PURPOSE

To support students in driving their own learning by enabling them to produce their own learning materials and evaluations. 

DESCRIPTION

Students produce materials and resources that are then provided to other students to use in their learning. These can include classroom activities as well as assessment materials. 

UNDERLYING EDUCATIONAL THEORIES

peer learning, teamwork 

PEDAGOGICAL BENEFITS 

• Fostering shared responsibility for learning can produce a stronger learning community for students. 
• Creating class materials can support students’ accountability and agency. 
• Prompting students to work together and support one another helps develop teamwork and social skills as well as fosters stronger classroom relationships. 
• Students are able to customize their learning. 

STRATEGIES FOR IMPLEMENTATION 

1. Prior to having students generate or provide materials, consider their duration. Will they use the same materials throughout the entirety of the course? Will they need to continually provide new materials? 

2. Consider whether materials should be produced collaboratively or individually. 

3. Identify topics and key points in the course or lecture that support students’ work. Ensure that they have enough content to work with in order to create or find rich materials. 

4. Develop guidelines or other instructional materials to help students learn how to create or locate their materials. Be clear in your requirements and provide samples if possible. Be prepared to answer questions and discuss the activity with students beforehand.  

5. Consider whether creation of materials will take place during the course itself or outside of class. How will materials be evaluated? 

6. Plan time for students to reflect on their experiences, either individually or in a group discussion setting.  

REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING 

Coppola, B. P., & Pontrello, J. K. (2020). Student-Generated Instructional Materials. In Active Learning in College Science (pp. 385-407). Springer, Cham