Techniques Video Library

An Advance Organizer is a tool that professors can present to students prior to a lecture to help them structure the information they are about to learn.

When using IRA’s, students complete a written response to a reading assignment that includes three components: 1) Insights, 2) Resources, and 3) Application.

A Background Knowledge Probe is a short, simple, focused questionnaire that students fill out at the beginning of a course or start of a new unit that helps teachers identify the best starting point for the class as a whole.

In an Online Resource Scavenger Hunt, students use the Internet to engage in fact-finding and information processing exercises using instructor-specified library and Internet sources.

In Invent the Quiz, students write a limited number of test questions related to a recent learning module and then create an answer sheet, or alternately a model answer and scoring sheet, to accompany the test questions.

In Letters, students assume the identity of an important person in your discipline and write a letter explaining their thoughts on an issue, theory, or controversy to another famous person who holds a different perspective.

In a Think-Pair-Share, the instructor poses a question, gives students a few minutes to think about a response, and then asks students to share their ideas with a partner. Hence Think-Pair-Share.

In Cued Notes, students use a template to prompt them to record a cue that you provide and to take notes on a lecture segment tied to the cue. Then, the template prompts students to summarize the full lecture.

In Note-Taking Pairs, student partners work together to improve their individual notes.

During a Punctuated Lecture, students listen to the lecture for approximately 15 to 20 minutes. At the end of the lecture segment, the teacher pauses and asks students to answer a question about what they are doing at that particular moment.

In Fishbowl, students form concentric circles with a small group inside and a larger group outside. Students in the inner circle engage in an in-depth discussion, while students in the outer circle listen and critique content, logic, and group interaction.

Individual Readiness Assurance Tests are closed-book quizzes that students complete after an out-of-class reading, video, or other homework assignment.