Active asynchronous activity

Step 1 - Develop an Activity Where Students are Interacting with Each Other 

Develop one engaging active learning activity where students are interacting with each other on their own, outside of any required class meeting on Zoom or in person. This could be a graded assignment or something that you count for participation points.

For an activity to be engaging, it should be meaningful to your students. Engaging activities won't feel like busywork. Activities where students apply what they've learned to a relatable situation or case are more likely to engage students in the work. Activities where they are asked to look at different perspectives or approaches, especially where the correct conclusion is "it depends on the situation," also tend to generate more interest and discussion. Thinking about what you find particularly interesting in a section of the course and why you find it interesting can be a starting point for activities as well. 

Your activity should also provide evidence of how well your students reached one or more of your desired learning outcomes. What should your students be learning by participating in this activity? What are they doing that you can point to as proof of their increasing competency?

In addition to creating an activity that is meaningful and provides evidence of learning, you'll need to make four structural decisions.

1. How many students interact with each other? In any class larger than 15 students, you'll want to create smaller groups for interaction. Depending on the activity, this could mean 

   • moderate-sized (~10-12 people) or smaller (~6-9 people) discussion groups,
   • small groups, or 
   • pairs.

2. Who interacts with each other? Students could be grouped by a variety of criteria including

   • random grouping via Canvas, 
   • instructor-created groups based on your own particular criteria, or
   • allowing students to self-select groups or partners freely or based on a provided set of options such as a set of topics, situations, patients, cases, etc. 

3. Where do they interact? They could interact asynchronously in

   • a Canvas discussion, Peer Review,  or Group Space,
   • in a synchronous meeting they set up themselves at a time convenient to all members of the group, or 
   • in another tool that allows interaction such as a Google doc, Hypothesis, a Pressbook, a publisher-provided tool, etc.

When considering non-Canvas tools that allow students to interact with each other, you need to consider both the security of the tool (what student information will it have access to and what can it do with that information) and the accessibility of the tool (Can it be used by someone who cannot use a mouse? by someone who has hearing or vision impairments? by someone who is color blind? by someone for whom flashing and moving graphics trigger migraines, dizziness, or seizures? etc.).

 

4. How do they interact? The activity could include

   • a discussion or debate,
   • providing feedback on each other's work, or
   • brainstorming ideas and coming to consensus on a plan.
   • For more ideas, see the Toolkit of Active Learning Options.

Step 2 - Write up your activity in the TILT format

Please use the Engaging Students with Each Other Online form to draft your activity instructions. You can simply post this completed form as instructions for your students!

• Include the Purpose, Task, and Criteria sections and label each section in your post.

• The Task section should give your students the answers to the "how many," "who," "where," and "how" questions above and include the full step-by-step instructions that students can follow to complete the assignment. Don’t presume your students know how to do everything. Help them out with instructions or links to instructions if you’re using things like Google Docs, Canvas Peer Review, or asking them to record and submit video.

• The Criteria section must contain objective criteria that students can use to self-assess how well they did on the assignment. 

Self-Assess your Activity 

Review your draft of activity instructions to ensure it includes the following elements and utilizes the recommendations below.

1. have students interacting with each other on their own - not as part of a Zoom meeting organized by you (for example, using breakout rooms).

2. have a purpose section explaining why you want students to do this activity and what they can gain from doing it. 

3. have a task section including the answers to the "how many," "who," "where," and "how" questions and full step-by-step instructions that students can follow to complete the assignment.

4. have a criteria section containing objective criteria that students can use to self-assess how well they did on the assignment. 

5. provide evidence about how well your students met your learning outcome(s).

6. are written up using student-facing language ("you/your") and avoids unnecessary jargon and academic-ese.