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Active Learning

Ruth Freeman

Description

Active Learning is a general concept that encompasses many particular strategies. The main goal of any active learning process is help students learn how to learn (Seaman, 1997). Active learning concepts aim to increase student participation and interest in the learning process. Students become both physically and mentally active during the teaching activity (Seaman, 1989). When students are more involved, they may feel more responsible for their learning and therefore will be more motivated to succeed.

Seaman (1989) lists some standards to follow when contemplating active learning strategies:

• "(A)pproaches must seem natural and meaningful to the adult learner." (p. 80)
• "Avoid (those) that might appear childish or irrelevant to the adult participants." (p. 80)
• Ensure enough time "is available and its use agreeable to adult participants." (p. 80)

Adult students like being in control. They don't like spending time on activities that do not have value for them. They like even less being told what to do. As instructors of adult students, it is to our advantage to offer learning activities that the student can see as useful.

Seaman (1989) offers several suggestions for active learning exercises: the in-basket exercise, simulation games, role plays, and case studies. All exercises are methods of simulating real world situations in a classroom environment. The in-basket exercise is based on the use of an employee's in-basket. Students take items from an in-basket, and must decide how to process each item as they would in a real job scenario. Simulation games, role plays, and case studies also place the student in real life situations, allowing the student to perform tasks, make mistakes, and learn from them, in a low risk environment.

Major Concepts

Active learning has evolved from the concept that traditional, lecture based teaching can be very ineffective in students actually absorbing information. Silberman (1996) cites studies that show college students in lectures are not attentive about 40% of the time, and retain only about 20% of the last ten minutes of the lecture. In addition, students with particular learning styles are limited in how much information they can process if they are not actively involved in learning. It benefits teachers to learn to teach to several (if not all) learning styles to give their students the best shot at processing and retaining what is being taught.

Relationship to Teaching Perspective

Active learning strategies can be utilized in any of the five teaching perspectives as developed by Pratt (1998/2005); however, it would be unlikely in the Transmission Perspective, which advocates more lecture-based teaching.

Benefits

Students who are engaged in the learning process are more likely to grasp what is being taught. They are more likely to retain what is being taught. They are more likely to enjoy being taught. This provides incentive to any instructor interested in the long-term learning of his/her student to investigate using active learning. While active learning is not appropriate for full time use in most classrooms, its judicious use will likely improve the learning experience of most students.

Drawbacks and Cautions

Providing active learning activities can be difficult for an instructor. Preparing and planning for the activities can be time-consuming and, in some cases, financially costly. When materials, or transportation, or teaching aids are needed for the activity, teachers may be hesitant to utilize it. Often, active learning concepts take much more time to prepare than standard lectures, and also take much more classroom time to present. Teachers already under pressure to perform and teach specific curricula may not be interested in one more thing to add to their busy schedule.

Final Thoughts

In the past, I have taught mostly from a lecture format, supplemented with examples of problems, in my Developmental Math classes. I have found a definite lack of enthusiasm in my students for this method. While many of my students are able to survive and move on, I am concerned about how much of the material they are actually retaining for the future. I am especially concerned about reaching those students who struggle more than most. I hope that utilizing more active learning activities in my classroom will invigorate these students, and help to motivate them to work harder to succeed, and will also provide the benefit of longer-lasting retention. The math concepts I teach will be needed by these students constantly in their lives. I can only hope that they will remember them long past the next test!

References

Pratt, D., & Associates. (1998/2005). Five perspectives on teaching in adult and higher education. Malabar, FL: Krieger Publishing Company.

Seaman, D. & Fellenz, R. (1989). Effective Strategies for Teaching Adults. Columbus, OH: Merrill Publishing Company.

Silberman, M. (1996). Active learning: 101 strategies to teach any subject. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Stern, D. & Huber, G. (Eds.). Active learning for students and teachers: Reports from eight countries. Frankfurt am Main: Lang.