Techniques Video Library

A Triple-Jump is a three-step technique that requires students to think through and attempt to solve a real-world problem.

In Dyadic Essays, students: 1). complete a content unit, identify a central question, and draft an answer to that question, 2). exchange questions with a peer and prepare responses, and 3). pairs read and compare the model and in-class answers.

In Variations, students create an altered version of the original, such as rewriting the ending of a story or imagining the consequences of a changed event in history.

In Dyadic Interviews, student pairs take turns asking each other questions that tap into values, attitudes, beliefs, and prior experiences that are relevant to course content or learning goals.

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.

A Frame is a template of sentence stems that provides the shape of a short essay, but not the content. Students complete the sentences, expressing their ideas in their own words, but doing so within a clear and organized framework.

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.

For a Class Book, individual students work together to plan and ultimately submit a scholarly essay or research paper. Then all students’ papers are published together.