Lori Van Der Sluys, Mary Shoemaker (Pennsylvania State University, USA)
The type of passive learning that occurs when students sit and listen to a lecture is not optimal for conceptual learning. Kinesthetic activities typically involve students physically taking part in an active learning presentation to learn a certain concept. This active learning method is beneficial for any student, and appeals to different learning styles. We have used kinesthetic activities specifically for the teaching of phase change concepts; this gets the students out of their seats, and they are engaging actively with the material. These activities are appropriate for a wide range of teaching situations, including large college-level general chemistry lecture classes, outreach activities with primary, middle school and high school students, and small classroom settings.
