1 Theme: According to Baldick, a theme may be defined as âa salient abstract idea that emerges from a literary workâs treatment of its subject-matter; or a topic recurring in a number or literary worksâ (Baldick 258). 2  Themes in literature tend to differ depending on author, time period, genre, style, purpose, etc.
Active Learning. Active learning is any activity that allows students to engage the course materials during instruction so that the teacher and the student can ascertain the students' mastery of the materials and adjust the instruction to facilitate further learning.
Dr. Felder has made two active learning videos that he uses in the teaching workshops he gives with Rebecca Brent. One is a 12-minute video in which he explains what active learning is and why it works and shows several illustrative clips of its use in a 125-student engineering class.