Activating teaching

"Activating teaching" is one of the four principles defined in the "Teaching Large Classes".

A Toolbox, that supports the described solutions, has been created.

Intention: 

Activating elements are factored into classroom teaching to give the students anopportunity to reflect and apply their knowledge.

Challenge:

Learning is about more than just listening – the student needs to interact with the subject matter too. They need to read, write, speak, discuss and solve problems.

In large classes, it can be difficult to activate all students at the same time, e.g. getting all the students to express themselves at the same time. There is a particular need for tools, techniques and methods that facilitate the students’ active processing of the subject matter.

Solutions:

Presentation, Reflection, Expression, Questions, Problem-solving and Discussion are all instruments for ensuring activating classroom teaching.

Concrete activating elements include written and oral reflection exercises, classroom polls and presentation of matters for discussion among students. Varying the instruments, e.g. by switching between exercises and review, will also encourage mental activation.

 Teaching Practice Examples:

Team-based learning

Minitests for learning reflection

Student response systems (SRS)