# Interactive In-Class Activities Active learning works best when it is a good fit for the class size, class topic, and learning objectives. These strategies can work to encourage participation in lecture classes, and build community in discussion courses. The following are some of our favorite approaches for adding small interactive activities to a class session. ## **Individual: Think/Reflect** - [**Minute papers**](https://bokcenter.harvard.edu/class-writing-reflection-activities): A writing & reflection activity is a simple, adaptable strategy that asks students to respond in writing to a prompt for a few minutes during class. These low-stakes activities encourage students to pause, organize their thoughts, and connect with the course material in a meaningful way. These exercises can also be used to take attendance. - **Exit tickets**: At the end of class, students respond to a prompt that asks them to reflect on what they learned, answer a question, or ask questions. Exit tickets can be useful for feedback on student comprehension. They are also a good way to take attendance in large enrollment courses. --- ## **Small Group: Work Together** - [**Think-Pair-Share**](https://bokcenter.harvard.edu/think-pair-share): a “think-pair-share” activity moves through each stage of interaction: first students have time to think through an idea on their own, then they share or practice with a partner, then select groups share out their ideas with the whole group. - **Problem Solve**: give students a problem to solve in small groups before discussing it or presenting the solution to the class. - **Guided Annotation**: Have students mark up a passage, data set, or problem with a specific goal in mind. Have them compare and discuss annotations with a partner. - **Jigsaw**: Divide a unit of course material into pieces like a jigsaw puzzle and give each student (or each group) one piece of the puzzle. Ask the group to work together to apply their collective information to accomplish a task. --- ## **As a Class: Share ideas, opinions, or questions** - [**Polling/Clickers**](https://bokcenter.harvard.edu/polling-clickers): Polling questions can focus on students’ conceptual understanding of course content, or they can be used to get a picture of the range of views in the classroom on a given topic. - [**Classroom Debate**](https://bokcenter.harvard.edu/classroom-debate): Asking students to make the case either for or against a position, regardless of their own opinion, can be a productive exercise to help foster thoughtful dialogue. Address students’ preconceptions about debate (e.g. those learned from high-school debate teams or televised political debates) and establish shared norms to ensure careful listening, generosity, and reflection. Debates allow students to engage more deeply with course materials, consider multiple perspectives, and listen intently before responding to one another. - **Elicit Student Input by Asking Questions**: One effective way to ask questions is to employ “warm calling” in which students are given an opportunity to develop or reflect on their answer individually or in a group before being called on. - [**Group Discussion**](https://bokcenter.harvard.edu/leading-discussions): Good discussions allow students to formulate the principles of the subject in their own words. Ideally discussions provide a structured setting for students—and the instructor—to work through the core concepts or problems raised by readings and lectures. Sometimes the process allows students to converge toward a consensus (e.g., where there is something like an answer or solution); at other times the process allows for ideas to diverge (e.g., where the goal of the discussion is to highlight a range of approaches to a concept or the genuine messiness of a thinker’s ideas). ## **Additional Ideas** There are myriad additional creative ways to make your classes more interactive. The [ABL Connect repository](https://ablconnect.harvard.edu/activity-types) contains excellent examples drawn from Harvard University faculty and courses.