Designing Activities for Student Engagement: Home

Random Connections

Materials/Preparation: A collection of 12 simple images of items (a soccer ball, a plant, a chair, a wrench, etc.), that can be projected to the class. 

Time Required: about 20-25 minutes for activity; 20-25 for debrief

Set Up: This can be an individual activity or a team activity of no more than three students.

1. Choose 12 random pictures of unrelated objects. Project the images on the board. Have the students choose two.
2. Set a timer for two minutes. During the two minutes, have the students generate a sentence that relates the two objects. It may be fiction or non. It doesn’t matter.
3. After two minutes, have them switch their sentences with another group.
4. Set a timer for five minutes. With the sentence and object provided, the group must now generate a purpose for the two items chosen by the first group. This purpose must use both objects SIMULATANEOUSLY. This can be silly, far-out or absurd. The idea is to get them thinking about things in different ways.
5. Rotate the sentences and purposes to a new group so that now each group (or student) has a objects that were paired by one group and purposed by a second group. They should not have their own work.
6. Set a timer for seven minutes. The new group must relate the object/purposes to a real-life thing. This can be historical or even personal (they had a friend that …) and make a connection between the fantasy object, its purpose and how it might have had an impact in real life if it existed.

Evaluation/Debrief activity: What was the hardest part of the activity? Why was relating it to real life important? How does it relate to the way that the people involved in your learning concept made decisions? How do people make decisions that seem unrelated to each other?

Fishbowl (similar to Harkness Table)

Materials/Preparation: A team of students comes prepared to “teach” the day’s concepts to the rest of the class. Students may need their notes or textbook.

Time Required: about 40 minutes for the activity and 20 for debrief.

Set Up: This is best as a team activity of no more than four or five students.

1. The group of students tasked with teaching the class sit in the middle of the classroom. Ideally, they have splintered into smaller teams for the sub-topics during their preparation.
2. The remaining students sit in a circle around them.
3. You begin the discussion with a prompt or a question about the day’s concept, and the group in the fishbowl must address your prompt. All students in the fishbowl should comment.
4. If the conversation lulls, then you can throw out another prompt and steer the conversation to the concepts that you need to see addressed. If not, let the lively discussion continue.
5. Students on the outside should take notes and consider whether they agree with the way the concept was presented and provide feedback.

Evaluation/Debrief activity: Ask the spectator students what concepts or ideas were missing. What would they have liked to see discussed?

Persona Identification

Materials/Preparation: Students need to create a free user account at Userforge (https://userforge.com/) Students may need their notes or textbook.

Time Required: about 40 minutes for the activity and 20 for debrief.

Set Up:  This is better as a group activity. It generally takes the entire class and can be submitted as an assignment or shared as an oral presentation. This is a good “application” or “review” activity.

1. Divide the students in teams of 3 or 4. Have the students create an account at a free persona generator such as Userforge (https://userforge.com/).
2. Choose some key people or figures from the concept you are teaching and assign them to the students. In a science class, it might be the kind of person/scientist that will use the concept. In a business class, it traditionally is the client/customer base.
3. The students generate a persona beginning by identifying the demographic information about the person.
   1. In Userforge, you can choose from Age, Education, Location, Status, Occupation, Income, and Kids
4. Students then develop the online persona, using the predetermined categories below or making your own. Students can fill in the narrative details for each:
   1. Quote
   2. Story
   3. Needs
   4. Frustrations
   5. Values
   6. Pain Points
   7. Habits

Evaluation/Debrief activity: How do the personalities/goals/experiences of the people involved affect the outcome of what happened or what was discovered? Do the personas use or interpret the concept the way you thought they would?

Draw a Simple House

Materials/Preparation: Students need paper and a pencil

Time Required: about 20 minutes for the instruction writing; 40 for the following the instructions; 15 minutes for debrief.

Set Up:  This can be done as a group or an individual activity; however, all students should see/hear their instructions being followed. This activity works better if you write the instructions in one class period and return to the application in another session.

1. Set a timer for 20 minutes.
2. In pairs or singles, have the students write instructions for how to draw a simple house. They are NOT allowed to draw the house as they write the instructions.
3. Collect the written work.
4. Have the students follow the each other’s instructions as you read them out loud. There are two rules:
   1. They must do exactly what the instructions say. So if it says draw a triangle on top of the square, they have to draw a triangle superimposed over the square.
   2. They may not assume they know what the author was trying to say. They may only follow the words as written.

In bigger classes, you can include instructions for: making a paper airplane, refilling a stapler, tying a shoe, folding a dress shirt, or shuffling a deck of cards. If you choose one of these, be sure to have them bring those items to class.

Evaluation/Debrief activity: identify what was important to the authors – what were the priorities in writing the instructions. Identify what was important as an audience member – compare the two lists. How does this affect communication about an issue? This is easily relatable to any topic/concept in your class that may have differing views

PSA

Materials/Preparation: Ideally, students have computer access for this activity; students must create an Adobe Spark account (https://spark.adobe.com/); students should have been introduced to the learning concepts used in this activity prior to the class. Students may need their notes or textbook.

Time Required: about 40 minutes for the activity; and 20 for debrief.

Set Up:  This is better as a group activity. It generally takes the entire class and can be submitted as an assignment or shared as an oral presentation. This is a good “application” or “review” activity.

1. Students in teams of four or five are assigned a learning concept.
2. For 30 minutes, they discuss (research if necessary) the concept answering ONE question: What should the world know about this concept? They should make a list of all the things they think are relevant and important – even if it is absurd, arbitrary or benign.  
3. After 30 minutes, they spend 10 minutes creating a PSA to teach others using Adobe Spark. Limit the Spark to 90 seconds.

Evaluation/Debrief Activity: Show the Sparks to the class. Discuss why/how the groups chose what was important? Why was some information omitted? Included? Different groups with the same topic produce very different PSAs. Why is this?

Establishing a society and culture

Materials/Preparation: Students have been exposed to and already discussed the concepts used in this learning activity. Students may need their notes or textbook.

Time Required: about 40 minutes for the activity; and 20 for debrief.

Set Up:  This is better as a group activity. It generally takes the entire class and can be submitted as an assignment or shared as an oral presentation. This is a good “application” or “review” activity.

1. Divide the class into teams of 3 of 4.
2. Have the students read Judith Viorst’s very short poem “If I were in charge of the world.” (https://allpoetry.com/If-I-Were-In-Charge-of-the-World)
3. Then, have them create a set of rules/regulations that relate to the concept you are currently teaching. Rules can vary, and you will have to provide what expectations you have. This is an activity that lends itself to adaptation for any course and concept discussion.
4. Have the groups list the rules from most important to least important.

Evaluation/Debrief activity: The groups share their most important. Discuss why certain ideas were the same across the class? Why were some different? This makes an excellent activity to begin a larger team project as students must flesh out that their team is on the same page. What are the ethical considerations of the concepts? How do the rules impact different demographics? Accessibility to various items?

Make your own final exam

Materials/Preparation: Students bring all course materials to class (notes, textbook, etc.)

Time Required: 75 minutes.

Set Up:  This is better as a small group activity. 

1. Decide what you want on the final: multiple choice, short answer, essay, etc.
2. Divide the class into teams of 3 or 4.
3. Have them create a pool of questions that you will use to generate the final exam (i.e. ten multiple choice, four short answer and three essay prompts)
4. Have them post to a shareable cloud-based document. This becomes the study guide.

Evaluation/Debrief activity: Makes for an excellent review. Student questions are often harder than yours

Concept Interviews

Materials/Preparation: Students bring all course materials to class (notes, textbook, etc.) and have been introduced to the concepts used in this activity.

Time Required: 20 minutes for concept questions; 30 minutes for interviewing; 20 minutes for debrief.

Set Up:  This is better as a small group activity.  These are great in preparation of a project, an exam or a paper.

1. Individually, students generate a set of questions about the material and concepts. The number of required questions is up to you, but generally, five will work.
2. Place students in groups of three. Label the students A, B and C. A is the interviewer; B is the interviewee and C is the scribe. 
3. Person A will be the first to ask questions; Person B will answer those questions and person C will write down as much of what Person B says.
4. They rotate through until each person has done all three parts.  The notes of what people say should be kept on the same sheet.

Evaluation/Debrief activity: Students can take pictures of the document and now they have a study guide or a potential beginning of an outline for a paper; groups can compare the information received, particularly if the same concepts is assigned

Concept sheets

Materials/Preparation: Students may need their textbook or class notes; students have been introduced to the concepts prior to activity.

Time Required: 40-50 minutes for concept sheet rotation depending on number of groups; 10-15 for sharing the collective knowledge to the larger group.

Set Up:  This is better as a small group activity. These are better for preparing multiple concepts.

1. Students will be in teams of three or four.
2. Generate as many conceptual questions as you will have of groups.
3. Assign each team one of the questions and have them write down everything they can think of for 7 minutes. This activity should be non-stop stop writing, even if it seems unrelated or far fetched in its tangential existence.
4. After seven minutes, rotate the papers to a new group. Each group answers each concept sheet, adding to it, even if it is duplicative, until there is a comprehensive list of ideas/thoughts related to the concept.

Evaluation/Debrief Activity: When the paper returns to the original group, the groups spends about 5 minutes picking the most repeated or most related ideas and thoughts.  Someone in that group summarizes for the class. Students can also share as study guides

Write a new beginning

Materials/Preparation: Students may need their textbook or class notes; students have been introduced to the concepts prior to activity.

Time Required: 30 minutes for activity; 15 for sharing collectively

Set Up:  This is better as a small group activity. 

1. Students should be in teams of 3.
2. Choose a learning concept – could be shared by all groups or each group can have an individual one.
3. Have the students write a new story or how that discovery/concept/invention/law etc. was made. Let them be creative.
4. They have to explain the rules and regulations that have come about because of the invention.

Evaluation/Debrief Activity: Share the new stories with the class. The concepts will be fully fleshed out, including any ethical or societal considerations. Who were the key players? Why? Who was left out? Why does that matter? What does that mean for the discovery/invention?

Write the obit

Materials/Preparation: Students may need their textbook or class notes; students have been introduced to the concepts prior to activity.

Time Required: 30 minutes for activity; 15 for sharing collectively

Set Up:  This is better as a small group activity. 

1. Students should be in teams of 3.
2. Choose a person or a concept from your learning objective for the class period.
3. Have the students write an obituary for the concept or the person without using research. Explain how or why the concept will die (or died); why it’s no longer viable or important to the subject area.

Evaluation/Debrief activity: Share the new endings with the class. Why did the concepts die? Where there any similarities among the groups? List them on the board? Why do these exist?

Rewrite the chapter

Materials/Preparation: Students may need their textbook or class notes; students have been introduced to the concepts prior to activity.

Time Required: Two class periods; students can plan the activity/chapter rewrite in one session and present it in another.  

Set Up:  This is better as a small group activity. 

1. Students are in teams of 3.
2. Students pick a chapter or a concept in the class.
3. Have the students rewrite the chapter so that it is interactive and engaging. Often students are the best generators of new ideas.

Evaluation/Debrief Activity: students can teach the class. Have them design an activity you can add to this list?

Coleman College 

3D printer in Coleman Tower #375 

• Contact is Christoper.Reyes, Yorn.Pech, Blanca.Tristan and Marcus.Winters  
• Ultimakers (1 printer) 
• Students must prepare the file and will have some assistance with printing 

• Printing is currently free 
• Students should contact the managers for availability; reservations will be accommodated when possible.  
• Students should stay during printing, but arrangements can be made 
• Overnight jobs are allowed 
• Printing is available by reservation between 9:00 and 3 p.m. on Wednesday

Northeast

One Button Studio

• Located in the library
• Contact William.Beckett (Todd) for more information

Adobe Creative Campus Applications: n/a

3D Printer in the library

• Contact is William.Beckett (Todd) for more information

3D printer in CIL Lab

• Contact is Brenda.Quintanilla
• Ultimakers (1)
• Students must prepare the file and will have some assistance with printing
• Printing is available during hours of operation:
  • Tuesday and Wednesday 8 to Noon
• Currently free for the first two prints. Students should consider purchasing and bringing their own roles of filament if they anticipate printing several objects. Contact the XLLab prior to purchase to ensure the correct kind.
• To request a print, students must complete a print request form in the XRLab.
• Students should allow 72 hours to complete the print; depending on reservations and schedules, time can vary
• Print job is limited to four hours or longer. If it will take longer, please speak to the XRLab associate
• Last print job may begin 30 min prior to closing and may be left to print over night
• Students are not required to stay during the job, but will need to leave a copy of the file and make arrangements regarding pickup with the XRLab Associate
• Students should note that 3D printing is not without flaws. On occasion the printer will become clogged or get stuck. If this happens, the student should expect that the print will need to be re-started, delaying the print time. Students will be contacted by the lab assistant anytime a print is halted to discuss how to proceed with the print.

Acres Homes, North Forest and the Automotive Technology Training Center

Currently do not have any of the resources cataloged in this document

Northline

One Button Studio: n/a

Adobe Creative Campus Applications: n/a

3D Printer in the library

• Contact is Justine.Randle
• Students must prepare the file and will have some assistance with printing
• Printing is currently free but must be for class assignments
• Printing is limited to 8 hours and 100 grams of filament
• Library personnel will use Cura requirements to ensure compliance and approve the project
• Ultimaker (1 printer)
• Prints are executed by library staff during library hours
• Overnight prints are allowed
• Students should contact the library regarding the project prior to coming to print; librarian will check guidelines, restrictions, requirements for print and the turn around time for the job.
• Jobs are to be submitted on a portable flash drive which may not be returned to the student

3D printer in CIL Lab

• Contact is Brenda.Quintanilla
• Ultimakers (3)
• Students must prepare the file and will have some assistance with printing
• Printing is available during hours of operation:
  • Monday to Thursday 8:30 to 5:00
• Currently free for the first two prints. Students should consider purchasing and bringing their own roles of filament if they anticipate printing several objects. Contact the XLLab prior to purchase to ensure the correct kind.
• To request a print, students must complete a print request form in the XRLab.
• Students should allow 72 hours to complete the print; depending on reservations and schedules, time can vary
• Print job is limited to four hours or longer. If it will take longer, please speak to the XRLab associate
• Last print job may begin 30 min prior to closing and may be left to print over night
• Students are not required to stay during the job, but will need to leave a copy of the file and make arrangements regarding pickup with the XRLab Associate
• Students should note that 3D printing is not without flaws. On occasion the printer will become clogged or get stuck. If this happens, the student should expect that the print will need to be re-started, delaying the print time. Students will be contacted by the lab assistant anytime a print is halted to discuss how to proceed with the print.

Alief-Hayes

Adobe Creative Campus Applications

• loaded on all the computers in the West Houston Institute and in the Alief-Hayes labs and libraries
• access to the full suite of Adobe while on campus.
• need a flash drive to save the assets

3D Printer in Alief-Hayes Library

• Contact is Treva.Anderson or Jennifer.Crispin
• Students must prepare the file and will have some assistance with printing
• Ultimaker  (1 printer)
• Requests for use should be directed to contacts above and arrangements are currently case-by-case
• https://library.hccs.edu/AH3DPrinting

West Houston Institute – Alief Hayes

One Button Studio

• Located at the West Houston Institute Learning Commons
• Contact Alexandra.Almestica
• Can be reserved; when not reserved, first come first served
• Students must bring flash drive
• During Regular Learning Commons Hours:
  • Monday to Thursday 8 to 5
  • Friday 8 to 4

Adobe Creative Campus Applications

• loaded on all the computers in the West Houston Institute and in the Alief-Hayes labs and libraries
• access to the full suite of Adobe while on campus.
• need a flash drive to save the assets

3D Printer

• Students must complete IDEAStudio orientation for the space and orientation to 3D printing
• Located in the IDEAStudio
• Contact is Israel.Garza1
• Technical assistance is available; full time staff can help with the process
• Students must supply all materials;
• Printers available on first come first serve basis
• Ultimakers and PRUSSAs
• Open 10-4 M-F; closed weekends
• https://www.hccs.edu/programs/west-houston-institute/ideastudio/

3D printer in CIC Lab

• Contact is Sandra.Lebron
• Will be coming online in Fall 2019

Katy

One Button Studio n/a

Adobe Creative Campus Applications

• loaded on all the computers labs and libraries
• access to the full suite of Adobe while on campus.
• need a flash drive to save the assets

3D Printer in the library

• Library owns a printer; expected online in Fall 2019

3D printer in CIC Lab

• Contact is Sandra.Lebron
• Will be Ultimakers (3 – two S3s and one S5)
• Students must prepare the file and will have some assistance with printing on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Printing is currently free for small jobs for school projects only
• Printer is available: Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m
• Overnight prints are allowed
• First come first serve for use of printer
• Students do not have to stay during print; may return to pick up later

Spring Branch

One Button Studio

• Located in the library
• Contact Brandon.Hodge
• Can be reserved; when not reserved, first come first served
• Students must bring flash drive
• Available during library hours; students should begin finishing 30 minutes prior to library closing 

Adobe Creative Campus Applications

• loaded on all the computers labs and libraries
• access to the full suite of Adobe while on campus.
• need a flash drive to save the assets

3D Printer in the library

• Contact is Sandra.farmer2 and Brandon.Hodge
• Students must prepare the file and will have some assistance with printing
• Printing is currently free
• Ultimaker (1 printer)
• Printer is available during library hours and job must be complete prior to the library closing
• No overnight prints
• Student does not have to remain in library during print

Alief-Bissonet

Currently does not have any of the resources cataloged in this document.

Felix Fraga 

One Button Studio: n/a 

Adobe Creative Campus Applications: n/a 

3D Printer in the library: n/a 

3D printer in CIL Lab 

• Contact is Brenda.Quintanilla 
• Ultimakers (1)  
• Students must prepare the file and will have some assistance with printing 
• Printing is available during hours of operation:  
  • Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 8:00 to 2:00 
  • Thursday 8:00 to 10:00  
• Currently free for the first two prints. Students should consider purchasing and bringing their own roles of filament if they anticipate printing several objects. Contact the XLLab prior to purchase to ensure the correct kind. 
• To request a print, students must complete a print request form in the XRLab. 
• Students should allow 72 hours to complete the print; depending on reservations and schedules, time can vary 
• Print job is limited to four hours or longer. If it will take longer, please speak to the XRLab associate 
• Last print job may begin 30 min prior to closing and may be left to print over night 
• Students are not required to stay during the job, but will need to leave a copy of the file and make arrangements regarding pickup with the XRLab Associate 
• Students should note that 3D printing is not without flaws. On occasion the printer will become clogged or get stuck. If this happens, the student should expect that the print will need to be re-started, delaying the print time. Students will be contacted by the lab assistant anytime a print is halted to discuss how to proceed with the print.  

Eastside 

One Button Studio: n/a 

Adobe Creative Campus Applications: n/a 

3D Printer in the library 

• Library currently owns one, but it is not in use yet.  
• Contact is Michael.Mitchell  

3D printer in CIL Lab 

• Contact is Brenda.Quintanilla 
• Ultimakers (3)  
• Students must prepare the file and will have some assistance with printing 
• Printing is available during hours of operation:  
  • Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday 8:00 to 2:00 p.m. 
• Currently free for the first two prints. Students should consider purchasing and bringing their own roles of filament if they anticipate printing several objects. Contact the XLLab prior to purchase to ensure the correct kind. 
• To request a print, students must complete a print request form in the XRLab. 
• Students should allow 72 hours to complete the print; depending on reservations and schedules, time can vary 
• Print job is limited to four hours or longer. If it will take longer, please speak to the XRLab associate 
• Last print job may begin 30 min prior to closing and may be left to print over night 
• Students are not required to stay during the job, but will need to leave a copy of the file and make arrangements regarding pickup with the XRLab Associate 
• Students should note that 3D printing is not without flaws. On occasion the printer will become clogged or get stuck. If this happens, the student should expect that the print will need to be re-started, delaying the print time. Students will be contacted by the lab assistant anytime a print is halted to discuss how to proceed with the print.

Stafford

One Button Studio: n/a

Adobe Creative Campus Applications: n/a

3D Printer in the library

• Contact is Alexa.Azzopardi
• Printing is currently free
• Ultimaker (1 printer)
• Printer is available Monday to Friday from 8:00 to 4:30
• Prints are limited to 6 to 8 hours; accommodations may be made for longer print jobs

Fabrication and Innovation Lab at the Workforce Building

• Contact is Roland.Fields
• Or call: 713-718-6792
• 3D printers available  -- Industrial and standard; variety
• Hours: Monday 8:00 to 3:00
  • Tuesday to Thursday 8:00 to 6:00
  • Friday 10 to 6
  • Saturday 10 to 4
  • Sunday 10 to 4
• Students must prepare the file and will have some assistance with printing
• Printing is available on a first come first serve basis but students can be bumped for those with a tighter deadline
• Overnight Printing is allowed
• Students do not have to remain with the print job.

Westloop

One Button Studio

• working on making a space in the library
• Contact Juanna.Shin 

Adobe Creative Campus Applications

• loaded on all some of the computers in the computer labs and libraries – ask at desk
• access to the full suite of Adobe while on campus.
• need a flash drive to save the assets

3D Printer in the library

• Library currently owns one, but it is not in use yet.
• Contact is Juanna.Shin

Gulfton, Brays Oaks and Missouri City

Currently do not have any of the resources cataloged in this document