Active Learning
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Simply giving a lecture to students or delivering content by utilizing one instructional method does not provide learners with opportunities to inquire, apply, and contextualize their learning. A task or concept should be modelled to students. They then need to be given opportunities to practice and actively engage with new knowledge through hands-on learning tasks. In doing so, we allow them to participate in generating their own understanding of content and concepts. As a result, learners will recognize how it is relevant as it is applied. Once students practice and employ new knowledge, they will ultimately be able to think in new ways and exercise creativity. |
According to Michigan State's College of Education National Center for Research on Teacher Learning (n.d.):
In response to criticisms of K-12 education and the education of teachers, educational reformers advocate a kind of classroom discourse that promotes the active engagement with ideas that can lead students to make knowledge their own. Mere regurgitation of facts and figures, without a deep rooting in the reasoning behind such information, is not sufficient for in-depth understanding. Educational reformers want students to learn how to pose questions, construct their own interpretations and ideas, and clarify and elaborate upon the ideas of others (p.1).
Students are more engaged when they become more autonomous in learning and take charge of actively completing a task while utilizing creativity. As students become more comfortable within their learning communities, they will be able to develop and build these skills to enhance learning.
To read more about active learning from this article, visit How Teachers Learn to Engage Students in Active Learning.
National Center for Research on Teacher Learning College of Education, Michigan State University. (n.d.). How teachers learn to engage students in active learning. Retrieved from http://ncrtl.msu.edu/http/teachers.pdf