Author Archives: Amelia Parnis

Competitive Problem Solving

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Having students compete against one another to solve practice problems is a good way to keep everyone engaged and awake. This could be used as a warm-up or cool down depending on the SI session. The basic premise is to divide the students attending your SI session into equal teams, state or show the practice problem, and have a system for getting points. Here are some ideas for the design:

1. Have students work in groups, the first group to all raise their hands and has the correct answer wins

2. Have students work in groups, have a designated “runner” from each group to run up and high five you before giving the correct answer to get a point.

3. Have one student at a time from each team come up to the board, and whoever writes the correct answer first gets a point

At the end of the set of practice problems, the team with the most points wins. You can have the set of problems available at the session for students to take a picture if they would like to work all the problems out too.

Here is what I wrote in my SI session planner for this activity:

Of course, there are other ways to get creative and personalize this activity, this is just an example in case anyone would like to use it in their session😊

– Beth C. (BIOL 111)

3 Part Problem Solving

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“I took practice problems and broke it into three parts. The first part is where I would verbally write down what steps I would take to approach a problem so everyone could “see” what was going on in my brain. I emphasized that if the students do these exact steps for these specific problems they would never miss them. This helps grab their attention by saying “oh shoot, if I follow these steps then there’s no way I can miss this on a test”. The second step is where I would take the steps I wrote down and apply it to a specific practice problem. This helps the students see how I approach the problem and see which parts of my technique they can take and use for themselves. The third step of the main activity is when I would tell the students to work together with their neighbors on the next problem that involved similar concepts but instead of a “level 1” problem, I would make them do a “level 2″ problem. This allowed them to see that if they apply the steps given before, it doesn’t matter if they were given an easy or hard problem on an exam; giving them more confidence on the topic.”

– Andrew T. (PHYS 201)

Frayer Model

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The Frayer Model allows students to not only define new concepts, words, or processes, but also describe the characteristics, provide real world examples or scenarios (think Bloom’s – Application) as well as non-examples. The Frayer Model set up is great for visual learners and challengers students to activate their prior knowledge.

A full description with steps, examples, and blank Frayer Model template can be found below.

Frayer Model PDF

Moving Multiple Choice

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This is a variation of 4 Corners.

Materials Needed: A, B, C, and D letters (8.5 x 11) & Multiple Choice Questions

Preparation: Prepare a few multiple choice questions to use. They should be over concepts that the class was having a hard time with or that they will be tested on. The questions could also come from past class quizzes to review.

Activity:
1. Place the letters in four different parts of the classroom.
2. Ask a question from your list to the class, allow time for the students to move
around the classroom and stand beneath the letter response they think is
correct.
3. Once students have finished moving where they think the answer is, have a
discussion by asking students to explain why they chose that answer. After
all the groups have had a chance to discuss allow students to move again to
their final answer.
4. Now explain which letter was the correct answer that you or the professor
were looking for and see if there are any questions about the answer.
5. Continue through the questions on your list in the same manner.

from Utah State University

Stump the Chump: SI vs. Students

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Materials Needed: None

Preparation: Based on your learning objectives for the session, select a concept or topic that you want students to review in depth. Create questions at various learning levels to ask the students. Ensure that you are well-prepared to answer any type of question regarding the concept or topic.

Create a scoring matrix on the whiteboard.

Procedure:
1. Ask students to take five minutes to write the most difficult questions they can
think of relating to the topic you chose. One way to do this is to ask them to
create the type of questions the professor presents on exams.

2. Ask the students to quickly compare their questions with their neighbors and
select the most difficult questions to ask you. If you cannot answer the question,
the students have “stumped the chump”, and they get a point. If you can answer
their question, you get a point.

3. You then ask students a question from your list. If they get it right, they get a
point.

4. Continue to alternate between students asking you questions and you asking
students questions. Ensure that all answers are discussed, including where the
information was obtained, why the answers are correct, and how each answer
relates to other topics or concepts presented in class.

5. Consider having some type of “incentive” for students if they win, such as candy

Variation: Use this method to preview content. Ask students to look at the next chapter in the book and create questions and answers to ask you. You can also come up with questions from the next chapter, but in this variation, give students time to look up the answers in the textbook. 

from Utah State University

One Minute Paper

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Materials Needed: None

Preparation: Develop a question on material that was reviewed in the session and for which you want to assess how
well students learned and understood what they need to know. You can also use the One Minute Paper
to assess what questions students still have about the material that was reviewed. For example: What
do you still find particularly confusing about ?

Procedure:
1. Ask students to use a blank piece of paper to respond to your question.
2. Provide 1-2 minutes for students to write a response.
3. You can present a question at the end of a session or during a session after a specific concept
has been reviewed.
4. Collect the students’ papers.
5. After your session, review students’ responses to evaluate how well they understood the concept
in question or to identify questions students still have.
6. Respond to the One Minute Papers when planning your next session.
7. Depending on what students presented in their papers, you may also discuss with your professor
the concepts that students identified were difficult or confusing

from Utah State University

Reorder the Steps

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Materials Needed: None

Preparation: Choose a concept reviewed in the session that involves a process or procedure, such as mitosis; how a
bill passes in Congress; solving a chemistry problem.

Procedure:
1. Present the process, procedure, or problem solution in random order.
2. Ask students to correctly sequence the steps. This can be an individual or group effort.
3. Ask students to explain the sequence they chose. It is important to ask students to explain their answers so you can discover areas of confusion and provide additional review and explanation, as necessary.
4. Conclude by asking one student to review out loud the correct sequence.

from Utah State University

Select the BEST Response

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Materials Needed: A copy of questions for each student or questions presented electronically via document camera or PowerPoint

Preparation: Prepare several multiple choice questions that require students to select the best answer. Include
answers that are all correct, but one is the most relevant or appropriate based on the question asked. This
teaching strategy helps students develop critical thinking and effective test taking strategies.

Procedure:
1. Ask students to answer each of the multiple choice questions as an individual effort, just as if they
were taking a test.
2. When they have completed answering all of the questions, call on students to present and
discuss the answers, including why the correct answer is the best response for the question
asked.

from Utah State University

Peer Lessons

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  • Select several practice problems over related material
  • Divide students into 4-5 groups. Give each group one problem and have them write out the solution, using their textbooks and class notes, on the board.
  • Have each group come up and explain the problem in as much detail as they can, showing their thought processes and methods to finding the solution.
  • The SI Leader adds or corrects information where needed. 

Variation: This can easily be done with course content topics as well by assigning each group a topic that they must gather information on and then present to the class.

Integration: Putting It All Together

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Purpose: To integrate lecture notes with the textbook or other resources (lab work, homework, problems, etc.)

  1. List the chapter’s major topics across the top of the board and resources down the left side (i.e. textbook, lecture slides, lab report, homework problems, etc.)
  2. Have students create this same table in their own notebook/computer.
  3. Collaboratively, fill in the table on the board. This can be done in a variety of ways:
    1. Put students into small groups and assign each group one major topic listed on the board. Have them fill in the column on the board with all the info/resources they find.
    2. Pair students up and have them fill in the whole chart together. Then, as a large group, ask students to contribute by writing in different areas on the board until the table is full.
  4. Once the table is complete, discuss:
    1. Are there any holes in our notes? Anything major we missed?
    2. Do you have anything else you’re confused about?