Advanced Strategies
Practices that encourage active learning and cooperative interdependence may increase student engagement. These strategies have also been shown to: enhance learning of concepts, improve student motivation, help students feel integral to the learning process, and foster positive relationships among students from different backgrounds. [1]
Cooperative techniques can help eliminate stereotypes and reduce bias. They foster a sense of interdependent cooperation where majority students work with and depend on students from underrepresented groups, and vice versa. Working together toward completing a complex task opens lines of communication between group members regardless of race, sex, age, or religion. You can help activate learning and promote belonging by trying some of the activities below.
Suggested Practices
(Available only with a UChicago CNET login)
Jigsaw
Assign different sections of a large, complex text to students (e.g., some students read section 1; others section 2) with the understanding that all students must comprehend the entire piece.
- Students who read the same section meet to discuss and solidify their understanding.
- Then, students are paired with others who have read different sections.
- Students regroup and teach one other their respective sections.
Why is it worth doing?
- By teaching others, students understand and retain more.
- It exposes students to a greater amount of material while limiting the amount of reading for each individual student.
- Students can learn to value one another’s knowledge, regardless of their individual backgrounds.
Quick whip
Each member of the class quickly shares a comment, idea, question, or reaction to a piece of reading. Try to limit comments to one word or sentence.
Why is it worth doing?
- Everyone participates.
- Many ideas are shared quickly.
- More reticent students are warmed up for speaking.
Concept maps
Have students identify key concepts in small groups. Each group then determines the general relationship between the concepts by drawing arrows between related concepts and labeling them with a short phrase to describe the relationship.
Why is it worth doing?
- Everyone can learn from each other.
- Diverse ideas about relationships among concepts can be heard and debated.
Decision-making activities
Students can work together to determine and justify specific decisions. For example, an educator gives different groups of students a complex problem to solve, choosing problems that have multiple paths to a solution. Once the groups reach a solution, each shares their answer and their problem-solving process. This could work in a policy-oriented or STEM course. The important elements are that groups are required to share and explain their reasoning.
Why is it worth doing?
- It engages diverse thoughts and skills.
- It requires students to carefully use evidence to support their contributions to the problem-solving process.
- In social policy-making courses, it helps students connect content to their lives and experiences.
Case-based learning
Provide individual students with a complex case and ask them to decide what they know that is relevant to the case, what other information they may need, and what impact their decisions may have, considering the broader implications of their decisions.
- Give small groups of students time to consider their individual responses and come to some consensus.
- Provide opportunities for groups to share responses.
Why is it worth doing?
- It engages diverse thoughts.
- It requires students to carefully use evidence to support their ideas.
- It helps students connect content to their lives and experiences.
Peer instruction
Introduce a concept. Give students a minute or two to respond individually to a multiple-choice question. Then ask students to find a nearby classmate who chose a different answer than the one they chose. Students then have several minutes to try to persuade classmates of their answer.
Why is it worth doing?
- Students engage in teaching, which can lead to greater retention.
- Students can learn to value one another’s knowledge, regardless of their backgrounds.
For more information, see Group Work from Vanderbilt University's Center for Teaching.
- Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M.W., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M.C., Norman, M.K. (2010)