Tips for Active Blended Learning

All tips by topic

• Active Blended Learning

  Tip 2: A successful active learning assignment requires a safe learning climate
  Active learning in a group requires that students dare to speak up. If a student does not feel at ease or is afraid of reactions from fellow students, the student will not actively participate. And that excludes students. An unsafe climate can arise because it is unclear how students can discuss or deal with each other in a respectful way. This tip gives advice on how to improve this.

  Tip 3: How do you encourage students to do their self-study assignments?
  Subject matter in an academic environment is often so extensive and cognitively demanding that students have to study and practice intensively by themselves. Self-study is therefore an important concept in activating blended education. However, students do not always do the self-study. This tip gives advice on how to improve this.

  Tip 4: How do you prevent free-riding in group assignments?
  Do you want to encourage all students to make an active contribution to group assignments, and do you want to prevent free-riding? Read in this teaching tip how you can promote a successful group process! 

  Tip 5: How do you promote true interaction in the lecture hall?
  Sometimes, interaction during a lecture is limited to the lecturer asking rather unfocused questions such as: "Does anyone have an idea how this happened?" This often fails to result in the desired interaction. There is no response or mainly the students in the front row feel addressed. This teaching tip gives three practical pointers to bring interaction during your lectures to a higher level. 

  Tip 12: Alternative approaches to hybrid teaching
  Due to the high number of corona infections, the government has decided that no more than 75 students are allowed in a lecture hall for the weeks to come. With hybrid teaching, you simultaneously educate both students in the lecture hall and at home. In an earlier post, we described how you can arrange the allocation of the maximum of 75 students. But how to make optimal use of hybrid teaching? 

  Tip 19: How do you promote real learning during the lecture?
  One-way traffic during a lecture doesn’t promote learning. How do you ensure that your students really learn during your lecture? This new didactic tip offers four practical ways to stimulate the students' learning process. In a previous tip, we already gave three hints on how to promote interaction in the lecture hall. 

  Tip 23: What is the difference between blended, hybrid and online education?
  Blended learning, online learning and hybrid education - what's the difference? Not everyone understands these terms in the same way, and they are often used interchangeably. We explain how we use these terms at VU and how to avoid confusion.

  Tip 48: How to set up the classroom for active learning
  By rearranging the furniture in the classroom, you can encourage active learning and maximize the results of the learning activities. In rooms with individual tables and chairs, you can do more than you think. But what kinds of setups can you think of? And what can you do with them? Read about it in this tip!

  Tip 59: How to get the most out of your slides as a teacher
  Do you notice that your students sometimes struggle to remember the course material, even though you think you use sufficiently clear slides? The combination of well-designed slides and encouraging students to take effective notes can help. In this teaching tip, you'll discover how to do this.

  Tip 62: Active learning: why students do not immediately appreciate it
  Do you notice that students are less enthusiastic about your active teaching methods, like posing rhetorical questions or quizzes, despite better learning outcomes? You are not alone. Research shows that students often perceive active learning as less effective, while they in fact learn more from it. Learn why this happens and what you can do about it.

• Teaching tools and AI

  Tip 7: Deeper learning through clever use of the Discussion Board
  In a previous teaching tip we gave some general tips to promote that students do their self-study assignments. In this new tip, we explain why it is important that students always try to formulate their own answers or opinions before they read those of others. In preparation assignments where students are asked to share their answers, it can help to set the Canvas Discussion Board so that students only see fellow students' answers after they have submitted something themselves.

  Tip 27: How to make your Canvas course student friendly
  Would you like students to come to class better prepared? Make sure the information in your Canvas course is easy to find. These six tips will help you make your Canvas course student friendly. This will ensure that students find their way better and ask you fewer questions. Hundreds of VU students have already indicated that these tips do indeed lead to more clarity and less time wasted.

  Tip 31: Dealing with ChatGPT in education
  With ChatGPT, students can easily create a paper in no time: ChatGPT writes based on artificial intelligence (AI). The texts produced are often easy to read and get it right. How to deal with this threat? And does it also provide opportunities? Read how to use AI writers in education. 

  Tip 40: Design your course with ChatGPT in 5 steps
  Students already make use of ChatGPT, but how can it support you, a teacher, in your course design? Discover what generative AI is capable of, and how to get the right support.

  Tip 43: Stimulate deep reading and learning with Perusall and FbF Interactive Document
  The online tools Perusall and FeedbackFruits Interactive Document motivate students with social engagement and interaction, to read and study in depth, on time and with enthusiasm. How do you use these online tools effectively? 

  Tip 44: Perusall vs FeedbackFruits, which tool should I use?
  Thinking about creating an interactive document? There are two online tools available for that at VU Amsterdam: Perusall and FeedbackFruits. Which tool suits your situation best? Read our short comparison of a few notable characteristics of both tools in this tip.

  Tip 45: Teach your students to use ChatGPT as a personal teacher
  Most students already make use of ChatGPT, but how can you get students to use this tool as a personal interactive teacher - for hyper personalized tutoring? 

  Tip 51: 5 active learning activities to teach students to work with AI
  It is important for students to use AI responsibly and critically evaluate information for reliability. After all, learning to use artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly important for students. They will even use AI in their work and in the future. But how do you teach them to work with AI effectively? In this didactic tip, we share five active learning activities for that purpose.

  Tip 60: How to make the most of Mentimeter during your lecture
  You may recognize this situation: you ask a question to your group of students and no one, or always the same few students, answer. With Mentimeter, you can safely involve everyone in the material and allow them to share their opinion. Discover how, in this teaching tip.

  Tip 61: How to create ideal groups for group work
  Conflicts during group assignments? The Group Formation Tool from FeedbackFruits, integrated into Canvas, helps prevent this by automatically forming groups based on student characteristics. Ask questions like: “When are you available to collaborate?” or “What role do you prefer to take on?” and create the ideal groups. Read how to make the most of this tool for effective group work in this tip.

  Tip 63: Creating AI-proof assessments using the two-lane approach
  With the advent of generative AI, many programmes and lecturers believe they face the challenge of determining how to make their assessments 'AI-proof'. This is particularly relevant for take-home assignments where monitoring students' use of generative AI is impossible. But is it effective to try making these assessment forms 'AI-free' or 'AI-partially-permitted'? Or is a broader approach needed? The University of Sydney offers a useful perspective. Read more about their two-lane approach.

  Tip 64: Work smarter, not harder, with these 5 Canvas features
  Canvas regularly introduces new features. Which ones can benefit you as a teacher? For example, you can now provide feedback on assignments faster and the Canvas search engine can reduce unnecessary student questions. In this didactic tip, we highlight five functionalities that make your teaching easier, faster, and more efficient.

• Educational design

  Tip 1: Motivated students with constructive alignment
  Students are goal-oriented, critical thinkers and doers. Do you want them to participate with pleasure and motivation in activating forms of education? Then make sure your teaching is both coherent and rewarding. This is only possible when learning objectives, learning activities, and testing fit together seamlessly. In short: when there is constructive alignment. In the following simple steps, you can check to what extent your teaching meets this requirement and how you can improve it.

  Tip 6: Help students plan with a visually appealing overview
  If, as a teacher, you offer several online and offline assignments and active working methods during a course, some students may not be able to see the wood for the trees. Their planning becomes more difficult. This makes a course less effective. That is why you have to make sure that the learning activities are presented as clearly as possible: the student learning journey. This teaching tip gives three examples to make clear planners.

  Tip 18: How to efficiently deal with the flow of questions from students?
  Students can ask a lot of questions about the organization of your course. For example, that they cannot find the hand-in button in Canvas or that they have accidentally handed in the wrong document. Read some tips on how to keep this flow of questions under control in this didactic tip. 

  Tip 20: You have your knowledge clip, but now what?
  When people talk about blended learning, they often say: no more lectures, but knowledge clips. But if you have your knowledge clips, what then? Read in this tip what you can think about and what you can do.

  Tip 25: This is how to design a super course! - part 1
  Why do students find some courses so good that they leave a lasting impression even after graduation? While other courses hardly inspire and knowledge of them is quickly forgotten, despite the best intention and commitment of the instructor? Ken Bain discovered that all these super courses that make an impact share the same characteristics. This is what he writes about in his new book "Super Courses: The Future of Teaching and Learning". In this first part of this teaching tip, we will discuss the first five characteristics. 

  Tip 29: This is how to design a super course! - part 2
  Why do students find some courses so good that they leave a lasting impression even after graduation? While other courses hardly inspire, and the knowledge is quickly forgotten, despite the best intention and commitment of the teacher? In this didactic tip, we discuss the second set of four characteristics of super courses according to Ken Bain. 

  Tip 42: How to apply inner feedback for designing powerful courses
  Inner feedback means generating new knowledge and insight by comparing your existing knowledge to your own evolving ideas. This didactic tip describes how to stimulate this process among your students. We’ll give you 4 essential tips for successful implementation. 

  Tip 46: How to VU-proof your teaching? Use this checklist!
  When you assess your educational design, it is also important to evaluate if it is in line with the VU educational vision. Think about terms like activating blended education, constructive alignment and linking to social issues. To discover this and get started with areas for improvement, we’re sharing the checklist for VU-proof education! 

  Tip 52: Improve your students’ learning with a simple manual
  Even if students have successfully completed their prior education, they often do not automatically know how to learn best. How can you help them do that? Recent research shows that they can achieve better results if you, as a teacher, provide a simple manual about effective learning strategies.

  Tip 55: Improve study success by deliberately assigning students a seat
  Students sitting at the front of the lecture hall often seem more motivated and tend to get better results. However, research also shows that you yourself can influence results by assigning them a seat. 

• Testing and assessment

  Tip 8: Save time and improve your teaching by using a simplified grading scheme
  Many active blended learning courses require students to complete (partial) assignments during the run of the course. It is important for an optimal learning process that students receive feedback on these assignments and, in some cases, also an assessment in the form of a grade. But what if grading and giving feedback demands too much of your time as a teacher? 

  Tip 9: Save time and improve your teaching by showing students good examples
  In the tip above you learned about postponing grading, to improve active blended learning. In part two of the series we’re expanding on this by showing students high quality examples of finished assignments. 

  Tip 10: Save time and improve your teaching by not grading every single assignment
  Does giving feedback and grades cost you a lot of time as a teacher? When you apply active blended learning, your students often make several partial assignments. This didactic tip shows you how to save time and improve your teaching, by not grading every single assignment. 

  Tip 32: How many questions to include in a multiple choice test
  For tests with four-option multiple choice questions, as a teacher you are faced with the decision of how many questions to include. What to consider? And is a multiple-choice test with three or four options better? Discover the rule of thumb.

  Tip 33: This is how you combine open and closed questions in a test
  Tests with multiple-choice and open-ended questions are the best of both worlds. Multiple-choice questions provide a quick measurement of the breadth of the material, whereas open-ended questions measure a deeper understanding. But how to distribute them in the test? And how to deal with cut-off scores? 

  Tip 34: How to assess students in active blended learning
  When you think of active blended learning, the first thing that may come to mind is a thoughtful mix of activating face-to-face and online learning. But what about assessment? Which way of assessing fits best with activate blended learning? 

  Tip 35: Save time on assessment in active blended learning
  In active blended learning, you look for a good mix of activating face-to-face and online education and an optimal balance between formative and summative testing. But how do you set this up in an efficient and time-saving way? 

  Tip 36: How to develop a rubric
  A rubric is a useful tool to assess students' products and skills, for example when giving feedback or assessing an assignment or presentation. But how do you develop a rubric and what options should you consider?

  Tip 47: How to guide students with writing assignments?
  Writing stands as a crucial skill for your students, vital not only throughout their academic journey but also in their future professions. However, mastering this skill doesn't happen effortlessly. How can you effectively lead them on this writing journey? 

  Tip 53: How to harness the power of self-assessment
  Self-assessment on assignments is a powerful part of effective learning: it encourages deeper understanding and even personal growth. But you have to organize it right or it can result in superficiality or student avoidance. In this tip, we explore the benefits of self-assessment and how to best utilize it in your teaching practice!

  Tip 57: How to deal with ‘bad’ questions in a multiple-choice test
  As an examiner, you sometimes face the challenge of how to deal with ‘bad’ questions in multiple-choice tests. Do you remove them? Do you calculate an additional alternative correctly? Or do you count them entirely correctly? And how do you deal with the failing grade limit? These five steps will help you tackle this systematically.

  Tip 63: Creating AI-proof assessments using the two-lane approach
  With the advent of generative AI, many programmes and lecturers believe they face the challenge of determining how to make their assessments 'AI-proof'. This is particularly relevant for take-home assignments where monitoring students' use of generative AI is impossible. But is it effective to try making these assessment forms 'AI-free' or 'AI-partially-permitted'? Or is a broader approach needed? The University of Sydney offers a useful perspective. Read more about their two-lane approach.

• (Peer) feedback

  Tip 11: How to get students to provide and process peer feedback better - part 1
  For an optimal learning process in active learning, it is important that students receive feedback on completed assignments. Peer feedback from fellow students can be part of this. But how do you ensure that students give qualitative feedback? 

  Tip 13: How to get students to provide and process peer feedback better - part 2
  How to deal with language mistakes? Or how do I communicate feedback in a good way? These may be questions on your students' minds when giving peer feedback. Giving and processing peer feedback is an academic skill that teaches students a lot. In a previous tip, we already provided some practical guidance. In this new tip you will read additional tips on how to teach your students to get better at giving and receiving peer feedback. 

  Tip 28: Constructive feedback? Ten tips!
  Feedback is an essential part of the learning process and a rich resource for your students' development. But constructive feedback is more than just showing what is right and wrong: for example, you give guiding suggestions or explain how your students can make improvements. What else do you pay attention to?

  Tip 37: Do’s and don’ts for effective peer feedback - part 1
  For effective peer feedback, you need a well thought out set-up. How do you ensure a time-saving process with high learning benefits for your students? In this tip, we share the first six essential do's and don'ts to make this happen. 

  Tip 38: Do’s and don’ts for effective peer feedback - part 2
  Effective peer feedback must be handled thoughtfully. How do you ensure an efficient process from which students learn a lot? We asked Danny Scholten, Education Research Fellow at VU CTL and peer feedback expert. In this tip, we share part two of essential do's and don'ts to make this happen. 

  Tip 64: Work smarter, not harder, with these 5 Canvas features
  Canvas regularly introduces new features. Which ones can benefit you as a teacher? For example, you can now provide feedback on assignments faster and the Canvas search engine can reduce unnecessary student questions. In this didactic tip, we highlight five functionalities that make your teaching easier, faster, and more efficient.

• Engagement and motivation of students

  Tip 14: Strengthen the student's ownership of the learning process
  Would you like your students to be more involved? Try stimulating increased ownership of their own learning process. In this didactic tip, you will find four ways to do that. For example, by letting students make their own choices in the execution of assignments or by applying self-assessment. 

  Tip 15: How to strengthen your relationship with your students - part 1
  More engaged students? Expanding on the previous tip, this time you'll discover four other surprising ways to get students more involved. In this tip we’ll discuss Ines Lindner's integrated approach for her Mathematical Economics course. Because of the pandemic, she no longer gives lectures, but works with social hangouts, question sessions and a student board. 

  Tip 16: Active students through high expectations & a positive atmosphere
  High expectations, confidence and a positive atmosphere activate your students. And more active students learn better and are more engaged. In this tip, you get two suggestions and additional examples on how to create this atmosphere. 

  Tip 17: How to strengthen your relationship with your students - part 2
  Would you like your students to be more engaged? Building on two previous tips, this time you'll discover five more surprising ways to strengthen the connection with your students. For instance: build your teaching on real world problems and being more socially accessible. We discuss Jaap Boter his integrated approach for the Master's course Marketing. A program that consistently scores the highest on student satisfaction within VU.

  Tip 21: 10 characteristics of teachers who have impact on their students
  Every student has a teacher who they remember long after their graduation. A teacher who inspired them, made them think, or who believed in their abilities. But what made that teacher so good, and how do you make that impact as a teacher yourself? Ken Bain, an award-winning teacher and author, did a lot of research on this. He distilled ten characteristics of a good teacher. In this first part we share five of them. Which ones do you already possess? And which would you still like to work on? 

  Tip 22: A flying start: how to create optimal bonding among students? 4 tips from students
  Student well-being goes up when students have a good bond with their studies and fellow students. But how do you create good bonds? To find out, we talked to VU students from different faculties. Based on their experiences and opinions, 4 tips emerged to create optimal bonding.

  Tip 26: Four effective ways to give students a say in your education
  Students were asked for their opinions on their education much more frequently during the corona pandemic, and would like to continue doing so. But how best to organize effective student participation? Formal course evaluations are not the best answer, so what is? We asked students at VU and UvA.

  Tip 30: 10 characteristics of teachers who have impact on their students - part 2
  Every student has a teacher they remember long after their graduation. A teacher who inspired them, made them think, or who believed in their abilities. But what made that teacher so good, and how do you make that impact as a teacher yourself? Ken Bain, an award-winning teacher and author, did a lot of research on this. He distilled ten characteristics of a good teacher. In this second part we share the other five of them. 

  Tip 41: Stimulate the intrinsic motivation and autonomy of your students
  Intrinsic motivation leads to deep learning, better performance, and a more positive learning experience for students. How can you encourage this by weaving more autonomy into your teaching?

  Tip 54: Increase lecture attendance with a goal-intent questionnaire
  It is important for study success that students attend lectures and work groups. But for many reasons, the reality is that students - especially over time - attend lectures and study groups less and less. Of course, it is up to you as a teacher to organize relevant and interesting meetings that students like to attend. But, according to research, you can also stimulate students with a simple questionnaire.

  Tip 56: How do you provide effective instructions for independent work?
  Do you recognize this? During a teaching session, you have students working on an individual or group task, but the situation is messy. You have to make a lot of adjustments and keep repeating the task. Students seem irritated. What is going on and what can you do about it? In this didactic tip, you will discover how to provide effective instructions so that your students will work independently.

• Diversity and inclusion

  Tip 2: A successful active learning assignment requires a safe learning climate
  Active learning in a group requires that students dare to speak up. If a student does not feel at ease or is afraid of reactions from fellow students, the student will not actively participate. And that excludes students. An unsafe climate can arise because it is unclear how students can discuss or deal with each other in a respectful way. This tip gives advice on how to improve this.

  Tip 39: VU Pride tips & tricks – how to create an inclusive learning environment
  An inclusive learning environment is a key factor in academic success and a pillar of the VU Amsterdam principles. But how do you take gender and sexual diversity into account in your teaching?

  Tip 49: How to consider neurodivergent students in your teaching?
  Dyslexia, ADHD, or autism - some of your students are neurodivergent. As a result, some of them experience barriers that affect their studying progress. For inclusive education, it is important to take everyone's support needs into account. In this tip, we share 8 ways to consider this, so these students enjoy and succeed in your education.

  Tip 50: How do you deal with 'hot moments' during class?
  Between students with different perspectives, so-called 'hot moments' can arise. In these, feelings run so high that it can disrupt teaching and learning. Such moments are inevitable, and also an important part of inclusive and challenging education - hot moments can actually teach students a lot. How do you handle such situations? Read about it in this tip.

  Tip 58: How to increase the wellbeing of your students
  You see students in lectures or study groups, and individually. In both cases, how do you connect well with your students? How do you react when the student is not doing well? Where are your boundaries and to whom can you refer? You can read the answer in this tip.

• Tips from students

  Tip 22: A flying start: how to create optimal bonding among students? 4 tips from students
  Student well-being goes up when students have a good bond with their studies and fellow students. But how do you create good bonds? To find out, we talked to VU students from different faculties. Based on their experiences and opinions, 4 tips emerged to create optimal bonding.

  Tip 24: This is what students want to hold on to after COVID-19
  Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam has focused on Active Blended Learning: activating learning activities supported by online opportunities where useful, is how students learn best. Many teachers and programs are therefore busy adding active blended learning activities to their teaching or adapting their entire curriculum accordingly. What do students want?

  Tip 26: Four effective ways to give students a say in your education
  Students were asked for their opinions on their education much more frequently during the corona pandemic, and would like to continue doing so. But how best to organize effective student participation? Formal course evaluations are not the best answer, so what is? We asked students at VU and UvA.

Overview

• 1 to 50

  • Tip 1: Motivated students with constructive alignment
  • Tip 2: A successful active learning assignment requires a safe learning climate
  • Tip 3: How do you encourage students to do their self-study assignments? 
  • Tip 4: How do you prevent free-riding in group assignments? 
  • Tip 5: How do you promote true interaction in the lecture hall?
  • Tip 6: Help students plan with a visually appealing overview
  • Tip 7: Deeper learning through clever use of the Discussion Board
  • Tip 8: Save time and improve your teaching by using a simplified grading scheme
  • Tip 9: Save time and improve your teaching by showing students good examples 
  • Tip 10: Save time and improve your teaching by not grading every single assignment 
  • Tip 11: How to get students to provide and process peer feedback better - part 1
  • Tip 12: Alternative approaches to hybrid teaching
  • Tip 13: How to get students to provide and process peer feedback better - part 2
  • Tip 14: Strengthen the student's ownership of the learning process
  • Tip 15: How to strengthen your relationship with your students - part 1
  • Tip 16: Active students through high expectations & a positive atmosphere
  • Tip 17: How to strengthen your relationship with your students - part 2
  • Tip 18: How to efficiently deal with the flow of questions from students?
  • Tip 19: How do you promote real learning during the lecture?
  • Tip 20: You have your knowledge clip, but now what?
  • Tip 21: 10 characteristics of teachers who have impact on their students
  • Tip 22: A flying start: how to create optimal bonding among students? 4 tips from students
  • Tip 23: What is the difference between blended, hybrid and online education?
  • Tip 24: This is what students want to hold on to after COVID-19
  • Tip 25: This is how to design a super course! - part 1
  • Tip 26: Four effective ways to give students a say in your education
  • Tip 27: How to make your Canvas course student friendly
  • Tip 28: Constructive feedback? Ten tips!
  • Tip 29: This is how to design a super course! - part 2
  • Tip 30: 10 characteristics of teachers who have impact on their students - part 2
  • Tip 31: Dealing with ChatGPT in education 
  • Tip 32: How many questions to include in a multiple choice test
  • Tip 33: This is how you combine open and closed questions in a test
  • Tip 34: How to assess students in active blended learning
  • Tip 35: Save time on assessment in active blended learning
  • Tip 36: How to develop a rubric
  • Tip 37: Do’s and don’ts for effective peer feedback - part 1
  • Tip 38: Do’s and don’ts for effective peer feedback - part 2
  • Tip 39: VU Pride tips & tricks – how to create an inclusive learning environment
  • Tip 40: Design your course with ChatGPT in 5 steps
  • Tip 41: Stimulate the intrinsic motivation and autonomy of your students
  • Tip 42: Stimulate generation of inner feedback for your students
  • Tip 43: Stimulate deep reading and learning with Perusall and FbF Interactive Document
  • Tip 44: Perusall vs FeedbackFruits, which tool should I use?
  • Tip 45: Teach your students to use ChatGPT as a personal teacher
  • Tip 46: How to VU-proof your teaching? Use this checklist!
  • Tip 47: How to guide students with writing assignments?
  • Tip 48: How to set up the classroom for active learning
  • Tip 49: How to consider neurodivergent students in your teaching?
  • Tip 50: How do you deal with 'hot moments' during class?

• 50+

  • Tip 51: 5 active learning activities to teach students to work with AI
  • Tip 52: Improve your students’ learning with a simple manual
  • Tip 53: How to harness the power of self-assessment for students
  • Tip 54: Increase lecture attendance with a goal-intent questionnaire
  • Tip 55: Improve study success by deliberately assigning students a seat
  • Tip 56: How do you provide effective instructions for independent work?
  • Tip 57: How to deal with ‘bad’ questions in a multiple-choice test
  • Tip 58: How to increase the wellbeing of your students
  • Tip 59: How to get the most out of your slides as a teacher
  • Tip 60: How to make the most of Mentimeter during your lecture
  • Tip 61: How to create ideal groups for group work
  • Tip 62: Active learning: why students do not immediately appreciate it
  • Tip 63: Creating AI-proof assessments using the two-lane approach
  • Tip 64: Work smarter, not harder, with these 5 Canvas features

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