Make it Stick - How to Activate Students (Online workshop)

In this collaborative workshop - jointly offered by the Università della Svizzera italiana and the University of Bern - you will explore and experience the most effective principles for activating and engaging students (both online and in person), learning how to transfer them directly into your teaching practice. This interactive workshop introduces participants to the core principles of student engagement and provides numerous opportunities to experience their effectiveness firsthand. Through a combination of self-paced learning and a synchronous online session, participants will actively apply these principles, reflect on their impact, and integrate them into their own courses.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

• Discuss the applicability of student engagement principles in archetypical educational situations
• Recognize different student feedback orientations and reflect on how these affect the outcomes of peer feedback
• Transfer principles of student engagement to their own courses
• Reflect on how these principles influence their own learning processes

Content

• Design principles for student activation (online and onsite)
• Design principles for effective group activities
• Feedback orientations of students
• Reflection on and transfer of engagement principles into one’s own courses

Programme

During the self-paced asynchronous phase, participants will watch videos, answer MC/SC-questions and reflect on their current teaching practices.

The foregoing self-study phase is essentially built on the stand-alone eLearning course “Make it Stick – How to Activate Students”, which can be completed at any time.

The synchronous online session begins with an ice-breaker activity, followed by a readiness assurance process that guarantees every participant is well-acquainted with the main principles. Following the warming up, participants will work in three consecutive sessions on their own projects on student engagement and give as well as receive feedback from other participants based on a peer feedback rubric. The workshop ends with a peer and group discussion on the effectiveness of the principles of student engagement.  

Practical Information

• Date: 26 February 2026
• Time: 09:00 - 15:30
• Audience: Teachers and assistants from USI and UNIBE
• Course language: English
• Format: Online (Zoom) - Participation requires microphone and webcam

Register to the workshop