Once you have set the outcomes you want students to achieve and defined how students are assessed, the constructive alignment can support you in designing the Teaching and Learning Activities (TLAs): these are crucial to enable students to develop their capacity to meet assessment criteria and thereby achieve the Intended Learning Outcomes.

Supporting soft skills development means encouraging learners' engagement in the learning process beyond passive listening (active learning) and having greater agency in learning. In the frame of eLene4life, more than 40 active learning methods have been identified, detailed and organized in a dynamic toolkit to be easily searched and applied by instructors. They go from ready-to-use proposals such as think-pair-share to more demanding in terms of design and management e.g. collaborative learning or project work.
Such methods lead students to develop skills such as problem-solving, analytical skills, teamwork and communication skills and to engage in authentic TLAs, applying knowledge and skills to contexts that mirror those that experts in different sectors, like engineering or the medical field face in real life.
You might wish to focus on a new instructional method to (re)design your TLAs or a portion of them. That does not mean that lectures do not have a place: they do, but their use should also consider what best suits the outcomes for the soft skills you wish your students to develop.

Based on our previous hands-on ilo example, you are going to ideate the assessment task and the tla

ILO - The student will be able to organize and conduct a meeting, starting with a specific agenda, and in the assigned time frame, facilitate making a strategic decision within the project team.

A consistent Assessment Task could be - Argumentative essay: Students, in groups, are required to explore and critically review evidence in the literature on effective meetings, and reflect this understanding through demonstrating effective meeting outcomes in a role play simulation. The soft skills are assessed through direct observation of the role play.

The Teaching and Learning Activity proposed is Role play. The activity can be proposed as follows:
the theme of the argumentative essay is presented in class and the main characters of the role play are explained. At the end of the lesson, the teams are formed. The rubrics for peer assessment of management skills and the argumentative essay are shared and discussed. Students organize the first meeting online where in a period of 1-hour maximum, each team has to reach a shared decision on how to organize and conduct the role play (during the following lesson) and how to work on the essay. Each group identifies an observer who, through a rubric, assesses the process of the meeting organization and running. At the end of the week, a first draft of the document is produced and is assessed by another team using the rubric.

Now let’s see the active learning methods and instructional strategies, selected in the frame of the eLene4Life project, which develop soft skills needed in the labour market co-designed with companies and university professionals.
Note: The methods are illustrative. Methods are distributed based on complexity, in terms of organization and management, and time needed. Methods in orange can also be used effectively with large classes.


week 4 - complexity


How to identify the most suitable method to implement? Active learning implementation can be achieved through different methods and instructional strategies. The choice on the most effective one to be used in your context mainly depends on:

  • the Intended Learning Outcomes you defined;
  • the class dimension: generally we consider small-medium classes, around 70-80 students; large classes, which count 100+ students;
  • the time you want to dedicate to the activity;
  • the set of resources available in terms of physical space and digital infrastructure.

What should you do to integrate active learning methods in your course efficiently?

After considering the main variables and selecting the most suitable methods to respect the soft skill you want your students to develop, you should take into account some practical suggestions about how to effectively integrate the active learning method into your course.

  • To support mentally and physically students engagement through making clear the relevance of the activity to their lives and learning, to connect the experience to their own experiences and to reflect on their learning experience (Carver, 1996).
  • To reduce unnecessary barriers related to students’ ability to perceive, understand and obtain information and materials (for example provide clear communication on the new approach/activity, make accessible and easy recoverable materials and instructions, etc…).
  • To diversify instructional methods and assessment tasks in order to facilitate the participation and inclusion of all students that may support learning in different ways, and have different strengths and areas for development.
  • To dedicate time in stimulating students’ reflections on their soft skills competencies while working on them, and to support awareness acquisition. Working on question typologies can help on this aspect (See Student Reflection Questions to find suggestions on how to formulate good questions).
  • To minimize unnecessary effort and stress. Try to design balanced activities which enable a stimulating challenge to students without creating excessive frustration and requiring too much energy and time investment.
  • Do not underestimate the support of technology. Online tools for quizzes, reflection collection or discussions can facilitate the participation of higher students numbers and of students who are not confident in speaking. Moreover, it allows for storage and reuse of materials proposed and replies for further activities or during class reiterations. See below several examples of tools (please always check for updated information).


TOOL NAME TYPOLOGY COST 
Top Hat Classroom response system Free option 
Arsnova Classroom response system Free option 
Socrative Classroom response system Free for a limited number of students (up to 50) 
Poll everywhere Classroom response system  Free option for a limited number of students (up to 25) 
Poll Maker’s Quiz Maker Quiz  Free option for max 25 responses 
Class markers  Quiz  Free option for a max of 1,200 tests graded/year 
Google Forms + Flubaroo  Quiz + grading tool  Free option 
MOODLE quiz  Quiz  Free option. Requires Moodle on institution servers 
Hot potatoes  Quiz  Free option 
Formative  Quiz  Free option with basic features 
  • To consider the value of very short activities, like think-pair-share or brainstorming, that can be conducted in less than 30 minutes.
  • To develop a practical outline to support the redesign and rescheduling of your teaching and produce information that is crucial for students to know, in terms of what they are expected to do during the course and during the lesson. Such an outline called a Lesson plan, should contain detailed information such as course title, date and time; a description of the teaching content you will deliver and explore throughout the lesson; aims and learning outcomes you want students to achieve in the class; items to bring or to set up at the start of the session; details of activities with respective timing guidelines; possible informal or formal assessment methods you will use in your classroom (e.g. surveys and online quizzes). Get inspired by lesson plan templates from Algonquin college and University at Buffalo both retrieved January 2021.

KEY MESSAGE

Activities you can implement in your course can be several and you can readapt their structure to better respond to your needs or to external constraints. What you don’t have to forget is that the active learning method has to be well designed and objective oriented. Students have to recognise its value in achieving the specific objective and not just an academic exercise.

   Download the infographics

REFERENCE

For additional references and supporting research please visit Bibliography page.