Active Learning In Virtual Environment/Minute Paper

Activity: #in-class/short-term, #individual-work, #feedback, #discussion

Outline

A minute paper is a teaching tool in which students have to provide responses or thoughts about the class held or about the homework that they had. The main goal of the minute paper is to understand what the students have learned or what they found interesting and even what subject they found difficult in class. A minute paper gives an idea to the teacher of what the students have actually learned and whether the outcomes of the students’ learnings correspond to what the teacher had in mind. Results of the minute paper can be discussed in the class which gives the students even more possibilities to reflect on what they have learned, what other students have learned, and even learn from those other students. This can be used in various platforms, for example Moodle. The teacher can upload the questions in Moodle and the students can go and provide answers to the questions.

Minute paper illustration

Activity arrangement

• inform the students that they may have to provide answer to a minute paper during the end of the class or in the beginning of the class for example for homework
• stop the lecture at the time of your choosing
• ask questions which require broader thinking about the topic of the class, avoid yes and no questions
• students provide their answers, look into them
• provide feedback and discussion about the answer either in the class or before the next class

Pointers

• extremely quick way of collecting feedback.
• provides results if the students perceived the teachers main point or ideas that the teacher had in mind for the class.
• the students must self-reflect on what was studied in the class and therefore analyse what they’ve learned.