Characteristics of Strong Teaching Activities

• Starts with an underlying question
• Hands-on
• Multi-faceted: multiple related pieces that are part of a theme
• Deliverable: students will produce something
• Students "own" their work
• There's a balance between students working independently and working with guidance
• Timely feedback is built in, so that students can recognize and correct mistakes
• Revision is built in -- students practice their skills until they achieve proficiency
• Real-world context
• Involves application and/or synthesis
• If it involves modeling, students understand how the model is designed
• Students are prepared for the activity: they have the base knowledge and skills they need to be successful
• Any tools built into the exercise are available and working
• Have clear expectations
• Activity is consistent with the course goals
• Dynamic: students can see how changing the inputs change the results
• Incorporate reality -- whether in the field or using data or ...
• Fun! and safe
• Reflect the learning styles in your class (i.e., reflect all learning styles)
• Is assessable -- you can assess whether it was worthwhile, whether students learned what you want them to learn from it