Student-generated glossary

How to do this 

1. Set up the page in your Canvas course for students to edit. There is a template available in your faculty’s template Canvas course.
2. Encourage students to collect terms from the literature they read throughout the subject, such as mandatory and recommended readings.
3. Invite interested students to submit terms related to your discipline, or assign the task of building the glossary to one group each week.
4. Instruct students to list the terms and write the description in their own words. To keep the task short, precise and not too labour intensive, keep the number of terms and the description word count low.
5. Review the list, or ask students to review the list to avoid duplication.
6. Optional: Use the glossary to generate an unmarked revision quiz at the end of the session.

Example of student-generated glossary page in Canvas

What tools can you use? 

The following technologies in this activity are supported by UTS:

• Pages in Canvas

To allow students to edit a page in Canvas, select ‘Teachers and students’ in the ‘Can edit this page role selection’ in the page settings.

When and where to use 

This activity is suitable throughout the session, before each module for the following classes:

• Language classes
• Medical classes

How long will it take? 

What research tells us 

The integration of a student-generated glossary can empower students by giving them the opportunity to contribute to their learning journey, and providing them with a place to access new and relevant terminology at any time, in an authentic context (Stanley, 2007). This activity also has the potential to incorporate peer learning in the curriculum beyond group work in class and tutorials.

References

• Stanley, I. (2007). Creating a student-generated glossary in Moodle: How is it done and how effective is it? The JALT CALL Journal, 3(1 & 2), 116-131.