Short video recording |
What is it? What purpose does it serve? Using a self video recording platform like Zoom, Loom. OBS or Teams, the teacher can record a short video in advance for explaining a concept or a process (no more than 5 minutes). The video can then be uploaded into an LMS, a private YouTube channel, or Panopto. |
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Social activities for students before/during the course starts
Virtual social activities |
What is it? What purpose does it serve? The facilitator arranges for social gatherings online before the course begins so students can meet each other. In an intercultural setting, students can share something about their country, such as a tradition, or music. Ice breakers can also be done in breakout rooms, or a Padlet can be used for students to introduce themselves. The Mentimeter can be used for polls or pub quizzes. |
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“Culture clash” on virtual mobilities |
What is it? What purpose does it serve?
Students from different countries could hold culture clash events, for example, virtual cooking events where students show how to prepare some foods from their country. People could follow the instructions at home. |
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Appreciation Circle |
What is it? What purpose does it serve? The day before an important deadline/presentation, do an “appreciation circle” where everyone takes turns appreciating their classmates. Some examples can be the things that they liked while working with them, or things they learned from them. It can also be, what’s something they’re proud of about their team, or sharing how a problem was resolved. The appreciation can also be to other members of the class. |
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Improve the quality and efficacy of theoretical lectures
Student-led questionnaire |
What is it? What purpose does it serve?
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Step by step methodology
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Short video recording |
What is it? What purpose does it serve? Using a self video recording platform like Zoom, Loom. OBS or Teams, the teacher can record a short video in advance for explaining a concept or a process (no more than 5 minutes). The video can then be uploaded into an LMS, a private YouTube channel, or Panopto. |
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Focus SOS Mentimeter |
What is it? What purpose does it serve? Ask topic questions in a collaborative platform to evaluate the class mood. Use the activity to break the ice, create class atmosphere and teacher/student points of contact, and to see if the concepts are being grasped. |
Tips |
· Answers are anonymous. The biggest challenge is to get everyone to participate. · Put the questions/challenges in a few words, without making the sentences/requests too “childish”. |
Open exam |
What is it? What purpose does it serve? The exam questions are published at the beginning of the course. The final exam has 2 of the 10 questions plus 1 question from a broader topic area. The exam is open book (3hr), reducing the barrier of doing the exam, and encouraging students to engage with the course topics from the very beginning. |
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Webinars, Symposiums & Workshops |
What is it? What purpose does it serve? Ranging from online workshops to webinars and symposiums, online talks are a great way to engage students in a classroom environment, while at the same time providing close contact with experts with diverse backgrounds from Industry and Companies, bridging the gap between the Academy and Society. These engagement strategies promote specific (and sometimes, new) knowledge acquisition, discussion and interaction, career path and vocation reflection, and network growth, all this in a rather different learning environment, unique and stimulating. Inviting guest speakers also exposes students to other insights and perspectives and, thanks to videoconferencing, location and cost barriers associated with travelling are no longer a concern, expanding the options when it concerns the invitees. It is possible to integrate this type of learning in both theoretical and practical class environments: while webinars and symposiums are typically more explanatory and academic, with a Q&A session afterwards, workshops are very hands-on and applied. |
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· Prepare for Virtual Guest Speakers: Once you have selected your guest speaker, connect with them to find out their needs and to share your instructional purpose and expectations for the experience. Here are some topics that should be arranged previously with the speaker: Date and Time; Talk Length and Format; Tech needs and requirements · Rather than telling students what they should learn and expecting them to be passive listeners during the visit, it is more effective to spark their curiosity and encourage them to ask questions to the guest · It is also important to establish the expectations for how your students will engage with the guest. Setting protocols is another opportunity to empower your students. Rather than giving them a set of expectations, guide your class to work collaboratively to generate the protocols that will ensure a welcoming, engaging, and successful visit. · After the experience, ask for feedback from both the speaker and your students and continuously improve your approach |
Quizzes & Polls |
What is it? What purpose does it serve? Inside the online classroom environments, students can respond to multiple-choice questions in the format of quizzes and can provide feedback by answering polls. Besides being an effective engagement strategy to keep the students’ attention, they are also important tools to track, report, and evaluate learning progress and outcomes. |
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MOOCs |
What is it? What purpose does it serve? |
Massive open online courses (MOOC) are courses that may be taken at little or no cost by an unlimited number of people. The courses consist of a series of online lessons that may include full lectures, lecture clips, screencasts, slides, videos, discussion forums, and quizzes (Felder, 2016) MOOCs are online courses designed for large numbers of participants, can be accessed by anyone anywhere as long as they have an Internet connection, are open to everyone withoutentry qualifications and offer a full/complete course experience online for free (Mulder & Jansen, 2015) |
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References Felder, R. M., & Brent, R. (2016). Teaching and learning STEM: A practical guide. John Wiley & Sons. Mulder, F., & Jansen, D. (2015). MOOCs for opening up education and the OpenupEd initiative. MOOCs and Open Education around the world, 130-142. Routledge. |
Formation of groups for active works
Group formation |
What is it? What purpose does it serve? This practice helps create groups according to student interests |
Step by step methodology
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Activities useful to develop active work
Gamified Virtual Reality exercises |
What is it? What purpose does it serve? Utilizing virtual reality to teach different skills. Virtual reality can be utilized for teaching different skills before trying them in real life. |
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Case study COVE – Conceptual Orienteering in Virtual Education teaches students rock fracture mapping by utilizing standalone VR-headsets and photogrammetry. It also gives students instant feedback about their performance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd6WNybU8ZQ Individual Work Mode: Online Credit: Lauri Uotinen, Mateusz Janiszewski, Xiaoyun Zhang, Jussi Leveinen, Mikael Rinne https://onlinelearning.aalto.fi/aol/pilot/coveconceptual-orienteering-in-virtual-education |
Flipped classroom |
What is it? What purpose does it serve? Form of blended learning that integrates two components: interactive online presentation of information before class and well-implemented active learning in class - for example, problem-solving activities (Means et al., 2010). The online materials might include short videos, lecture clips, and screencasts; hands-on experiences with virtual labs, control rooms, and plants; and quizzes on the presented material. The in-class sessions should consist almost entirely of activities designed to build on and reinforce the concepts and methods introduced in the pre-class preparation. |
Step by step methodology
· Respond to open-ended questions online about the instructional material before class · Prepare questions about the instructional materials · Prepare a presentation about the topic · Attempt to solve some problems · Research examples to bring to class that illustrates a principle 4. Provide students opportunities to deepen understanding by developing in-class activities Plan, prepare and develop in-class activities that focus on higher-level cognitive activities. The chosen activity will depend on the learning goals and objectives defined for the class. Common activities are: · Reviewing pre-class activities to identify common questions or gaps · Q&A session with students, reporting to the pre-class activities · Quick review quiz (based on the basic learning objectives) · Peer Collaboration · Working on assignments · Presenting student-created content · Active discussion on a topic · Solving a case study 5. Create post-class activities that extend student learning Plan, prepare and develop the continuation of the learning experience from the in class activity to an outside-of-class individual or collaborative practice. Determine what students should do after the in-class activity to continue learning or bridge to the next topic. 6. Continuously evaluate and assess Plan for ongoing formative and summative ways to assess student understanding and mastery. Could students attain all the learning objectives? Self evaluate the Flipped Classroom implementation and ask for feedback from students on what worked well and what didn’t - and update your practices accordingly (Felder, 2016). References Felder, R. M., & Brent, R. (2016). Teaching and learning STEM: A practical guide. John Wiley & Sons. |
Online group discussion |
What is it? What purpose does it serve? The teacher creates a Padlet or Flinga platform in advance and instructs students on an assigned team discussion (e.g., “think together about what makes the text scientific”). The teams choose a scribbler who records the ideas that have risen in the group into the platform. Once the platform is created, the teacher explains how much time is available for the group discussion and what the whole group will do with the output. The teacher can monitor student comments that appear online, for example by grouping them. Finally, the task is dismantled by looking together at what kind of thoughts arose and how they are related. The discussion will be available for viewing later, so the output will not go away. |
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Course discussion forums |
What is it? What purpose does it serve? – The educator can set up separate channels for different topical areas, for example for exercises on a given week. Students can access the forum, present their questions, search answers for other similar questions, and get answers/hints either from their peer students, teaching assistants, or their professor. Many Learning Management systems have the functionality for discussion forums, but there are also separate services such as Zulip or Piazza. |
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Group Size: Unlimited Time Frame: 5-30 Facilitation Level: Beginner Contributes to: Understand & Activate Resources: LMS, Zulip, Piazza or Slack Individual Work and Teamwork Mode: Online Aim: To allow students to ask questions either with their name or anonymously about course exercises and get answers and hints from course assistants / teachers. Note: Teacher or local IT support needs to set up the service and prepare instructions for students. Credit: Sofia Sevon, Aalto University |
Multi-step exercises on a video |
What is it and why should we use it? After a topic is covered, the teacher uploads a video in which more difficult exercises are solved. That way it’s easy for students to go back and watch parts of the solving procedure to understand it better and be able to solve the exercises by following the video and pausing it when needed. |
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Problem Based Learning |
What is it? What purpose does it serve? Problem-based learning (PBL) is an instructional method that drives all learning via solving an authentic problem (Marra et al., 2014). Learners begin learning by addressing simulations of an authentic, ill-structured problem. The content and skills to be learned are organised around problems rather than as a hierarchical list of topics. Thus, knowledge is learned in the context of the problem, and there is a reciprocal relationship between knowledge and the problem. Knowledge building is stimulated by the problem and applied back to the problem. Instructors are facilitators (not lecturers) who support and model reasoning processes to facilitate group processes and interpersonal dynamics, probe students’ knowledge deeply, but do not interject content or provide direct answers to questions (Marra et al., 2014). Students usually work in teams to find the solution, and they have the primary responsibility for doing the work. They hypothesise solutions, test them, identify the need for information that the instructor may or may not provide, and try different solutions if they find previous ones unacceptable until they finally converge on a solution and write and turn in their final report. The instructor provides guidance and feedback as needed. Problem based learning revolves around four learning principles: constructive education, learning in a relevant context, collective learning, and self-directed education. |
Step by step methodology
Tips The problems that are proposed in Problem based learning should:
References Marra, R. M., Jonassen, D. H., & Palmer, B. (2014). Why Problem-Based Learning Works : Theoretical Foundations. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 25(3/4), 221– 238. |
Project Based Learning |
What is it? What purpose does it serve? Project-Based Learning is a type of student-centred learning characterised by student teams working on problems, but with the added component that they have to submit a project report (Kolmos & de Graaf, 2009) By working in teams on a project, often multidisciplinary, Project based learning aims to create effective learning opportunities where learners can work collaboratively in groups to answer a driving question, solve a problem, or tackle a challenge with an aim of creating an end product. Project based learning aims to provide students with content knowledge, but also developing skills, such as searching for information from different resources, critical thinking, problem-solving, self-evaluation, summarising and giving presentations which are highly recommended for long-life learning |
Step by step methodology
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References Kolmos, A., & de Graaff, E. (2014). Problem-Based and Project-Based Learning in Engineering Education: Merging Models. In A. Johri & B. M. Olds (Eds.), Cambridge Handbook of Engineering Education Research (pp. 141–160). Cambridge University Press |
Virtual Labs |
What is it? What purpose does it serve? A virtual laboratory is a type of hands-on learning methodology where students do not interact with real equipment to obtain data, but rather with computer simulations of laboratory or industrial process equipment (Koretsy, Kelly & Gummer, 2011). A Virtual Laboratory is an interactive environment in which simulated experiments can be carried out. A laboratory can be characterised as “a playground for experimentation” (Mercer et al., 1990) providing tools that can be used to manipulate objects relevant to a specific scientific domain. Virtual labs enable the exploration of systems that cannot be directly, safely, or economically studied in physical labs, and can also enable further exploration of hands-on experiments. There are two types of virtual laboratories: a Cloned Virtual Laboratory, which is a representation of a real-world hands-on laboratory, cloned in digital format; or an Enhanced Virtual Laboratory, that can be defined as a cloned virtual laboratory with extra features that could not be part of a real-world laboratory |
Step-by-step Methodology
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References Koretsky, M., Kelly, C., & Gummer, E. (2011). Student perceptions of learning in the laboratory: Comparison of industrially situated virtual laboratories to capstone physical laboratories. Journal of Engineering Education, 100(3), 540–573 Mercer, L., Prusinkiewicz, P., & Hanan, J. (1990). Concept and design of a virtual laboratory. Proceedings - Graphics Interface, 149–155. |
Challenge Based Learning |
What is it? What purpose does it serve? Challenge based learning (CBL) is an educational approach that frames learning around global, real-world, authentic challenges. These challenges are co-developed, investigated and acted upon by students and multidisciplinary stakeholders, including academic, enterprise and community participants. Throughout the CBL process, creative, problem solving, and innovative thinking is encouraged to broaden perspectives, create new processes, ideas and solutions, and stimulate motivation. Although there are many different ways CBL can be implemented in teaching, the key features of all CBL approaches usually include an engagement stage, an investigation stage and an action stage |
Step-by-step Methodology |
· General idea: It’s a broad concept that can be explored in multiple ways; it is attractive, and relevant to students and society. It is often a topic of global significance, such as biodiversity, health, war, sustainability, democracy or resilience · Essential question: By design, the general idea allows for the generation of a wide variety of questions. A delimitation process yields an essential question, which reflects the interests of the students and the community’s needs. It creates a more specific focus for the general idea and guides students toward more manageable aspects of the global concept · Challenge: It arises from the essential question when stated it involves students in the creation of a specific solution that will result in a concrete and meaningful action. The challenge is designed to address the general idea and the essential questions using local actions 2. Investigate: All learners plan and participate in a journey that builds the foundation for solutions and addresses academic requirements throughout the experience: · Guiding questions, activities and resources: They are generated by the students, they represent the necessary knowledge to develop a successful solution, and they provide a roadmap for the learning process. Students identify lessons, simulations, activities, and content resources to answer the guiding questions and thus establish a foundation to develop innovative, deep and realistic solutions 3. Act: Evidence-based solutions are developed, tested with an authentic audience, and then evaluated based on the results: · Solution: Each established challenge is broad enough to allow for a variety of solutions. The solution must be thoughtful, concrete, clearly stated and feasible in its implementation in the local community · Implementation: Students try the efficacy of their implementation in a realistic environment. Its reach can vary greatly depending on the time and resources available, but even the smallest amount of effort in carrying out the plan in a real setting is valuable · Evaluation: It can and must be conducted through the challenge process. The results of the formal and informal evaluation validate the learning process and support the decision making as we advance in the implementation of the solution. Both the process and the product may be evaluated by the teacher · Validation: Students judge the success of their solution by using various quantitative and qualitative methods, including surveys, interviews and videos. Teachers and experts in the field play a vital role in this stage. Iterate, if necessary. Never fall in love with your solution · Documentation and publication: These resources can be used as the basis for a learning portfolio and as a forum to communicate their solution to the world. Blogs, videos and other tools can be used · Reflection and discussion: Much of the deeper learning takes place during this stage, as students reflect on their learning, their relationship with the content, concepts and experience, and their interaction with other people (adapted from CBL Guide - Apple; Edu Trends from the Observatory of Educational Innovation Tecnológico de Monterrey) Tips
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Assessment of active work
Peer assessment |
What is it? What purpose does it serve? Students give feedback to their peers in an individual or team basis. The aim is to have contact with other student projects, and enhance feedback opportunities. |
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Examples of implementation
Challenges The challenge with this activity is keeping with a rigid timeline, supporting quality feedback, and manage expectations. |