Active Learning Strategies

Applying active learning strategies are essential in achieving learning objectives and creating an environment where learners are motivated and engaged. If students are only passively listening to lectures, they are not actively learning. There are several techniques that I utilize in different situations that enhance my lectures, from questioning, breakout discussion groups, activities, games and polling to name just a few. It is important that these techniques are designed to support the learning objectives. There are times when we must apply the teacher-centered (deductive approach) when introducing new concepts and applying active learning techniques in these cases are extremely important so that the students have an opportunity to deepen their understanding in an active learning environment.

Questioning is an effective technique that can be applied in numerous ways to measure learning as it relates to Bloom’s Taxonomy which defines the hierarchy of increasing complex intellectual skills to six categories: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation. There are multitude of ways questioning can be utilized from lower cognitive questions that focus on facts, recall, knowledge to higher cognitive questions that are open-ended, interpretive, and evaluative. My preference is to engage the students in higher cognitive questioning which measures their ability to analyze, synthesize and evaluate the concepts being applied. Group discussions, activities and breakout sessions provide the opportunity for students to discuss open-ended questions and interact at a higher cognitive level.

What was most surprising to me was the results of a study facilitated by lead author Louis Deslauriers, director of science teaching and learning at Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences and senior preceptor in physics which looked at the perceptions of the learner on passive and active learning. Deslauriers’ article “Measuring Actual Learning Versus Feeling of Learning in Response to Being Actively Engaged in the Classroom" provides insight into the mind of the learner which is beneficial in understanding our learners’ perceptions. Results revealed that the students’ perceptions of how much they felt they learn in passive versus active learning did not mirror assessment results. Students believed they learned more in passive learning than from active learning, when in fact, assessment results revealed they had learnt more from active learning. Understanding students’ paradigms on passive and active learning must be considered in our planning. We can support a paradigm shift in their perspectives on active learning by sharing more on how and why active learning techniques are effective and relevant in supporting their success.