Active Learning (15 mins)
What is Active Learning
The concept of active learning encompasses a wide variety of learning activities in which students engage with the course content. The focus of active learning is to foster that engagement. When students sit and passively watch or listen to lectures - whether in person or on video - they are not actively engaging with the content. If students are actively involved in working with the content, they will learn more, be more satisfied, and be more successful in your course.
You may have come across active learning through the Seven Principles of Undergraduate Education. Chickering and Gamson note that students "must talk about what they are learning, write about it, relate it to past experiences, apply it to their daily lives. They must make what they learn part of themselves" (p. 4).
Dee Fink (2005), a leading author in active learning, suggests thinking about active learning as the intersection of three components: (1) doing or observing, (2) information and ideas, and (3) reflective dialogue
A "rich learning experience" is an activity that aligns with both learning outcomes and assessments and provides opportunities for students to learn new concepts and skills or to practice with concepts and skills they have recently learned. Providing “hands-on” activities for students, either individually or in small groups, is an important way to both increase motivation and support learning.
Situations where students actively participate and work with the content are more effective in encouraging students to think reflectively and push their understanding of the concepts than situations where students receive information passively. Well-designed learning activities promote active learning.
An example from a Spanish class might be having students explore a local Hispanic market, observing the types of food and how it is organized, reflecting on the differences and similarities to a standard American grocery store, and connecting their reflections to course concepts about culture and its influence on shopping, cooking, and eating. In an online class, the students could share pictures or video of their exploration and their reflection with the class in a discussion forum or through a tool like FlipGrid where they can compare and contrast their experience with those of their classmates.