ARCHIVED: Good practices for teaching with technology: Use active learning techniques

Following are some examples of projects by AT&T Fellows Program recipients at Indiana University that illustrate the good practice of using active learning techniques:

Creation of a multimedia Beatles companion

This project from Glenn Gass involves storing and delivering multimedia content for use in large lecture classes on the music of the Beatles. For more, see Gass' Good Practices project page.

Creating time-lapse movies

This project, developed by Roger P. Hangarter, uses time-lapse movies to engage students in the study of plants. For an explanation of how to make time-lapse movies, and for information about the hardware and software needed, see Hangarter's Good Practices project page.

Online orientation for perioperative nursing

Developed by Marchusa Huff, this orientation to the surgical environment for nursing students incorporates equipment demonstrations and clips of procedures with online quizzes. For more, see Huff's Good Practices project page.

Active participation in mathematical discovery

This series of problem-based exercises using Geometer's Sketchpad software was developed by Vesna Kilibarda. By allowing students (individually and in groups) to draw and drag figures, seeing and comparing them from multiple perspectives, it encourages active participation in mathematical discovery. For more, see Kilibarda's Good Practices project page.

Supplementing lecture with musical examples and illustrative materials online

This project from Portia Maultsby involves the web sites "Hip-Hop Music and Culture", "Popular Music of Black America", and "A Survey of African-American Music". All three incorporate recordings with contextual background materials, including lecture notes, musical transcriptions, photographs, and graphics. For more, see Maultsby's Good Practices project page.

Template for creating new installments of American history web site

In this project by Joanne Meyerowitz, a flexible template was created for the "Teaching the Journal of American History" web site, enabling new installments to be created without redoing the basic design. For more, see Meyerowitz's Good Practices project page.

Using materials already existing on the web for art appreciation courses

This project by Benjamin Withers is a web site to help organize and present comprehensive art history materials, including presentations in different still and moving media and three-dimensional views of sculptures and buildings found at sites produced by world-class experts. For more, see Withers' Good Practices project page.

Using animation to understand difficult concepts in cardiovascular embryology

This good practice from Valerie O'Loughlin uses animation as a learning tool in the study of cardiovascular embryology. Pretest and posttest scores are compared to assess whether participants learn more effectively than with two-dimensional static images. For more, see O'Loughlin's Good Practices project page.

For more, see the AT&T Fellows Program home page and the Good Practices for Teaching with Technology page.

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