These SI session strategies provide ways for you to get students actively working together. By incorporating these types of activities as you plan your SI sessions, you are creating opportunities for the students to engage with one another and the course material, in a structured, yet (hopefully) fun way.
The followings sections will provide you with suggestions on which activities would work best depending on what you are hoping to accomplish during particular parts of your SI sessions. These are, by no means, strict guidelines as to how or when you can use these particular activities; they are just recommendations.
Keep in Mind: The key to being a great SI Leader and facilitating engaging SI sessions is to be flexible with your planning and to experiment with your options often, but also don’t be afraid to stick with what works. Students have ways of letting you know when they are no longer interested or stimulated by what is happening during a session. If that happens, simply refer back to these activities to find another approach to tackling the content.
Collaborative Learning: ways to break students up into groups.
Tried and True: some of the most used strategies in SI sessions.
Games and Competitions: when you want to bring the learning fun up a notch. Also helpful for test reviews.
Study Skills and Metacognition: when you need to help students figure out how to approach and breakdown course content.