The term ‘activities between sessions’ refers to the activities which students must carry out independently between the teaching sessions, i.e. in their preparation time. The activities are defined by you as a teacher, and in doing so you are guiding the students’ independent learning activities. Your role as a teacher and subject expert is to specify activities that will support the students’ independent work with the content and methods of the academic field. In other words, the activities between sessions form an important part of the students’ learning process.
The activities must be organised on the basis of the objectives you have set for individual teaching sessions. Students must be able to see a clear connection between their preparation and the teaching activities, which means that you as a teacher must actively include and continue the work done by the students in their preparation activities. If your teaching is merely a review of the texts or exercises from the students’ activities between sessions, the purpose of these will be lost. When the activities are tangible, i.e. result in a specific product, these may be included in the teaching activities in a visible manner.
As the activities between sessions take place in the students’ own time and on their initiative, it is essential that you communicate to them why it is important that they spend time on performing them. Moreover, it is important to make clear to the students how you expect them to work with the activities and to introduce them to useful working methods which will enable them to continue the work with specific activities between teaching sessions.
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