5 ways you can teach with Quizlet study sets
Quizlet is proud to partner with students and teachers to showcase authentic voices on our blog. This guest post is by Brittanie Payne, an instructional technology coach.
As an instructional coach for my school district, I train teachers on edtech tools that impact student learning and raise engagement levels. I also support their use of these tools in their instruction so that technology serves an intentional and effective purpose in the classroom. Having previously been a high school English teacher for 11 years, I not only had the opportunity to explore many of the ed tech tools currently available, but I also gained a strong understanding of which tools are most valuable for teachers and which ones actually show data-driven results. I consider Quizlet to be one of those tools.
When I help teachers understand Quizlet’s value, I start with study sets. But first, what is a study set? A study set is a list of terms paired with their matching definitions or a set of questions with their matching answers. Study sets can include words, images, diagrams, and audio. You can study this kind of content using Quizlet's study modes and activities.
With just a basic understanding of how you can utilize study sets, you’ll save time on planning lessons, create personalized learning experiences for students, and get students actively involved in the learning and reviewing process. Read on to learn the five ways you can incorporate study sets into your classroom.
1. Ask students to create study sets
When you involve students in the learning process, they take more ownership and accountability over the learning material. Instead of taking time out of your busy day to build study sets, have your students create them individually or in groups. You could also make this a homework assignment to be completed outside of the classroom.
Once students share the link to their sets with you, you can preview them to ensure correct information is being shared. You can also practice using the student-created sets with your whole class via Quizlet Live or as a warm-up or closure activity using the Checkpoint, Match, and Flashcards features. Consider using different students’ sets each time you share a set with your class to review. While the sets may cover the same content, the wording may vary—in this way, the learning and review stays fresh.
2. Use study sets frequently and revisit them often
Many students lack a foundation or understanding of how to study, so they will need your help and guidance. Once you’ve asked students to create study sets or you’ve shared your own with them, be sure to use those sets frequently. Establish the routine and expectation that students are going to revisit their sets often and use them to study. Think about using them as warm-ups, closures, and station activities. Including built-in studying time using tools like Quizlet in your classroom and asking students to reflect on how their learning has improved often leads to increased academic success.
3. Organize your sets using classes
If you teach multiple class periods, I suggest creating classes within Quizlet to organize your sets and your students. You can create up to eight classes with the free Quizlet account (or as many as you want with a Quizlet Plus for teachers subscription). Students in your classes can also receive email notifications whenever you add new sets to the class.
Quizlet makes it easy to collaborate and share sets by allowing you to choose whether students can add study sets to the class. You can also easily assign or share sets directly with your students through the class feature. Creating classes also gives students unlimited use of Learn and Test modes for all content in that class. This flexibility provides students with additional ways to review the learning material outside the classroom.
4. Save time by repurposing pre-made sets
You can access sets that other teachers have created by utilizing the search bar at the top of the webpage when you’re logged into Quizlet. The results can be filtered by study sets, textbooks, questions, users, classes, and courses. Once you find a set you would like to use, you can easily edit and customize it to meet the needs of your content and your students. Simply share the link with students!
5. Utilize data and feedback using Class Progress (a Quizlet Plus for teachers feature)
Quizlet allows teachers to view student activity and gain data-driven insights when they use Class Progress, available to Quizlet Plus for teachers subscribers. Students must be in one of your classes for you to be able to see their progress on the assigned study sets. You can utilize this information in a variety of ways:
- Check the report to see which students are showing mastery or improvement with the learning material.
- Use this data to determine which students may need additional intervention or remediation, which students could benefit from enrichment, and which learning objectives need to be retaught or addressed with the full class during whole group instruction.
- Provide encouragement to students who might be struggling and offer praise and recognition to students who are excelling. These moments of recognition can help improve the classroom culture and build positive relationships with your students.
- Assign sets as optional homework. If students review the set using every study mode, they can earn bonus points toward test grades. This offers an incentive for students to study on their own time.
Get to know more about the Quizlet teacher toolkit and make the most of your account with the Teacher’s guide to Quizlet.
Brittanie Payne is an instructional technology coach in southeast Texas. She spent 11 years as a high school English teacher before moving into her current role. She is passionate about effective edtech and loves sharing tips with teachers on how technology can make their lives easier and engage students in academic content. When she's not working, she is floating around the pool in the backyard with a book in her hand or hanging out with her husband, 2 sons, and dog named Emalee Beatrix.