Active Learning

What is Active Learning?    

Teaching for active learning is a teaching approach in which the instructor designs and implements classroom activities around new knowledge to be learned. These learning activities offer students an ongoing opportunity to engage with the new knowledge during the lesson/unit/course. Engagement consist of traditional information transfer by reading and lectures, followed by in and out of the classroom activities in which the newly learned concepts are connected to student’s existing knowledge -knowledge students already have learned about, have analyzed, applied, and evaluated.  The activities are designed such that students make connections to their own previously learned knowledge and then expand that knowledge by problem solving and critical thinking about related newly learned concepts. In this approach, the learning activities are designed for both individual work and group work. The instructor guides students in their learning of the course content as well as the students’ learning process. Typically, teaching for active learning is aimed at multiple learning domains.

Unlike the case of more traditional teaching, teaching for active learning aims to promote learning beyond the cognitive domain, labeled by L. Dee Fink as the Foundational Knowledge dimension. Teaching for active learning targets learning for the application and integration of this foundational knowledge, as well as learning in the Learning-How-to-Learn Dimension, the Human Dimension and the Caring dimension (Fink, 2003).

Why is it Important?  

An increasing number of studies conclude that lecturing as the only instructional technique is not the most effective teaching method in higher education. The method of teaching in which students are expected to learn by listening to lectures is based on the centuries-old misconception that the student is an empty vessel that needs to be filled with knowledge.

While since the beginning of the art and science of teaching, there have been progressive educators who have refuted this idea, 20th and 21th century studies in both cognitive science and neuroscience indicate that, instead of being a passive listener, people learn best when they are actively engaged with new knowledge.

These studies describe how certain classroom activities through which the students process information from lectures, textbooks, and other sources, lead to higher achievement of critical thinking skills, motivation and satisfaction, and retention of that knowledge. In addition, research shows that teaching for active learning is especially beneficial for underrepresented students (www.nytimes.com/2015/09/13/opinion/sunday/are-college-lectures-unfair).

A Few Examples of Active Learning 

When targeting developing discussion skills

Round Robin: At the beginning of teaching about a new concept/module/chapter etc., guide students to tap into the knowledge they already have by asking each student to give one word that immediately comes to their mind when they hear the new concept or topic. Tell the students that there are no right or wrong words. Going around the class, one after the other the students say their word while the instructor or a student helper writes each word on the white board. When every student had a turn, the instructor guides students to look at the list, maybe elaborates about one or two, and points out that there already is a lot of knowledge about the upcoming new topic. This activity shows students that what they learn is connected to some things they already know, and that their previous knowledge counts. It prepares the students’ cognition and brain for new connections to be made.

Online: Direct students to mentimeter.com to produce word clouds. Set up a word cloud, by creating a question students answer with one word. Students may use their mobile device. The more a same word is typed in the larger it will appear in the word cloud.

When targeting developing reciprocal learning 

One of the best ways for students to learn is through student teaching each other. Here is an activity which improves student’s note taking skills as well as student’s command of new knowledge.

Note-taking Pairs: Before a lecture, video, reading, instruct students to take notes. After the lecture, video, reading, assign student pairs. Instruct students to alternate going over sections of the notes. While going over a section, one students shows their notes to discuss, while the partner comments, asks questions, adds information. After one section, students turn to the partner, going over his/her notes, commenting on them and adding to improve the notes. Students may submit the collaborative effort and the instructor may correct where necessary.

Online: Synchronous: create breakout rooms for the pairs in Zoom. Students take a picture of their handwritten notes, or share their notes in Word by sharing their screens. The same exchange as in-person takes place.

Asynchronous: students submit their notes to the instructor who then creates pairs. Within a set period of time, the partners review each other’s notes, and submit their comments. This may be followed by a synchronous meeting to discuss the comments.

When targeting developing problem-solving skills  

Problem solving is one of the higher-level thinking skills that students need to develop while in college, to prepare them for further studies and the working world.

Structured Problem Solving: The instructor creates (or finds online) scenarios that are examples of real-life situations in which application of the new knowledge is necessary. The instructor then discusses the different standard steps students have to take in order to engage with a problem: The Dewey Six-Step Problem Solving Technique is an example: Identify the problem, generate possible solutions, evaluate and test the various solutions, decide on a mutually acceptable solution, implement the solution, evaluate the solution. The instructor assigns small student groups, and guides the students in their problem-solving process, regularly leading students through simple classroom assessment techniques to assess and keep the students on target. Final products could be written assignments as journals papers, and portfolios, ideally followed by presentations to the whole class. The instructor grades the work by using a rubric for college problem solving. Online: students communicate synchronously through meetings in Zoom and asynchronously using Blackboard Discussion and the assignment box.

References:

Annink, Carolien. (2021). Collaborative and active learning techniques. Montgomery College. Academy for Teaching Transformation. Workshop series.

Barkley, Elizabeth E. K. Patricia Cross & Claire Howell Major. (2005). Collaborative learning techniques: A handbook for college faculty.

Fink, L. Dee. (2003) WHAT IS ”’SIGNIFICANT LEARNING”?

New York Times.(2015).  Are college lectures unfair? (www.nytimes.com/2015/09/13/opinion/sunday/are-college-lectures-unfair).

Suggested strategy: Jigsaw