SECTION 2
Active Learning
What is active learning?
Active learning is anything course-related that students in a class session
are called on to do other than simply watching and listening to a lecture
and taking notes.
Structures and formats of activities in active learning
Three basic active learning formats:
• Individual exercises
• Small-group exercises
• Think-pair-share
How Well Does Active Learning Work? Why Does It Work?
• Active learning reduces the
cognitive load on working
memory, making retention
and storage of new
information more likely.
• Learning requires
attentiveness. It is difficult
or impossible for students
to pay attention to anything
for very long while they are
passive.
Cognitive Load & Resource Allocation in the Human Cognitive Architecture
Mistake
How to avoid the mistake
1. Plunge into active learning
with no explanation
Explain what you are going to
do and why it is in the
students’ best interests.
2. Expect all students to
eagerly get into groups the first
time you ask them to.
Be proactive with reluctant
students in the first few group
activities you contact.
3. Make activities trivial
Make active learning tasks
challenging enough to justify
the time it takes to do them.
4. Make activities too long,
such as assigning and entire
problem in a single activity.
Keep activities short and
focuses (5 sec. to 3 mins.)
Break large problems into small
chunks.
5. Call for volunteers after
every activity.
After some activities, call
randomly on individuals or
groups to report their results.
6. Fall into a predictable
routine
Vary the formats and lengths of
activities and the intervals
between them.
Six mistakes to avoid
when you use active learning
Common Active Learning Concerns
Faculty members who have never tried active learning—and some who
have tried it—commonly express concerns as followings:
• I'll never be able to cover my syllabus if I have to spend all that time
on activities.
• If I use active learning, I'll have to spend lots of time designing
activities.
• The noise level will get out of hand, and I'll waste a lot of time getting
the students' attention back.
• Some students will refuse to get into groups.
• Students will complain that I'm not doing my job, and my student
ratings will plummet.