Learning science research and practical experience highlight the importance of interaction and engagement to successful learning. Active and collaborative learning environments are particularly effective for Net Generation learners. Games, simulations, group projects, and undergraduate research are among a number of models for interaction and engagement being explored. (Please see ELI's Games and Simulations page for more resources related to this topic.)
Questions the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) explores include:
How does interaction improve existing teaching and learning practice?
In what ways can online laboratories, simulations, and games provide learning experiences that are experiential, authentic, and interactive? Do these environments result in more effective learning?
Are there models of interaction that can be replicated across institutions and disciplines?
How can we use existing technologies to design more interactive and engaging learning environments?
What are the implications of interaction and engagement on space? Support? Faculty development?
Calibrated Peer Review (CPR) CPR is a Web-based program that enables frequent writing assignments even in large classes with limited instructional resources. CPR can reduce the time an instructor spends reading and assessing student writing. It offers instructors the choice of creating writing assignments or using an assignment library. CPR stems from a science-based model, but it is discipline and level independent.
Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT) JiTT is a teaching and learning strategy based on the interaction between Web-based assignments and an active learner classroom. Students respond to online assignments that are due shortly before class, and the instructor reviews the student submissions "just-in-time" to adjust the class session to students' needs.
National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science The center promotes the development and dissemination of innovative practices and materials for case method teaching in the sciences. It offers a summer workshop and fall conference for science faculty to receive training in the method. Site resources include an award-winning library of case study teaching materials.
National Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) Program EPICS supports development of courses in which undergraduates earn academic credit through multiyear, multidisciplinary team projects for community service and education organizations involving engineering and technology. Site resources include curricular materials, videos, and statistics.
Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) The PLTL project supports academic programs in implementing a peer-led team-learning model of teaching sciences, mathematics, and other undergraduate disciplines. Site resources include course materials, modules, and discipline-specific workshops.
SCALE-UP: Student-Centered Activities for Large Enrollment Undergraduate Programs SCALE-UP focuses on establishing highly collaborative, hands-on, computer-rich, interactive learning environments for large-enrollment courses (100 students or more). The pedagogical methods and classroom management techniques designed and disseminated by SCALE-UP are applicable to a wide variety of courses and class sizes at many different types of institutions.
Teaching Innovations Program (TIP) in Economics The TIP project provides workshops and resources to improve undergraduate economics education by helping faculty expand their teaching skills and participate in the scholarship of teaching and learning. Site resources include online modules to help economics faculty use interactive teaching strategies in their courses.
Education Arcade The Education Arcade is an MIT-based research initiative that fosters the development and assessment of games in education; encourages broader investigations into the use of games in education with both industrial and university partners; and brings together a community of professionals and advocates interested in the future of video games in education.
Teaching Large Classes, The University of Queensland, Australia The Teaching Large Classes project was funded by the Australian Universities Teaching Committee, a national body aimed at improving teaching and learning in Australian universities. This site serves as a resource for faculty and administrators involved in the teaching of large classes. It includes resources, guidelines, case studies, and project reports. The Reports section of this site contains brief details about the dissemination projects that were conducted around Australia in 2001, as well as the findings of a national survey of academics involved in teaching or supporting large classes.
Strategies for Energizing Large Classes: From Small Groups to Learning Communities, Web Resources This is the companion site to Strategies for Energizing Large Classes: From Small Groups to Learning Communities: New Directions for Teaching and Learning, the book by Jean MacGregor, James Cooper, Karl Smith, and Pamela Robinson. It provides links to a number of institutional projects focused on increasing the interactivity of large classes.
Tools
ELI Discovery Tools
The following ELI Discovery Tools can help you investigate emerging instructional technologies that have the potential to support teaching and learning at your institution. Visit the Discovery Tools page to learn more about these ELI resources. Please note that ELI Discovery Tools are open only to ELI members for the first 6 months they are available. If you aren't sure if your institution is an ELI member, please see our list of member organizations.
ELI Discovery Tool: Guide to Blogging A practical exploration of how blogging can be used to support teaching and learning, including the important considerations, current examples, ways to make the case to stakeholders, student and faculty perspectives, and sources for more information.
ELI Discovery Tool: Guide to Podcasting A practical aid for podcasting implementation, covering the ways podcasting can support learning, its relative benefits and limitations as an instructional tool, implementation and assessment considerations, and other important issues.
Other Tools
Discussion Board Decision Tree, Christine Weaver, East Carolina University The Discussion Board Decision Tree is a comprehensive diagram of the learning functions a discussion board may serve and the key principles, roles, and activities it involves. Elements of the diagram are hyperlinked to an underlying text that explains their nature, purpose, and function in a discussion board and an interactive learning environment.
National Computational Science Institute (NCSI) NCSI offers interdisciplinary and discipline-specific Web-accessible courses and resources for faculty enhancement, including interactive curricula, problem-based modeling modules, tools, and tutorials.
Video Traces Video Traces is a digital media annotation program that allows users to import video clips and images and annotate them with audio recordings and "gestures." The product is in essence a recorded show-and-tell. Traces can be exchanged and further annotated for a variety of teaching and learning purposes.
Unless otherwise noted, EDUCAUSE holds the copyright on all materials published by the association, whether in print or electronic form. In certain cases the work remains the intellectual property of the individual author(s) (see Special Circumstances).
Unless otherwise noted, EDUCAUSE holds the copyright on all materials published by the association, whether in print or electronic form. In certain cases the work remains the intellectual property of the individual author(s) (see Special Circumstances).
