Active learning

Overview

Active Learning is the process of students engaging in practices other than passively listening to lectures in order to increase their academic intake. Though the 50-minute lecture is the dominant method for instruction, it is not necessarily the most effective. Part of the issue with this method of teaching is that it does not account for how students actually learn material (Barr & Tagg, 1995). Different activities such as reading, group activities, and discussions create useful enhancements to the tradition lecture (Faust & Paulson, 1998). The main objective of Active Learning is to promote analysis and evaluation of classroom and content, and to create an environment where students are more engaged in the material presented.

Online Resources:

• Focus Games Ltd. - A company that builds and creates board games for the classroom. 
• Promoting Active Learning - Stanford University
• Active Learning Strategies and Activities - University of Minnesota
• Techniques and Activities - California State University
• Active Learning: Creating Excitement in the Classroom. Charles C. Bonwell.
• "Twilight of the Lecture."Harvard Magazine, March-April 2013

Videos

Active Learning Instructional Activities - Doug Hemphill (1/25/2013)

• In this workshop presentation, Doug Hemphill will discuss a variety of active learning instructional activities that may be used to enhance face-to-face, blended, or online classes.

References

• Barr, R. B., & Tagg, J. (1995). From teaching to learning: A new paradigm for undergraduate education. Change, 27(6), 13-25.
• Jennifer L. Faust and Donald R. Paulson (1998), Active Learning in the College Classroom. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching. 9 (2): 3-24.