Interactive Learning and Engagement in Small and Medium Classes (1-100 Students)

MobLab activities work effectively with small classes to create a lively and interactive atmosphere during live sessions with open discussions, whether online or in-person.

Playlists

MobLab activities can be used in lectures or as independent exercises. Set up an In-Class Playlist to run activities in live sessions (synchronous play), or create Online Assignments to build a set of self-paced learning activities for students to complete outside of class time (asynchronous play).

Running MobLab activities using the In-Class Playlist is especially effective in smaller class sizes. MobLab’s games are quick, so they can be played multiple times in smaller classes with different game settings to address a variety of learning objectives. Game decisions are made by each player’s own personality or perspective, so the results may exhibit interesting insights.

Surveys

A survey is an excellent way to ask the class questions to motivate participation or to receive feedback. For instance, ask students to think through a challenging problem prior to learning a new concept, or submit questions they have on the material covered in class. You can run surveys live during lecture or as homework assignments. Surveys can also be used for assessment as they can be graded automatically by setting correct answers and points. (Learn more about creating custom surveys)

Results from a survey can be viewed at any time while the survey is running or upon its completion. This allows for on-demand teaching and an instant evaluation of student comprehension. You can also configure surveys to allow revisions before submission or to reveal correct answers after submission.

The survey library contains many pre-built activities including demonstrations of cognitive biases and risk elicitation tasks from experimental economics. There are also question banks that cover a wide range of topics from principles of microeconomics and macroeconomics.

Games

Hands-on learning has repeatedly been shown to be one of the most effective ways to teach. With MobLab’s games, students are in the driver’s seat as the decision maker in situations that are designed to teach them. Our large selection of games is grounded in economic research and comes with instructions and teaching guides written by economists. Games can help motivate concepts, deepen understanding, and encourage students to interact with one another. (Learn more about teaching with games)

Upon completion of a game, results are generated that can be used for discussion. Data can also be downloaded for any further analysis you would like to do. MobLab can also supply you with sample large class data for many popular games upon request. (Learn more about accessing game results)

Robotic Players

During in-class play, you may add intelligent robot players to any unfilled game group to help ensure all students have a chance to participate. Robots can also be used to simulate large group dynamics and outcomes for games that benefit from maximizing the number of players, such as Competitive Market. Simply create the group size to be larger than the class size and then add robots to fill the remaining seats.

Results Debriefing and Discussion

Post-activity discussions and result debriefing are integral to making the lessons and activities resonate with students. As a starting point, view an activity's instructor guide for suggestions on how you can use our built-in result graphs and tables to teach students key learning objectives using the data. Consider asking students to discuss or articulate their decision-making process and strategies to help connect their own actions and outcomes to those predicted by theory.

Modules

Full game modules, which include motivation questions and comprehension assessments, are available for some games. Modules are bundled with an instructor’s guide that covers the lesson plan, learning objectives, and results debriefing. (Learn more about using modules)