When it comes to boosting long-term learning, give students ownership. In this post are two strategies you can use in your classroom that engage students in “crowdsourcing” learning via retrieval practice. No prep or grading required because students take charge.
The Big Picture
This activity was created by high school students in South Africa:
Each student retrieves and draws a picture of what they’ve learned about a particular topic.
When students are done, paste all individual drawings onto a wall or a big sheet of paper to create The Big Picture.
Students discuss what they forgot, why they forgot it, and similarities/differences to examine connections in learning.
* This is similar to a Chalkboard Splash.
Agarwal, P. "T." "Two No-Prep Strategies to Crowdsource Student Learning in Your Classroom." Retrieval Practice, https://www.retrievalpractice.org/ strategies/2019/6/26/crowdsource-learning. Accessed 29 Oct, 2019.
Beat the Clock
This strategy was created by a high school teacher in Omaha, Nebraska:
The class is divided into three (or more) groups.
Place three (or more) pieces of poster paper around the classroom. Each poster asks students to recall all they know/learned about a particular topic or concept that they recently learned. Each group begins at a particular station, or poster.
Students have 30 seconds to write everything they know about that topic or concept.
After 30 seconds, groups rotate to the next piece of paper. They add information to the sheet that a different group began.
After 30 seconds, groups rotate one more time until all groups have been to each “station” and had an opportunity to add content to each poster.
* This is similar to a Carousel Brainstorm.