Menu of activating teaching methods: are you using it?
Earlier this year, we proudly presented the menu of activating teaching methods. Are you using it yet? We want to encourage you to apply activating teaching methods within the courses you teach, and therefore promote active participation among students.
Why activating teaching and learning?
A key aspect of the Kernvisie is to encourage active study behaviour among students through activating teaching and learning, which helps students achieve higher results within a shorter period of study. It also enables more in-depth study: students turn up at lectures and seminars better prepared, which allows the lecturer to cover the material at a higher level. It also helps to improve students’ attention span, motivation, understanding of the material, independence and responsibility. Activating teaching and learning is the starting point behind the Kernvisie curriculum.
Menu of activating teaching methods
A good way to encourage active study behaviour is by integrating activating teaching methods into teaching. Kernvisie’s Team 2 has developed a menu of activating teaching methods for this purpose. This menu contains a summary of activating teaching methods suitable for the bachelor’s degree programmes within Leiden Law School. Fellow teaching staff have selected working methods that align with the content and structure of teaching at our faculty and factoring in classes of up to 40 students. While activating teaching methods are especially suited to regular seminar teaching in the bachelor’s programmes, some working methods can also be applied to make lectures more interactive.
How will the menu help?
In a clear overview, the menu sets out the various working methods that promote active study behaviour. Each working method has been assigned a goal, any tools that can be used and a step-by-step plan for both preparation and implementation. Underneath each working method, there’s also information about the appropriate group size, duration of the working method and preparation time required. For various working methods, you’ll also see examples of courses offered within the faculty that already use that working method. The English menu will soon be available as an online file.
Get started!
Feel like getting started with activating teaching and learning before then? No problem! We want to encourage you to apply activating teaching methods within the courses you teach, and therefore promote active participation among students. You can start using the Dutch online menu for this straight away. If you find it easier to use a physical card (Dutch only), or you would like to use this alongside the online version, feel free to drop by the Kernvisie room (B4.29).
