Collaboration strategies
One way to get students actively engaged is to allow them to work together in class. Students and instructors often are hesitant about collaboration due to the potential of one person doing it all. There are some simple ways to make sure that everyone is working together as a team. The first thing we, as instructors, can do to make sure that everyone contributes is to ask students to do some independent work first. Teachers can assign the students a topic or question and make students complete a QuickWrite before they are divided into groups. If each student has information written down, when they move into their groups they will fill like they can contribute to the discussion.
10 commandments
The 10 Commandments is an activity that I do with my students to review the "rules". These rules can apply to almost any subject or topic. You could use this activity to create the "Rules" of your classroom on the first day or to review for a test. I use the 10 Commandments to review MLA Format and Documentation. I make them use Thou Shall and Thou Shall Not when creating their lists. Click on this link to see further directions on how to implement the 10 Commandments assignment.
Gallery Walks
Gallery Walks get students up and moving in groups. For Gallery Walks to be successful, the instructor must set clear guidelines and expectations for the activity. For a comprehensive look at Gallery Walks and all the various ways you can use them, please look at the Starting Point Teaching Entry Level GeoScience. This website gives a complete look at Gallery Walks and how to incorporate them into a variety of classroom activities.
Collaboration Activity
Here is an activity that I use that incorporates both the 10 Commandments and the Gallery Walk. The students' homework was to review the chapter on MLA in their textbook as well as the PowerPoints in Moodle.
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This is a sample of one group's list before the Gallery Walk.
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