Active Learning
One of the key ways that LAs in the classroom benefit students is by fostering active learning. By having an LA in your classroom, you increase the instructor:student ratio, which allows you to manage your classroom while engaging students in active learning. With that in mind, it’s important to consider the ways in which you can transform your classroom using active learning methods.
What is active learning?
Active learning is a model of instruction that emphasizes engagement with and critical thinking about the material and concepts taught in a course. In a classroom with active learning, students answer questions during lectures, discuss problems with their classmates, and apply their knowledge to examples or case studies. Active learning challenges students to use what they’ve learned, which provides context and practice, and keeps them focused and interested.
Active learning is also often defined by what it is not: the traditional lecture model, in which the instructor gives a lecture, and students listen and take notes. While classrooms with active learning often to have instructors lecturing and students taking notes, a significant portion of class time is dedicated to other activities.
How do we know it works?
There is evidence showing that active learning techniques are much more effective than traditional techniques when it comes to student learning. Dropping and failure rates are decreased in courses that use active learning techniques,[4] and the use of pre- and post-testing has also shown improved learning in courses with active learning components.[2,4,6] Additionally, student satisfaction is much higher,[1, 6] which is crucial to retaining students in your given discipline.[2,5]
What are ways I can introduce active learning into my classroom?
Richard Felder and Rebecca Brent defined active learning activities very well: “Active learning is anything course-related that all students in a class session are called upon to do other than simply watching, listening and taking notes.”[3] The examples we can provide are only a few methods you can use in your course, and we encourage you to consider or create other activities that might promote active learning that fit well into your course’s framework, or that are applicable to your discipline.
Think-pair-share/peer instruction: Students are given a question, which they spend a short amount of time considering on their own. Then, they pair up with the person next to them and discuss the answer to their question. Did they get the same answer? If yes, how did they arrive at it? If not, what’s the right answer? Then, students share their answers and reasoning with the class, and the instructor ends the activity by explaining the correct answer (and why some answers are incorrect).
In a large classroom, peer instruction works well with clicker questions, especially since instructors can show the results of the clicker responses after the initial “think” portion of the activity. It is recommended that you spend some time considering which wrong answers to include as options for your clicker question, not to trick students, but to address misconceptions they might have; this way, peer instruction works to correct those misconceptions.
Minute papers: Typically at the end of class, students are encouraged to write for approximately one minute (sometimes longer) in response to a specific question relating to the subject material, or write about their feelings and thoughts on the material in general. Minute papers provide excellent feedback for instructors, who can see how well or poorly students understood certain concepts, and they give students an opportunity to reflect on their knowledge and understanding. While credit might be given for writing a minute paper and participating in the activity, minute papers are typically ungraded.
Worksheets: Students can answer questions given in class, either alone, with a partner, or in small groups, giving them a chance to practice applying the material they’ve learned in lecture. Worksheets are especially helpful in courses in which students find themselves unsure of how to apply the material they’ve learned, and they are often easy to fit into lectures. Worksheets can involve any number of activities, such as doing problems (e.g. in physics or genetics), answering short open-ended questions, or creating concept maps.
In-class discussions and debates: Not only do debates and discussions let students apply their knowledge, but by talking out concepts with their peers, students can also work to clear up their own misconceptions about the material. Discussions and debates often require some organization on the part of the instructor, and more preparation on the part of the students, but students are often much more engaged with the material when they have to formulate their own opinions and defend them.
Problem-based learning: Students are presented with a real-life (or realistic), open-ended problem that needs solving, and they need to apply the knowledge from the course in order to come up with a solution. Problem-based learning can take the form of an in-class debate in which students are divided into different stakeholder groups, or it can take the form of having students research a topic of interest and write up a presentation with their potential solution.
Citations:
1. Armbruster P, Patel M, Johnson E, and Weiss M. 2009. Active learning and student-centered pedagogy improve student attitudes and performance in introductory biology. CBE Life Sci Edu 8(3):203-213. doi:10.1187/cbe.09-03-0025 [Full Text]
2. Deslauriers L, Schelew E, and Wieman C. 2011. Improved learning in a large-enrollment physics class. Science 332(6031):862-864. doi:10.1126/science.1201783 [Full Text]
3. Felder RM and Brent R. 2009. Active learning: an introduction. ASQ Higher Education Brief 2(4). [Full Text]
4. Freeman S, Eddy SL, McDonough M, Smith MK, Okoroafor N, Jordt H, and Wenderoth MP. 2014. Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics. PNAS 111(23):8410-8415. doi:10.1073/pnas.131903111 [Full Text]
5. Graham MJ, Frederick J, Byars-Winston A, Hunter AB, and Handelsman J. 2013. Increasing persistence of college students in STEM. Science 341(6153):1455-1456. doi:10.1126/science.1240487 [Full Text]
6. Stockwell BR, Stockwell MS, Cennamo M, and Jiang E. 2015. Blended learning improves science education. Cell 162(5):933-936. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2015.08.009 [Full Text]
