session.
157. Diagnostic Learning Logs – Students tract main points in lecture and a second list of
unclear points. They then reflect on and analyze the information and diagnose their
weaknesses.
158. Process Analysis – Students track the steps they take to finish an assignment and
comment on their approaches.
159. Productive Study-Time Logs – Short records students keep how long they study for a
class, comparison allows those with lesser commitment to see the disparity

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160. Double-Entry Journals – Students note first the important ideas from reading and
then respond personally.
161. Paper or Project Prospectus – Write a structured plan for a term paper or large
project.
162. Annotated Portfolios – Students turns in creative work, with student’s explanation
of the work in relation to the course content and goals.

Student Questions
163. Student Questions (Index Cards) – At the start of the semester, pass out index cards
and ask each student to write a question about the class and your expectations. The
cards rotate through the room, with each student adding a check-mark if they agree
this question is important for them. The teacher learns what the class is most anxious
about.
164. Student Questions (Group-Decided) – Stop class, group students into fours, ask them
to take five minutes to decide on the one question they think is crucial for you to
answer right now.
165. Questions as Homework – Students write questions before class on 3x5 cards: What I
really wanted to know about mitochondrial DNA but was afraid to ask.
166. Student-Generated Test Questions – Students create likely exam questions and
model the answer. Variation: Same activity, but with students in teams, taking each
others’ quizzes.
167. Minute Paper Shuffle – Ask students to write a relevant question about the material,
using no more than a minute, and collect them all. Shuffle and re-distribute, asking
each student to answer his new question. Can be continued a second or third round
with the same question.

Role Play
168. Role-Playing - Assign roles for a concept, students research their parts at home, and
they act it out in class. Observers critique and ask questions.
169. Role Reversal – Teacher role plays as a student, asking questions about content. The
students are collectively the teacher, and must answer the questions. Works well as
test review/prep.
170. Jury Trial – Divide the class into various roles (including witnesses, jury, judge,
lawyers, defendant and prosecution, audience) to deliberate on a controversial
subject.
171. Press Conference – Ask students to role-play as investigative reporters asking
questions of you, the expert on the topic. They should seek a point of contradiction

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 or inadequate evidence, hounding you in the process with follow-up questions to all
your replies.
172. Press Conference (Guest Speaker) – Invite a guest speaker and run the class like a
press conference, with few prepared remarks and then fielding questions from the
audience.
173. Analytic Memo – Write a one-page analysis of an issue, role playing as an employer
or client.

Student Presentations
174. Fishbowl – Student unpacks her ideas and thoughts on a topic in front of others, who
take notes and then write a response. Avoid asking questions.
175. Impromptu Speeches – Students generate keywords, drop them into a hat, and self-
choose presenters to speak for 30 seconds on each topic.
176. Anonymous Peer Feedback – For student presentations or group projects, encourage
frank feedbacks from the observing students by asking them to rip up a page into
quarters and dedicating comments to each presenter. Multiple variations are possible
in “forcing’ particular types of comments (i.e., require two compliments and two
instances of constructive feedback). Then ask students to create a pile of comments
from Student X, another pile for Student Y, and so on.
177. PowerPoint Presentations – For those teaching in computer-mediated environments,
put students into groups of three or four students. Students focus their attention on a
chapter or article and present this material to the Class using PowerPoint. Have group
conference with you beforehand to outline their presentation strategy and ensure
coverage of the material.

Brainstorming
178. Brainstorming on the Board – Students call out concepts and terms related to a topic
about to be introduced; the instructor writes them on the board. If possible, group
them into categories as you record the resposes. Works to gauge pre-existing
knowledge and focus attention on the subject.
179. Brainstorming Tree – while brainstorming on the board, circle major concepts and
perform sub-brainstorms on those specific words; the result will look like a tree
blooming outward.
180. Brainstorming in a Circle – Group students to discuss an issue together, and then
spend a few minutes jotting down individual notes. One person starts a brainstorming
list and passes it to the student at the right, who then adds to the list and passes it
along again.

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181. Chalk Talk – Ask students to go to multiple boards around the room to brainstorm
answers to a prompt/assignment, but disallow all talking. Can also be done in groups.

Online Interaction
182. Online Chat (All-Day) - For classes meeting at least partially in an online environment,
instructors can simulate the benefits gained by a chat-room discussion (more
participation from reserved instructors) without requiring everyone to meet in the
room for a specific length of time. The day begins with a post from the instructor in a
discussion board forum. Students respond to the prompt, and continue to check back
all day, reading their peers’ posts and responding multiple times throughout the day
to extend discussions.
183. Online Chat (Quick) – To gauge a quick response to a topic or reading assignment,
post a question, and then allow students to chat in a synchronous environment for
the next 10 minutes on the topic. A quick examination of the chat transcript will
reveal a multitude of opinions and directions for further discussion. In online
environments, many students can “talk” at one, with less chaotic and more
productive results than in a face-to-face environment.
184. Online Evaluation - For those teaching in online environments, schedule a time
which students can log on anonymously and provide feedback about the course and
your teaching. Understand, however, that anonymity online sometimes breeds a
more aggressive response than anonymity in print.
185. Pre-Class Writing – A few days before your computer=mediated class begins, have
students respond in an asynchronous environment to a prompt about this week’s
topic. Each student should post their response and at least one question for further
discussion. During the face-to-face meeting, the instructor can address some of these
questions or areas not addressed in the asynchronous forum.
186. E-Mail Feedback – Instructor poses questions about his teaching, via e-mail, students
reply anonymously.

Other Teaching Learning Strategies Which Can be used in any Subjects

187. Visualization/Imagination Exercise – this helps the participants to use their

imagination. It allows them to imagine alternatives, for example, problematic
situations,. It challenges students to “propose” solutions and not just “expose’ and
“oppose” problematic situations.
188. Perspective-taking – Students are asked to understand and appreciate where the
other person is coming from. It is a skill used in problem-solving. This entails
“standing in the shoe of the other and walking in them for a while”. This device is
often used to develop empathy and tolerance.

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189. Considering Positions/Issue Poll – this activity is used to surface the differing
positions of participants to a controversial statement as in the case of the, “Whether
we like it or not, war will happen in the future” There can be at least three positions
vis-à-vis controversial statements: agree, not sure/neutral, disagree.
190. Encouraging Action – Whenever appropriate, the participants are asked to express a
resolution or commitment to certain actions as a form of application to learning(s).
191. Web-Charting- Writing a word such as ‘war” or “peace” on the board in the beginning
of a session and inviting learners to write or draw their associations with the word to
stimulate thinking. It is also a good springboard for the discussion of a particular
concept.

192. Telling Stories, including Personal Stories – Students sometimes remember the
concept we want to share through our anecdotes and stories. Sharing personal
experiences related to the issue will help illustrate better the point to be emphasized.
This strategy also helps students connect with you on a more personal basis.
193. Song/Poem Analysis – Many songs and poems contain messages related on the topic.
Allowing your students to listen or to read them, identify their favorite lines, and
interpret messages will help them learn the values you want to impart in a more
creative manner.
194. Journal Writing/Individual Reflection – At the end of a session, students may be
invited to answer one or two questions that will allow them to think of their
responses/reflections/reactions to an issue that has been discussed
195. Reading Quotations – Some well-known individuals, present or past have said/spoken
words of wisdom about the topic at hand. Let students ponder on these quotations
and speak about the impact of these ideas on them.
196. Case Studies – This strategy gives students an opportunity to know real-life situations.
Case studies are stories or scenarios that require analysis and invite solutions.
Students are put in the position of problem-solvers who discover underlying issues,
positions and interests.
197. Collage-making – A collage is a collection of photos from various sources that are put
together to make a whole. Asking students to make a collage on the concept will help
them understand it better.
198. Show and Tell – This strategy gives the student an opportunity to explain a concept to
his/her classmates with matching visual aids, and is premised on the belief that if one
can explain a concept well to someone else, this student, without doubt, understand
the concept.
199. Sentence Completion – Encouraging students to complete unfinished sentences will
help the teacher know what thoughts and feelings they may have about a particular
topic. The strategy may also be used to solicit actions from them.
200. Dialogues – Students are given the opportunity to converse, rather than debate about
problematic issues. In debates, the goal is to prove each other wrong. Dialogues on
the other hand, are occasions to find common grounds.

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