The Jumpstart Model: How Educators Can Help Students "Jump" Into Learning

This blog was inspired by the Jumpstart Model designed by Durham College. For full details about the model and to learn about specific examples of use, please see their webpage linked here. [1] 

Image caption: An illustration of the Jumpstart Model from Durham College. [1] This structured approach to lesson planning starts with a preliminary connection activity, followed by cyclical content and practice activities delivered in lecture, and ends off with a summary activity that ties the learning all together.  

The Jumpstart Model is an intentional structure to lesson planning that incorporates active learning activities at four specific timepoints (see figure). By structuring lessons as a four-part cycle, the model ensures that students connect with the material, understand new concepts in manageable chunks, practice their new skills, and ultimately, synthesize their learning.  

This past academic year was the first time I was exposed to the Jumpstart Model during my ANA301 course (Human Embryology, Faculty of Arts & Science, University of Toronto), taught by Dr. Danielle Bentley, and I found it to be very impactful when studying and reviewing the lecture content. Over my undergraduate career, I have identified a connection between the structure and organization of lesson plans and my academic performance in that course. While I tend to struggle in courses where the teaching style does not match the nature of the subject or students’ needs, I perform better in those that are well-structured and delivered using a variety of teaching methods, which I found the Jumpstart Model really helped with. As a student taught using this model, it made it easier to not only understand the content right away, but also to review the course material later on. 

In this blog, I will elaborate on the Jumpstart Model and its components, then showcase how the model was used in ANA301 and why I found it so helpful. This is a success story, as I was able to achieve a final grade of 99% in that course! 

Step 0: Learning Outcomes 

The Jumpstart Model is used to guide the design and delivery of an individual unit of learning. In ANA301, the individual unit was referred to as a topic (for example, Topic 9: Development of the Respiratory System). Before thinking about the model however, it’s important for the course instructor to identify the expected learning outcome(s) for the individual unit (ie. what should the students take away from the lesson?). This is a critical step as all the learning activities incorporated as part of the Jumpstart Model should connect back to the learning outcomes.  

Step 1: Connection Activities 

The goal of the Jumpstart Model is to align those learning objectives you identified to appropriate activities for each of the four timepoints: connection, content, practice, and summary. To start, you’ll want to select and design at least one connection activity, which should be implemented either in advance of, or at the beginning of the lesson. The connection activity should actively draw on the students’ existing knowledge as well as spark their interest; essentially, you want to “hook” your students! This will not only help engage your students right as the lecture starts but will also help them process and integrate new information more efficiently. Sample connection activities include group discussion questions, recent news and media, relevant videos, or clinical case scenarios. From my experience in ANA301, an effective connection activity that I enjoyed was the “crash course” in relevant adult anatomy that was presented before we got into the embryological storylines of development. For me, these really connected the new topic to my background knowledge as a physiology major. Ultimately, the “crash course” connection activity made learning the associated embryological development of the organ system much easier because I already had a good understanding of the different structures and what they should look like in the adult.  

Steps 2 and 3: Content and Practice Activities 

After your connection activity is finalized, you’ll want to select and design both content and practice activities. It’s better to think about these two types of learning activities at the same time as they complement each other and are often delivered in parallel during lectures. The content activities are used to teach a subtopic of the lesson to the students, and can include readings, guest speakers, infographics, 3D models in anatomy, as well as videos. By splitting the content into smaller chunks of material delivered through various modalities, students are less likely to be overwhelmed. This can be especially important in a content-heavy course like embryology. Personally, I preferred the in-person lectures of ANA301 because I was able to directly interact with the professor to clarify points of confusion. Alternatively, I cannot have the same level of interactivity during virtual sessions and asynchronous activities such as assigned textbook readings.  

Content activities and practice activities complement each other; the practice activity is an opportunity for students to reflect on and apply new knowledge from the content activity. Practice activities may also serve as an opportunity for students to self-identify areas of confusion and to help them effectively allocate their study time appropriately. Practice activities should require students to actively think in real-time, make sense of the content, and do something with the information. Course instructors can deliver practice activities in the form of directed paraphrasing of certain concepts, self-test activities, practice questions taken up as a class, clinical case scenarios, or even in-class debates. In embryology, I found that directed paraphrasing was an effective practice activity that supported my learning best. The course had a lot of content, so having the opportunity to explain these developmental processes in my own words, while being able to work with my peers in class, was very helpful in building my understanding and confidence on these topics. It also helped me build connections with my classmates and meet new friends! 

Step 4: Summary Activities 

By now, each subtopic of the lesson should have a corresponding content activity and practice activity. The only thing missing is something to tie it all together: a summary activity. There should be at least one overall summary activity at the end of the individual unit to connect all the subtopics together and circle them back to the original learning outcomes. This is another way for the students to self-assess their understanding of the content and to help them get a perspective of the bigger picture. It is recommended that the summary activity mimic a summative evaluation (ex. term test, final exam) to help students evaluate their preparedness for actual course assessments. Practice test questions/mock tests, muddiest point reflections, and one sentence summaries are examples of summary activities. In my embryology course, the instructor had the students create a longitudinal timeline of all the embryological events together as a summary activity. Having one single timeline that was regularly updated was a great way to encourage students to see how different storylines of development are all aligned, creating one cohesive story. Though my favourite summary activity in ANA301 was the online topic quizzes, which allowed for unlimited attempts, because I felt that I was able to assess my overall understanding of the topic in a low-stakes environment without stressing about the grade. 

The Jumpstart Model in Action

The Jumpstart Model was thoughtfully utilized throughout ANA301H1: Human Embryology, taught by Dr. Danielle Bentley. The course runs for one semester and is delivered as a sequential series of topics that are taught over one or two 2-hr lectures. As a former ANA301 student, I found the course to be a very enjoyable learning experience because the lessons were planned very intentionally. My personal studying method involves going over every lesson in full detail, so I find it very important for the content and delivery to be well-structured. I also love being provided with a lot of opportunities to practice the knowledge being taught in class. I appreciated the practice activities throughout ANA301, with in-class concept checks, directed paraphrasing activities, practice questions, topic quizzes, and purposeful peer discussions as part of the Jumpstart Model’s practice and summary activities. Seeing positive feedback (ex. getting 100% on the associated topic quiz after studying) was beneficial in helping me build confidence in my test-taking abilities and in my understanding of the material. The last thing I want to do is second-guess myself on the actual examination. In addition, the connection activities in ANA301 helped me learn by connecting new topics to my existing knowledge; it makes remembering new material much easier! The Jumpstart Model is very flexible in accommodating different learning preferences among students and different teaching contexts, as there are many options for learning activities that can be used at each of the four timepoints regardless of delivery method (in-person or virtual, synchronous or asynchronous). 

But ultimately, there is no gold-standard for how content should be taught and how students should learn. Everyone has their own preferences; the Jumpstart Model might work wonderfully for some educators, but others may wish to adapt it to suit their own classroom's needs. It is most important that a balance be found that works for both the educator and the students. One of the joys of teaching is that it is personal; make it your own, put a little bit of your own personal flair into it, ask for student feedback, learn from it, and let the process evolve. Chances are that authenticity will only enrich the experience for everyone.

1. The Jumpstart Model. Durham College, https://durhamcollege.ca/ctl/teaching/planning- to-teach/jumpstart-model/ (n.d).