Purpose Strategy Easy Example More Involved Example

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

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.

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.

Improve Recall and

Comprehension

Enable students to test their recall or

comprehension of new knowledge prior to taking

an exam or completing a graded assignment

Minute Paper: at the end of class, ask students to write a couple

of sentences in response to the following questions:

Game Show: develop a set of questions and set up a “game show” in which

students can compete in teams to answer questions. Templates for many

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.

Practice Problem-

Solving

Enable students to practice solving problems using

important course concepts

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

the class. Ask students to think individually about the problem,

turn to their neighbor to discuss and solve the problem, then

share their solution with the class.

Case Studies: find or write a case or scenario that presents a problem that is

relevant to the topic being studied. Ask students to work in small groups to

solve the problem, present their solution, and justify their reasoning.

Reflect on

Attitudes and

Values

Ask students to reflect on their attitudes, values,

beliefs, and perspectives on the subject matter

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.

Enhance Learner

Self-Awareness

Enable students to practice assessing and

improving their own learning process

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.

Strategies for Student Participation