Best practices in Creating & Facilitating Learning Activities
The following best practice principles can guide instructor strategies for developing and facilitating learning activities in an online course.
Click each title to learn more about them.
Apply to your course: Resources & Tools
There are several activities and technologies available to engage students in the learning process – individually or collaboratively, synchronously or asynchronously. As you may notice, several of these activities are similar to formative assessment techniques, as they both have goals of helping students interact with the materials, each other and the instructor. They also can provide the instructor with important information about students’ current understanding of course concepts.
Learning Activity |
Description/ Purpose |
UMass-supported Tools |
---|---|---|
Survey/ Polls |
An informal single/multiple-choice activity that can be used to gather information from students about their understanding of or questions about course topics |
Zoom polls, iclicker, Google Form |
Brainstorming/ Mind-mapping |
Individual, small group or whole class brainstorming or mind/concept- mapping can help activate prior knowledge, draw connections among course concepts, think creatively and plan for projects, etc. |
Canvas Discussions VoiceThread/VT Doodle Board Lucid Chart |
Reflection | Students evaluate their own work and progress using guided questions, the assignment rubric, etc. | Journals/ Canvas Discussions |
Guided Discussions (audio/ video/ written) |
Instructors provide effective, clear, high-order thinking questions to begin a class discussion topic. They moderate and provide constructive feedback throughout. |
Canvas Discussions (whole class or small group) VoiceThread, Zoom |
Reading/ Watching Guided Discussions | Students are provided with structured questions to answer as they read or watch something, individually or collaboratively. |
Google Drive Perusall |
Problem Sets | Students are given several exercises or ‘problems’ based on material already covered by the instructor. They work to solve the problems individually or collaboratively |
Group discussion boards/forums Google Drive tools |
Case Study | Students examine a real-life example of a course/field-related topic. They make comments, predictions, conclusions, and/or further questions. |
Canvas pages Google Docs Group Blog area |
Structured Debates | Students are assigned or choose a side of a controversial course topic, a fixed time to present their position, and speaking order in the debate. Debate can be done synchronously or asynchronously. |
Canvas pages Zoom, VoiceThread Discussion Boards |
Peer Review |
Students evaluate each other’s work; expectation guidelines and rubrics are useful in this process. |
Peer review feature in Canvas Assignments or Discussions Google Docs for peer editing |
Students as Teachers | Students tasked with teaching the class about some aspect of the course, using a teaching ‘platform’ or format that they choose; they have to ensure their fellow students understand the material |
Echo360, VoiceThread Zoom/polls, iclicker |
References
Angelo, T. A., & Cross, K. P. (1993). Classroom assessment techniques: A handbook for college teachers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Bergquist, E., & Holbeck, R. (2014). Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Conceptual Model for CATs in the Online Classroom. Journal of Instructional Research, 3, 3-7.
Brown University: Harriet W. Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning. Designing Grading Rubrics.
Douglas, T. A., Mather, C. A., Earwaker, L. A., James, A. J., & Murray, S. L. (2020). Supporting digital engage a Guide for effective development and facilitation of online discussion boards. Journal of Applied Learning & Teaching, 3(1), 1-10.
Nicol, D., Thomson, A., & Breslin, C. (2014). Rethinking feedback practices in higher education: a peer review perspective. Assessment & evaluation in higher education, 39(1), 102-122.
Ogg Straub, E. (2024, January 15). Successful peer review.
The K. Patricia Cross Academy. Techniques Video Library.
TeacherStream LLC. (2010). Mastering online discussion board facilitation.
Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
How to cite this page:
UMass Amherst IDEAS Team. (2024, November). Provide effective feedback on students' learning process. https://www.umass.edu/ideas/develop-engaging-learning-activities