Using Strategies to Break Up the Routine of Lecture: Humorous Stories, Games, and a Play
Abstract
The Russian-educated author describes active-learning classroom activities that she created and implemented during her first experience teaching lower- and upper-level undergraduate mathematics courses in the United States. The article begins with a discussion of how the author incorporated humorous stories and memo-pictures into the classroom. The next section describes games that she developed for exam-review classes. The final section is devoted to using a play as an effective teaching tool on a special occasion, such as a day before a long weekend or a holiday. The results indicate that the implemented activities and strategies were successful in terms of students' exam grades, class averages, and overall satisfaction.
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