Designing for active learning

Introducing active learning activities can be challenging for students and teachers. Various disciplines, and even different teachers, may approach embedding activities into their classes differently.

One suggestion is to view the active learning process in three stages:

1. Begin with a brief explanation (E) of why the learning is important and explain the context (the theory and content). 
   This may include watching a video, doing an icebreaker or reading an article. Students might be asked to consider why the topic is important.
2. Introduce and implement the activity (A).
   Give clear instructions and monitor the class’ level of engagement. Note: the activity could be as simple as asking questions to individual students in a large lecture, or more involved, such as working in teams during a tutorial or lab.
3. Summarise (S) and share the outcomes of the activity. 
   Summarising the main points of the explanation, and drawing on the outcomes of the activity, supports the students to understand the material being presented. Ask groups or individuals to share their findings and then recap what has been learned.

This process can be repeated with a follow-up activity, which would usually involve deeper levels of inquiry or engagement with the content. This cycle can be sandwiched with an introduction and conclusion involving feedback, as shown in the figure showing an example of a tutorial structure.

Including active learning strategies also requires a certain degree of flexibility. When students become deeply engaged in an activity, you may choose to spend longer than initially planned. Therefore, when using active learning in class, it's a good idea to have several activities planned, but allow some flexibility in when to cut activities short or when to pursue those activities that are stretching students' interest or engagement in the topic.

Now complete the activity on the next page.

 

 

Image source: University of Wollongong