Initial Publication Date: July 17, 2009
Characteristics of Strong Teaching Activities
Participants in the 2009 workshop on Preparing for an Academic Career in the Geosciences brainstormed the following list of characteristics.
- 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