11 Physical Science

Interactive Classroom Activities
Students learn through their participation in the attainment of knowledge

by gathering information and processing it by solving problems and
articulating what they have discovered. Each activity below provides
students with opportunities to deepen their learning by applying concepts
and articulating new knowledge and many of these activities also provide
the instructor feedback about the students learning.
Entry/Exit Tickets
Entry & Exit tickets are short prompts that provide instructors with a quick
student diagnostic. These exercises can be collected on 3x5 cards, small
pieces of paper, or online through a survey or course management system.
Entry tickets focus student attention on the days topic or ask students
to recall background knowledge relevant to the days lesson: e.g., Based
on the readings for class today, what is your understanding of
___________?
Exit tickets collect feedback on students understanding at the end of a
class and provide the students with an opportunity to reflect on what
they have learned. They can be helpful in prompting the student to
begin to synthesize and integrate the information gained during a class
period. For example, a muddiest point prompt: What was the muddiest
point in todays class? or What questions do you still have about
todays lecture?.
Advantages of entrance and exit tickets include: participation of each
student, prompt for students to focus on key concepts and ideas, a high
return of information for the amount of time invested, important feedback
for the instructor that can be useful to guide teaching decisions (e.g., course
pacing, quick clarification of small misunderstandings, identification of
student interests and questions).
Learn more about entry and exit tickets, and see examples.
Free Writing/Minute Paper/Question of the Day Exercise
These are activities that prompt students to write a response to an open
question and can be done at any time during a class. Writing activities are
usually 1-2 minutes, and can focus on key questions and ideas or ask
students to make predictions. These activities give students the opportunity
to organize their own thoughts, or can be collected by the teacher to gain
feedback from the students. Advantages include developing students
feedback from the students. Advantages include developing students

abilities to think holistically and critically, and improving their writing
skills.
Learn more about one-minute papers and see examples.
Ice Breakers
Ice Breakers are low-stakes activities that get students to interact and talk
to each other, and encourage subsequent classroom interactions. They can
be useful at the beginning of the semester: for example, asking students to
introduce themselves to each other and what they would like to learn in the
course. Advantages of icebreakers include: participation of each student,
the creation of a sense of community and focusing students attention on
material that will be covered during the class period.
Learn more about ice breakers and see examples.
ThinkPairShare
This type of activity first asks students to consider a question on their own,
and then provides an opportunity for students to discuss it in pairs, and
finally together with the whole class. The success of these activities depends
on the nature of the questions posed. This activity works ideally with
questions to encourage deeper thinking, problem-solving, and/or critical
analysis. The group discussions are critical as they allow students to
articulate their thought processes.
The procedure is as follows:
1. Pose a question, usually by writing it on the board or projecting it.
2. Have students consider the question on their own (1 2 min).
3. Then allow the students form groups of 2-3 people.
4. Next, have students discuss the question with their partner and share
their ideas and/or contrasting opinions (3 min).
5. Re-group as a whole class and solicit responses from some or all of the
pairs (3 min).
Advantages of the think-pair-share include the engagement of all students
in the classroom (particularly the opportunity to give voice to quieter
students who might have difficulty sharing in a larger group), quick
feedback for the instructor (e.g., the revelation of student misconceptions),
encouragement and support for higher levels of thinking of the students.
Learn more about think-pair-share and see examples.
Case Studies and Problem-Based Learning
Case studies are scenarios that apply concepts learned in class to a real-
Case studies are scenarios that apply concepts learned in class to a reallife situation. They are usually presented in narrative form and often
involve problem-solving, links to course readings or source materials, and
discussions by groups of students, or the entire class. Usually, case studies
are most effective if they are presented sequentially, so that students
receive additional information as the case unfolds, and can continue to
analyze or critique the situation/problem.
Guiding questions lead students through the activity. The questions should
be designed to develop students critical thinking by asking students to
distinguish between fact and assumptions, and critically analyze both the
process they take in solving the case study as well as the solution itself.
Example questions include:
What is the situation? What questions do you have?
What problem(s) need to be solved? What are some solution strategies?
Evaluate pros/cons and underlying assumptions of these strategies.
What information do you need? Where/how could you find it?
What criteria will you use to evaluate your solution?
There are many collections of case studies publically available in a variety
of disciplines.
Learn more about case studies and explore collections.
Problem-based learning activities are similar to case studies but usually
focus on quantitative problems. In some cases the problems are designed
to introduce the material as well as provide students with a deeper learning
opportunity.
Learn more about problem-based learning and see examples.
The advantages of problem-based learning activities and case studies
include developing students problem solving and decision making skills,
develop students critical thinking skills encouraging critical reflection and
enabling the appreciation of ambiguity in situations.
Debate
Engaging in collaborative discourse and argumentation enhances students
conceptual understandings and refines their reasoning abilities. Stage a
debate exploiting an arguable divide in the days materials. Give teams
time to prepare, and then put them into argument with a team focused on
representing an opposing viewpoint. Advantages include practice in using
the language of the discipline and crafting evidence-based reasoning in
their arguments.
Learn more about debate.
Learn more about debate.

Interview or Role Play
Members of the class take the part or perspective of historical figures,
authors, or other characters and must interact from their perspective.
Breakdown the role play into specific tasks to keep students organized and
to structure them so that the content you want to cover is addressed.
Preparation work can be assigned for outside of class, so clearly
communicating your expectations is essential. Advantages include
motivation to solve a problem or to resolve a conflict for the character,
providing a new perspective through which students can explore or
understand an issue and the development of skills, such as writing,
leadership, coordination, collaboration and research.
Learn more about role play.
Interactive Demonstrations
Interactive demonstrations can be used in lectures to demonstrate the
application of a concept, a skill, or to act out a process. The exercise should
not be passive; you should plan and structure your demonstration to
incorporate opportunities for students to reflect and analyze the process.
1. Introduce the goal and description of the demonstration.
2. Have students think-pair-share (see above) to discuss what they predict
may happen, or to analyze the situation at hand (pre-demonstration
state or situation).
3. Conduct the demonstration.
4. Students discuss and analyze the outcome (either in pairs/small groups,
or as a whole class), based on their initial predictions/interpretations.
Advantages of interactive demonstrations include novel visualizations of
the material and allowing students to probe their own understanding by
asking if they can predict the outcome of the demo. They are also a venue
for providing applications of ideas or concepts.
Learn more about interactive demonstrations.
Jigsaw
A Jigsaw is a cooperative active learning exercise where students are
grouped into teams to solve a problem or analyze a reading. These can be
done in one of two ways either each team works on completing a different
portion of the assignment and then contributes their knowledge to the class
as a whole, or within each group, one student is assigned to a portion of the
assignment (the jigsaw comes from the bringing together the various ideas
at the end of the activity to produce a solution to the problem). In a jigsaw
at the end of the activity to produce a solution to the problem). In a jigsaw

the activity must be divided into several equal parts, each of which is
necessary to solving a problem, or answering a question. Example
activities include implementing experiments, small research projects,
analyzing and comparing datasets, and working with professional
literature. The advantages of the jigsaw include the ability to explore
substantive problems or readings, the engagement of all students with the
material and in the process of working together, learning from each other,
and sharing and critical analyzing a diversity of ideas.
Learn more about the jigsaw method.
Learn about how to use groups effectively.
Brown University
Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA
Phone: 401-863-1000
2016 Brown University

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Interactive Classroom Activities

Students learn through their participation in the attainment of knowledge

feedback from the students. Advantages include developing students

Learn more about debate.

at the end of the activity to produce a solution to the problem). In a jigsaw

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