Category Archives: 20+ min

Family Feud!

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  1. Divide the class into two teams.
  2. One member of each team faces the other in a face-off as the SIL reads the question off the game board.
  3. The team that buzzed in with the correct answer receives control of the board and has the option of playing or passing control to the other team.
  4. The team that has the control tries to reveal all of the correct answers to the question before receiving three strikes.
  5. If the team receives three strikes without clearing the board, control is passed to the other team.
  6. The team that now has the control is able to give one answer in the hopes that it is found on the board.
  7. If it is, points are added to the team’s score. If not, the other team gets the points.
  8. Points are collected as each team finds its answers to the question on the board.
  9. Continue the game repeating steps two through seven.
  10. Each team tries to collect the most points. The team with the most points wins the game! (Click on Team 1 or Team 2 on the Score slide to move to the You’ve Won slide.) Modification Suggestions Add/change sound effects. Bring a bell or something similar to make noise to decide who answered the question first.

Find a Family Feud template to use here: https://www.iup.edu/teachingexcellence/reflective-practice/past-events/2008-09/sample-games-to-be-used-in-the-classroom/instructions-for-playing-family-feud/

Thanks to Devyn Tilley for finding this awesome resource!

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)

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

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.

G.U.E.S.S

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G.U.E.S.S is a problem solving method to help students organize their solutions and think critically about the process.

Example: A certain substance has a density of 1.69 g/mL and a mass of 24.0 g. What is the volume of this substance?

Competitive Problem Solving

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This activity is basically a race. Split the class into two teams and have one team member from each team come up

This will be your students in no time!

to the board to work a problem. Put the problems in a PowerPoint so that the people racing can see it clearly and the rest of the class can as well. Then, have everyone work the problem. The team member at the board who gets the answer correct first earns a point for their team. If a person at the board does not know the correct answer, someone else from his/her team can try at the board. Then, go through each step and clarify any questions. Display the answers to each problem on the PowerPoint and make sure everyone has the correct answers. This works best when people are comfortable with the material but can also challenge those who need more practice. 

Bring candy for the winning team, if you can. Send out the PowerPoint with practice problems and answers to everyone who attended after to use as a study tool.

From Baylor University

Formula Matching

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Put students into small groups of 4-5 students. Provide each group with ONE worksheet that lists relevant formulas in one column and sample word problems in the other column.

  1. As a group, they work to match the formulas with the correct word problem.
  2. Once the group feels confident, they will ask the SI Leader to come check that their matching is correct.
  3. If it’s correct, the SI will then assign the group one of the word problems from the sheet to complete as a group.
  4. After all groups have completed matching and successfully solved their assigned word problem, a representative from each group will come up to the front and either (a) complete the steps of the problem on the board and explain it to the class or (b) place their worksheet with the solution on the Document Camera and walk through what their group did for the class.

from Baylor University

Daisy Chain

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Have participants take turns reading a portion of their notes aloud beginning with the start of the lecture. Another student should pick up where their peer left off. Pause between each participant to see if the student missed anything from the section they read. Give students time to add this to their notes before proceeding. The SI Leader can participate as well. Continue until you have a complete set of notes and have a short discussion in which participants can ask questions or share note taking strategies they find effective for this particular class.

Pro Tip: This can be duplicated weekly as a warm up or cool down activity with little to no prep on your end.

Pro Tip: Since students will be reading directly from their notes, don’t hesitate to challenge them to think critically. If they read a definition or concept that is particularly important, ask them if they can explain it in their own words or provide an example not given in lecture.

from Baylor University

The Gallows

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  1. Divide students into multiple teams.
  2. For each team, draw the “hangman” gallows on the board. As you ask teams questions, missed answers for the team mean another “body part” is added to their gallows.
  3. Continue until all but one team has added all the body parts.

Pro Tip: Determine the body parts to be added ahead of time, to avoid teams getting too “creative” so they never lose!

Variation: Have students write the questions you’ll ask, either earlier in the same session or in the session before. You can then review the questions and add in others if needed. 

from Baylor University