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Thriving in Academe
Best Practices

Context Leads to Connections

Course Possibilities for Shared Control and Ownership

1. To bring variety and energy to the class, design your course to allow students to teach. Help individuals or groups prepare for their teaching; be sure that presenters are accountable for an interesting lesson and classmates are accountable for understanding and participating.
2. Instead of an introductory lecture on a new unit, ask a student to lead a discussion about prior knowledge and expectations. What does the class already know? How will they use the information they’re about to learn? You can list student responses on the board, and then use students’ language as you proceed.
3. Ask students to act out components of your lesson—molecules? historical figures? parts of an equation? The “molecules” or “Xs and Ys” can join you on the “stage” and move according to your description. Pairs of students can represent phases of a process, arrange themselves in order around the room, and then explain phases to the class. Laughter AND learning will ensue.
4. Use cases or new problems for students to solve. What alternatives could they discover for a previously resolved case? What’s a current campus controversy they can work on? Capitalize on their interest in social and civic issues to involve them.
5. Instead of a final exam, ask students to provide research tips or examples for future students. They demonstrate their learning for a real audience, and you gain new insight into the steps of the projects. Your subsequent students benefit from receiving notes from previous students along with your course materials.

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