Active Learning
Active Learning
- Meaningful engagement in learning experiences
- Emphasizes authentic learning experiences
- More than Q & As and small group discussions
- Specific to course learning outcomes/goals
- Purposeful
- Contextualized (enhances meaningfulness)
- On a continuum from simple to complex (see Bloom’s Revised & Digitalized Taxonomy)
- Self-directed (strong intellectual engagement)
- Individual and/or small group oriented
- Student-centered (uses scaffolding, universally designed)
- Includes reflection or debriefs (metacognition)
Using Active Learning in Your Course
- Have a clear outcome/goal
- Ensure you communicate outcome/goal to your students
- Breaking the learning experience into sub goals can communicate degree of progress & success to the students
- You may want to map out possible pathways to attain stated outcome with sub-outcomes
- Multi-outcome activities can be beneficial
- More effective if working toward more complex capabilities (see Bloom’s Revised & Digitalized Taxonomy)
- Have a clear and realistic time frame
- Segment the task & time frame to help keep groups on task & progressing effectively
- Check-in to determine each group’s progress
- Asking groups to share their discoveries, creations, questions, determinations, etc. can be meaningful
- Provide a pre-class activity that will assist in preparing the students for the active learning experience(s)
- Ensure the necessary resources are readily accessible
- Use with individuals or small groups 2-5
- Determine if this experience will be assessed and graded
- If so, how and when?
- If using a rubric or rating scale, provide prior to the start of class
- Ensure you schedule time 10-15 mins) to debrief as groups & whole class (if not too
big)
- Reflect on discoveries/learning
- Identify effective active learning/group strategies for next active learning episode
- This can be the most valuable part of the entire experience!
General Active Learning Example
- Context:
- 30 health science students organized into 10 groups of 3
- Students will view videos, images and read brief case files of 10 different patients
- Class period – 90 mins
- Pre-class Activity:
- Review normal cardiovascular health and function
- Describe the normal blood clot function
- Goal: Students will be able to differentiate between patients with/without blood clots
- Sub-goal 1. Construct a list of symptoms for abnormal blood clot
- Sub-goal 2. Identify high-risk events and other factors which make a person more susceptible to blood clots
- Sub-goal 3. Create a sequenced blood clot symptom checklist/questionnaire
- Once this has been approved by the instructor students will have access to the patient data for review and evaluation
- Assessment/Grading:
- Rating scale (0-5) for
- Each sub-goal, focused on theÌýappropriate comprehensiveness and sequence of each list and questionnaire - 40%
- Accurate and appropriate application of the created checklist/questionnaire - 25%
- Accurate identification patients with blood clot symptoms - 25%
- Analyzes and adjusts symptom checklist/questionnaire - 10%\
- Rating scale (0-5) for
- Debrief Activities:
- Randomly swap each group’s symptom checklist/questionnaire and have the groups analyze and determine strengths and ways to improve
- Randomly swap each group’s symptom checklist/questionnaire and have the groups apply it to a specific set of patient dataÌýand determine strengths and ways to improve
- Standard debrief questions...
- What worked well?
- What would you do differently next time?
- What key concepts, skills or ideas did you learn?
Toward an Active Learning Ecosystem
Wright, R. (November 28, 2017). . EDUCAUSE Virtual Webinar
- Students
- Develop sophisticated strategies to find and evaluate the information they need
- Will be able to write their own learning objectives
- With their teachers understand and use cognitive science to improve learning
- Find support for the social and emotional aspects of learning
- Are empowered, trained, and supported to ask important, unanswered questions
- Do the authentic work of the discipline
- Contribute to human knowledge
- Move toward becoming the best version of themselves as human beings
- Each class in an active learning ecosystem will be an idea incubator/maker-space, where students and teachers collaborate, challenge, and inspire one another to solve real problems
Just in Time Teaching (JiTT)
- Is a teaching approach developed to increase student engagement in the classroom
- It provides structure to the outside-of-class time for the students
- Uses the web to initiate thought, discussion and create a baseline of knowledge, skills
and/or capabilities to increase active learning during the class meetings
- Transfers the responsibility for learning to the student
- According to Middendorf and Novak, (2004). JiTT web-based learning materials are one
or more of the following categories:
- Student assignments/activities (warm-ups, puzzles, etc.)
- Enrichment pages (multimedia, readings, webpages, research, etc.)
- Instructional activities, analyses, simulations, data, etc.
- It also provides the instructor with a guide on what experiences should be the focus of the class meeting
For more on JiTT
Ìý
Ìý
- – Vanderbilt University
- – Project Kaleidoscope
- – SERC Carleton College
More Active Learning Resources
- - Cornel UniversityÌý
- - Harvard University
- - University of MichiganÌýÌý
- - Vanderbilt University
- -ÌýSan Francisco State UniversityÌý
- More on Questioning
- Universal Design for Learning and Instruction
References
Novak, G, Patterson, E.T., Gavrin, A.D., and Christian, W. (1999).ÌýJust-In-Time Teaching: Blending Active Learning with Web Technology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Novak, G. and Middendorf, J. (2004) . In:ÌýVolume IV - What Works, What Matters, What Lasts. Project Kaleidoscope.
Patterson, E. (2004). In Invention and impact: Building excellence in undergraduate science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education 49-54. American Association for the Advancement of Science