For our mathematics courses, we have designed a wide range of activities that actively engage students and require them to collaborate, often through the use of gamification. Here, we present 7 activities that you can easily adapt to suit your needs, no matter what discipline you teach.
October 16, 2025
7 Engaging Learning Activities to Use in Mathematics… or any Discipline!
This article is a translation of a text published on Eductive’s French website.
Contents
A Community of Practice on active and collaborative learning at Cégep de Jonquière
In 2022-2023, we joined the Community of Practice (CoP) on active and collaborative learning [in French] launched at Cégep de Jonquière by the pedagogical counsellors. We were drawn to the idea of using our college’s active learning classroom (ALC) [in French].
For several years, we have been working hard to change how students perceive mathematics and to adapt our teaching to an evolving student population. We’ve observed that students’ attention spans seem shorter than in the past.
We knew little about active learning before joining the CoP, but participating in it enabled us to realize that we were, in fact, already applying some of its principles. We were already striving to encourage students to become actively engaged. We were not simply lecturing students and then telling them to work on exercises independently (whether in class or at home). During lab periods, we had noticed that we achieved better results by offering structured activities, with clear instructions and specific expected outcomes, rather than just giving them “time to work on their exercises.”
Joining the CoP has enabled us to expand our knowledge and push things even further!
Weekly course flow
This is a typical outline for our courses:
- We start with a 2-hour teaching block in a traditional classroom setting. We explain theoretical models through direct instruction (including fill-in-the-blank course notes for support) and present examples of math problems on the board.
(Using fill-in-the-blank notes frees up time for active learning activities where students take ownership of their learning. This time wouldn’t be available if we still had to write everything on the board and wait for students to copy it all down, as we did years ago.) - Students then complete exercises for homework.
- Later that same week, students return to class, this time in the ALC, for a 1- or 2-hour lab session. There, they are given collaborative activities that build upon the theoretical concepts covered during the lesson.
It is a form of spaced repetition. This approach helps students reinforce their understanding of the concepts covered that week and identify any stumbling blocks.
These activities typically require students to explain concepts or strategies (such as their methodology for solving a problem) to their classmates and sometimes to the teacher as well. Asking them to verbalize their explanations is recognized as an effective pedagogical practice.
In addition, since students often work in teams of 3 or 4 around an interactive screen, we can easily monitor the work of the 6 or 7 teams in the group. We can step in quickly if a team starts going off track or gets stuck.
Furthermore, when students work with the interactive screen, we ensure that every team member participates. The students take turns writing on the screen, and team roles are rotated regularly. Working in teams allows them to learn from one another’s strengths.
- Finally, students have additional exercises to complete on the same concepts. Since most of the lab activities are completed using digital tools (Microsoft Forms, Moodle, Wooflash, OneNote, Class Notebook in Teams (OneNote Class Notebook), etc.), students can track and review their learning as needed.
7 of our co-developed activities
During the 1st semester, we taught the same courses, which naturally led us to collaborate closely on developing active and collaborative learning activities. In the 2nd semester, we taught different courses but continued working together, drawing inspiration from each other and creating adaptable materials that each of us could use. Working as a team is both stimulating and motivating.
The activities work well whether in Science, Social Science, or technical programs. Our student surveys show clear success in all programs, with particularly strong enthusiasm in technical programs and a slightly warmer reception in Social Science compared to Science.
We created activities that we initially implemented in an ALC (an active learning classroom with desks arranged in islands around an interactive screen), but they can also be easily adapted for use in traditional classrooms.
Our college’s ALC (image source)
Collaborative learning and immediate feedback
Supervising the work of 7 teams of 4 students is easier than supervising the work of 28 individual students.
Long before the arrival of ALCs, we sometimes asked students to complete an exercise individually and submit it for correction after class. (There simply wasn’t enough time to correct everyone’s copy during class …) When we returned the graded papers, students would look at their grade, feel either satisfied or disappointed, and then put the copy away, never to look at it again. They didn’t try to understand where they had lost points or what they could do differently next time.
Now, we have time to interact with each team individually (it almost feels like having only 7 students in the class). We can discuss the team’s problem-solving approach, congratulate them on what they have done well, and point out the weaker points in their reasoning or methodology while offering tips to help them avoid making the same mistakes in the future.
Our connection with the students has improved significantly. We now share a stronger, more solid relationship with them. In fact, based on the student surveys we’ve conducted since joining the CoP on active learning, the teacher-student relationship has consistently been stressed as one of the most appreciated aspects.
In addition, since the students work in teams, there are fewer questions. Team members help each other and make more progress than if they were working individually.
At first, some students might be a little hesitant to admit to their teammates when they don’t understand something. However, we create a classroom environment built on trust, where there’s no shame in making mistakes. After all, making mistakes is an integral part of learning! What matters isn’t getting everything right on the 1st try. Students must not rush in order to leave early. We make sure they have truly understood an activity before they can leave the classroom. The labs are included in the summative evaluations, but everyone can get 100% if the work is done properly. Initial mistakes can be corrected until the result is accurate.
For some activities, in some groups, students complete a self-evaluation and a peer-evaluation form to confirm that each person has met the objectives of the activity. This helps prevent situations where team members simply split up the work without actually collaborating.
Self- and teamwork evaluation grid created by Lucie for a lab in the Computer Science Technology program [in French].
Self-, peer-, and teamwork-evaluation grid created by Lucie for another lab in the Computer Science Technology program [in French].
1. Horse Race
Every time we do this activity, it’s a student favourite.
On the big screen at the front of the classroom, we display a series of rows of numbered squares. A small horse icon is positioned at the start of each row. Each team is assigned a horse.
The starting point of the Horse Race game, in a version with 7 teams. The full track is 50 squares long, but teams never reach the end. The activity ends after a set period of time, and the team that’s the farthest ahead wins.
The teacher asks a question to all students at the same time. For example, in a Computer Science Technology group with 5 teams of 3 students, we might ask them to find 3 representations of an integer (binary, hexadecimal, and decimal). To find the answer quickly, team members need to divide the task and help one another. When a team believes they have found all 3 answers, they present them to the teacher. The first 3 teams to get the correct answers each earn the right to roll the die (a large foam die — it’s great to see some teams grab it and roll it together!). After rolling, the team can choose to move their horse forward by the number of spaces rolled or move an opposing team’s horse back. The goal, of course, is to be the 1st team whose horse reaches the finish line.
Another engaging variation is to give all teams access to a Moodle or Wooflash quiz at the same time, but in randomized mode, so that the teams don’t answer the questions in the same order. When a team finds the answer to its 1st question, they check it with the teacher, then roll the die to move their horse forward (or move another team’s horse back) before moving on to the next question.
This activity creates a fun and friendly competitive atmosphere in the classroom, helping students learn to manage their stress in an enjoyable way while also encouraging teamwork and mutual support.
The quiz remains available after class, allowing students to review the questions at home and prepare for upcoming evaluations.
2. Treasure Hunt
This activity is a type of “escape room.” The class is divided into 7 teams of π-rates (pirates) who must solve puzzles to find the combination to a treasure chest.
Each team receives a folder containing 10 password-protected files. Solving the contents of each file gives the students a piece of the jigsaw that will help in finding the combination for the chest.
Each team receives an initial clue to help them find the password to their 1st file and begin their treasure hunt. There are 4 possible starting points, so the teams are not all working on the same enigma simultaneously. Some enigmas are playful or fairly simple (completing a crossword using vocabulary from class or quickly researching the birthdate or cause of death of famous mathematicians online), while others require solving integrals. For example, solving an integral might reveal the geographical coordinates of a Caribbean island whose name is the password for one of the files.
A few moments captured while Lucie was leading the treasure hunt with her π-rate students on March 14, 2023. (March 14 (3/14 in the American date format) is “Pi Day.”)
We use this activity in our integral calculus course as a review to help students prepare for the evaluation on integration techniques. It’s the activity that required the most preparation time, but we’re very proud of it!
3. Designing an Exam
In this activity, each team must create an exam similar to the one the teacher might give. Students need to ensure they cover all the material and choose what they believe is most important. The exam is then handed to another team, who must create the answer key.
Finally, we hold a class discussion to compare the different exams.
This activity fosters a deep understanding of the material; however, managing time can be challenging. One option is to assign the creating of the answer key as homework, allowing more class time for creating the exam itself. To keep students on track, we also suggest providing clear guidelines on which sections of the material to cover and the number of questions to include in each section.
In addition, although we haven’t tried it yet, we believe it would be interesting to tell students that a few standout questions will be selected and included on the actual exam!
4. Mini-Teacher
For this activity, we hand out a set of exercises to students in paper format. Everyone receives the same set of questions.
Students work on the exercises individually but are allowed to consult with their teammates. They can help one another and compare their procedures.
Meanwhile, the teacher meets each team and asks one member to explain to them and the other team members the solution to an exercise that the teacher has chosen. Using the interactive screen, the student must walk through each step of their solution clearly as if they were the teacher.
If needed, the teacher and other team members can help the mini-teacher. The student acting as mini-teacher may refer to their written solution during the presentation.
Each time the teacher visits the same team, a different student is chosen to act as the mini-teacher, along with a new exercise.
This activity is excellent for reinforcing student understanding, as verbalizing a solution helps organize and integrate knowledge fully. Furthermore, presenting in front of a small team is much less intimidating than speaking in front of the entire class. In addition, the interactions with the teacher offer immediate feedback that greatly benefits learning.
As teachers, we carefully select which exercise we ask each student to explain. It would be counterproductive to assign the most complex problem to a struggling student; it would only undermine their confidence unnecessarily.
This activity is less playful than others, such as the Treasure Hunt or Horse Race, but it remains very popular among students. It provides a different way of learning mathematics compared to what they usually experience in high school or college courses.
5. Sprint
Each team must solve one problem of their choice from the subset assigned to them at the start. They need to choose carefully, as some problems are quicker to solve than others.
One student writes the solution process on the team’s interactive screen while their teammates guide and support them.
Once the team successfully solves their problem, they have their solution checked by the teacher before moving on to a problem from the next subset. A different student writes the solution on the screen each time.
The winning team is the first to solve one problem from each of the 4 subsets.
Example of a list of problems for a 4-team version of the Math Sprint activity (with 4 problems per subset) [in French].
6. Ricochet
The Ricochet activity is divided into 3 parts:
- Each team has about 20 minutes to create a quiz based on a specific theme and criteria provided by the teacher. The team members take turns to come up with one or more questions. The others ensure the questions meet the criteria. Students enjoy writing questions that will challenge their classmates.
- Then, over the next 40 minutes or so, each team answers a quiz created by another team. Taking turns, each team member solves one of the problems, while the others provide support and help ensure the solution is correct.
- Finally, each team has about 20 minutes to correct another team’s answers to a quiz originally written by a 3rd team.
When we first did this activity, a few students had been absent from the previous class, which created challenges and negatively impacted their teamwork. Next time, if students have missed the previous class, we’ll place them together on the same team and give them paper copies of the quizzes if there aren’t enough interactive screen stations available.
Less absenteeism
We would like to mention, however, that absenteeism in our lab sessions has decreased since we began consistently using active learning activities. Students are happy to come to class! We also feel that they pay more attention during theoretical lessons because they want to be able to fully participate in the lab activities.
7. Snakes and Ladders
The goal of this game is to review key concepts while having fun.
We prepare a review quiz on Wooflash and provide each team with a Snakes and Ladders game board.
One of our giant Snakes and Ladders game boards
Each team displays the review quiz on their interactive whiteboard. We set the quiz up for the questions to appear randomly.
Taking turns, students solve the problem displayed on the screen. Their opponents also work on the same question to earn the right to respond in the event of a wrong answer. If the student answers correctly, they get to roll the die and move their counter forward. If not, the opposing students who answered correctly get to roll the die and move their counters. It’s the opponents’ job to explain the solution to those who answered incorrectly. They then move on to the next question, and the game continues until someone reaches the final square and wins.
(A variation of the game would be to have a single game board in the centre of the class and have teams compete against each other.)
Give it a try, and you’ll love it!
You can easily adapt these activities to suit your own needs. Use one or several throughout the semester as you wish, no pressure!
In our 1st semester experimenting with this approach, we implemented 5 activities, but we had release time from our teaching workload to work on the project and take part in the CoP. We loved the experience so much that as of next semester, we decided to do one activity per week. Since then, we’ve been developing new activities each semester to further equip our toolbox with activities that promote active and collaborative learning. We certainly won’t be turning back!
Our students are enjoying our classes more than ever … and so are we! It’s incredibly rewarding to teach students who are motivated, engaged, smiling, happy to be in class, and having fun while learning. And there’s nothing quite like ending each week (and each semester) with a real sense of ‘mission accomplished.’
If you try one of the activities we’ve shared here, or if you’ve come up with your own and want to tell us about it, please share your experience in the comments section!
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