If killing one person for his organs saves two dying patients in need of organ transplants, it is worth doing? Thought experiments like this can be used during lecture to teach political theory. Read more about Thought Experiment of the Day
In Sociology 157, Dan O'Brien's students choose a topic of their choice relating to the Greater Boston Area. All assignments center around this topic, culminating in a final paper that resembles an actual science paper. Read more about Topic-Centered Assignments
Jigsaw activities have students work in groups to think about different articles. The groups then come together and share their work to produce one detailed, comprehensive document on all the articles for the week. Read more about Transitions Jigsaw
Benjamin Weber created an activity that spans across the entire class to help students understand the concept of “diaspora” through constant reiteration of concepts from some excerpts given to the class by the instructor. Students learned how to close-read excerpts, write reflections, and create their own ideas about the theme of the class.
Created by Ned Dochtermann, Erin Gillam, Timothy Greives, Kristina Holder, Steve Travers, and Jennifer Weghorst, this lesson focuses on the evolutionary mechanism of random genetic drift. Students explore how population size affects allele frequencies by engaging in a group activity that involves generating and plotting data, interpreting graphs, and formulating hypotheses. Read more about Understanding the mechanisms of evolution: random genetic drift
In Joshua Greene's course, "Social Psychology," students design and run their own original "unobtrusive experiments" as the final project for the class. Students read and conduct background research to get ideas, write a proposal and refine it with the help of the TF, carry out the research, give a presentation on the research, and write up the results. Read more about Unobtrusive Experiments
There has been an outbreak of an unusual Asian disease. Which policy is best based on the scientific estimations of how many people will be saved? This activity uses this example with poll everywhere (polleverywhere.com) technology to demonstrate framing and prospect theory. Read more about Unusual Asian Disease Outbreak
Objectives: In this assignment designed by J.M. Grenier, Students will be able to explain what is meant by a "virtual world" and the 3D web, as well as discuss the potential for the use of these tools and their impact to existing methods of communication on the web.
Students in Caroline Light's general education course, Sex and the Citizen, create five-minute visual essays in response to Brenda Weber's, Makeover Nation. In order to do this assignment, students must complete the assigned reading and gain familiarity with iMovie, Prezi, or PowerPoint. These visual essays or makeover parodies are meant to address issues of identity and citizenship central to the course. Read more about Visual Essays and Makeover Parodies