AHU Definition of Active Learning
Active learning is an approach that engages students to participate in the learning process to expand their knowledge by thinking, discussing, investigating, and creating.
Definitions from other publications:
"Active learning engages students in the process of learning through activities and/or discussion in class, as opposed to passively listening to an expert. It emphasizes high-order thinking and often involves group work" (Freeman, et al., 2004).
Source: Freeman, S., Eddy, S.L., McDonough, M., Smith, M.K., Okoroafor, N., Jordt, H., and Wenderoth, M.P. (2014). Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 111, 8410-8415.
“Instructional activities involving students in doing things and thinking about what they are doing” (Bonwell and Eison, 1991).
Source; Bonwell, C. C., and Eison, J.A. (1991). Active learning: creating excitement in the classroom. ASH#-ERIC Higher Education Report No. 1, Washington, D.C.: The George Washington University, School of Education and Human Development.
University of Minnesota
Here are some links to other colleges and universities "active learning" information and ideas for implementation.
Engaging Students As Partners in Learning and Teaching by A guide to developing productive student-faculty partnerships in higher education Student-faculty partnerships is an innovation that is gaining traction on campuses across the country. There are few established models in this new endeavor, however. Engaging Students as Partners in Learning and Teaching: A Guide for Faculty offers administrators, faculty, and students both the theoretical grounding and practical guidelines needed to develop student-faculty partnerships that affirm and improve teaching and learning in higher education. Provides theory and evidence to support new efforts in student-faculty partnerships Describes various models for creating and supporting such partnerships Helps faculty overcome some of the perceived barriers to student-faculty partnerships Suggests a range of possible levels of partnership that might be appropriate in different circumstances Includes helpful responses to a range of questions as well as advice from faculty, students, and administrators who have hands-on experience with partnership programs Balancing theory, step-by-step guidelines, expert advice, and practitioner experience, this book is a comprehensive why- and how-to handbook for developing a successful student-faculty partnership program.
Engaging the Online Learner : Activities and Resources for Creative Instruction by This is a revision of the first title in Jossey-Bass' Online Teaching & Learning series. This series helps higher education professionals improve the practice of online teaching and learning by providing concise, practical resources focused on particular areas or issues they might confront in this new learning environment. This revision includes updated activities and resources for instructors teaching online. Based on changes in technology and best practices learned from the field the revision provides new information for even seasoned online instructors.
Hitting Pause : 65 lecture breaks to refresh and reinforce learning First edition. by Pauses constitute a simple technique for enlivening and enhancing the effectiveness of lectures, or indeed of any form of instruction, whether a presentation or in an experiential setting. This book presents the evidence and rationale for breaking up lectures into shorter segments by using pauses to focus attention, reinforce key points, and review learning. It also provides 65 adaptable pause ideas to use at the opening of class, mid-way through, or as closers. Starting with brain science research on attention span and cognitive load, Rice bases her book on two fundamental principles: shorter segments of instruction are better than longer ones, and learners who actively participate in instruction learn better than those who don't. Pausing helps teachers apply these principles and create student engagement without requiring major changes in their lesson plans. With careful planning, they can integrate pauses into learning sessions with ease and significantly reinforce student learning. They will also gain feedback on students' comprehension. Rice sets out the characteristics of good pauses, gives advice on how to plan them and how to introduce them to maximum effect. She provides compelling examples and concludes with a repertory of pauses readers can easily modify and apply to any discipline. This book contains a compendium of strategies that any teacher can fruitfully use to reinforce learning, as well as a stepping stone to those seeking to transition to more active learning methods. It: * Makes the case for using pauses * Identifies the primary functions of pauses: focusing, refocusing, enhancing retention, or closing off the learning experience * Provides research evidence from cognitive science and educational psychology * Provides practical guidance for creating quick active learning breaks * Distinguishes between starting, middle, and closing pauses * Includes descriptions, with suggested applications, of 65 pauses
Let the Games Begin! : engaging students with field-tested interactive Information Literacy Instruction by The value of games in teaching and learning has been well-documented in research in education. Here are sixty field-tested games that teach information literacy skills using fun, interactive activities at a variety of skill and knowledge levels. You'll find card games and Jeopardy games, games that involve individual and group work, clickers, white boards, chalk boards, running around the library, and moving around the classroom. Editor Theresa McDevitt has picked 60 of the absolute best ones, all field-tested, from colleges and universities across the country. Examples include: Let's Play Information Jeopardy Library Mystery Scavenger Hunt Name that LCSH! Biggest Researcher Competition YouTube Detectives Twitter and Tagging Your search Paper Quality Counts Pick a Periodical Details for each game are provided, including: objectives; information literacy standards addressed; audience (size, educational level); time required; materials and equipment - including prize suggestions; area setup; preparation; game instructions and processes. With this step-by-step creative guide, instructors will be able to confidently create information literacy instruction sessions that will break the mold, engaging students in learning that is both highly educational and highly enjoyable.
Learner Centered Teaching : Putting the Research on Learning Into Practice by This book presents the research-based case that Learner Centered Teaching (LCT) offers the best means to optimize student learning in college, and offers examples and ideas for putting it into practice, as well the underlying rationale. It also starts from the premise that many faculty are much closer to being learner centered teachers than they think, but don't have the full conceptual understanding of the process to achieve its full impact. There is sometimes a gap between what we would like to achieve in our teaching and the knowledge and strategies needed to make it happen. LCT keeps all of the good features of a teacher-centered approach and applies them in ways that are in better harmony with how our brains learn. It, for instance, embraces the teacher as expert as well as the appropriate use of lecture, while also offering new, effective ways to replace practices that don't optimizing student learning. Neuroscience, biology and cognitive science research have made it clear that it is the one who does the work who does the learning. Many faculty do too much of the work for their students, which results in diminished student learning. To enable faculty to navigate this shift, Terry Doyle presents an LCT-based approach to course design that draws on current brain research on cognition and learning; on addressing the affective concerns of students; on proven approaches to improve student's comprehension and recall; on transitioning from "teller of knowledge" to a "facilitator of learning"; on the design of authentic assessment strategies - such as engaging students in learning experiences that model the real world work they will be asked to do when they graduate; and on successful communication techniques. The presentation is informed by the questions and concerns raised by faculty from over sixty colleges with whom Terry Doyle has worked; and on the response from an equal number of regional, national and international conferences at which he has presented on topics related to LCT.
Teaching As the Art of Staging by College teachers all too often still play Sage on the Stage - lecturing to rooms full of passive and supposedly absorbed students. The cutting-edge opposite is still supposed to be the Guide on the Side - facilitating wherever students themselves are already going, mentoring and coaching them along the way. But who says that these are the only - or the best - alternatives? This book advances another and sharply different model: the Impresario with a Scenario, a teacher who serves as class mobilizer, improviser, and energizer, staging dramatic, often unexpected and self-unfolding learning challenges and adventures with students. In this book, the author argues that to pose a single alternative to lecturing is profoundly limiting. In fact, he says there is no reason to have to choose between "student-centered" and "teacher-centered" pedagogies. The best ways to teach and learn are both. The same applies to the false choice between "active" students and "active" teachers - there can be more than enough activity for everyone. In particular, the author argues that we need a model in which the teacher is notably pro-active - a kind of activity for which certain theatrical metaphors seem especially appropriate. Picture a college teacher who regularly sets up classroom scenarios - challenging problems, unscripted dramas, role-plays, simulations, and the like - such that the scenario itself frames and drives most of the action and learning that follows. For teaching as staging, the primary work of the teacher is staging such scenarios. The basic goal is to put students into an urgently engaging and self-unfolding scenario, trusting them to carry it forward, while being prepared to join in as needed. This book offers a conceptual and practical framework for Teaching as Staging, grounding the approach with illustrative and sometimes provocative narrative from the literature as well as the author's own practice. Teaching as the Art of Stagingoffers a visionary challenge to the prevailing models of pedagogy. The book presents a thoroughly practical model that opens up new possibilities for anyone interested in dramatic new directions in teaching and learning.
Teaching for Learning : 101 intentionally designed education activities to put students on the path to success by Despite a growing body of research on teaching methods, instructors lack a comprehensive resource that highlights and synthesizes proven approaches. Teaching for Learningfills that gap. Each of the one hundred and one entries: describes an approach and lists its essential features and elements demonstrates how that approach has been used in education, including specific examples from different disciplines reviews findings from the research literature describes techniques to improve effectiveness. Teaching for Learning provides instructors with a resource grounded in the academic knowledge base, written in an easily accessible, engaging, and practical style. P>Click on BOOKS on the Faculty Development : Teaching and Learning Resource Guide.