{"id":4424,"date":"2021-03-02T11:55:58","date_gmt":"2021-03-02T16:55:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/content.principia.edu\/teaching-excellence\/?p=4424"},"modified":"2021-03-02T11:56:22","modified_gmt":"2021-03-02T16:56:22","slug":"active-learning-strategies-the-act-of-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/content.principia.edu\/teaching-excellence\/active-learning-strategies-the-act-of-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"Active Learning Strategies \u2013 the act of learning"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"4424\" class=\"elementor elementor-4424\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-55a26e4 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"55a26e4\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-d653875\" data-id=\"d653875\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-24f2414 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"24f2414\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Active Learning Strategies \u2013 the act of learning<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-35332ae9 elementor-section-stretched elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"35332ae9\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;stretch_section&quot;:&quot;section-stretched&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-6acfe38a\" data-id=\"6acfe38a\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-066e2d5 elementor-section-full_width elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"066e2d5\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-a397c7d\" data-id=\"a397c7d\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3a0530b5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"3a0530b5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The last two sessions of the New and Visiting Faculty Learning Community have focused on active learning strategies. One definition from <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/ctl\/guides\/active-learning\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Boston University<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> describes active learning as \u201ci<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">nstructional strategies that promote students\u2019 active participation in constructing knowledge. Strategies are often hands-on activities, brief writing and discussion assignments, problem solving tasks, information gathering and synthesis, question generation, and reflection-based activities, among others.\u201d<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are a few notable things I learned while preparing for sharing about active learning strategies:\u00a0<\/span><\/p><ul><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Student Motivation<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Bowen &amp; Watson (2017) explain why we, as faculty who love the learning process, don\u2019t often feel the same kind of engagement from students that we felt <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">as students<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. As faculty, we <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">choose<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to be in this learning environment and are excited about it! Utilizing active learning strategies helps motivate and engage students who may not necessarily consider themselves \u201cgood\u201d students or may be questioning being in college.\u00a0<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Mistakes to Avoid<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Felder &amp; Brent (2016) have shared six common mistakes often made when incorporating active learning into our pedagogy. Check out the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stanford Tomorrow Professor<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/tomprof.stanford.edu\/posting\/1491\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">blog<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> about these mistakes and how to avoid them. There are several other articles about active learning on this same <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/tomprof.stanford.edu\/all-postings?title=active+learning&amp;tid=All&amp;field_message_number_value=\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">blogsite<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Preparing Students for Active Learning<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. It\u2019s unproductive to suddenly incorporate an active learning strategy into our class sessions out of the blue and expect a great reception from students. According to Bean (2011), for students to engage and feel comfortable with an active learning strategy (which usually means asking for more active participation on their part) they need to be prepped and informed about what is happening and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">why<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, so they are prepared to engage and will feel comfortable doing so. This means we need to let students know what we\u2019re up to.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Worth the Effort<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. To incorporate active learning well takes more prep time and more class time than we may be used to; yet it\u2019s worth the effort &#8212; data in many studies has shown that engaging students in active learning strategies provides ways for students to make deeper connections and think more critically about the content.\u00a0<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Assessment and Reflection<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Formative assessment of students and your own reflection after introducing an active learning strategy are keys to making it work, and to work better when used repeatedly. See these past Teaching Tips blogs for more ideas about <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/content.principia.edu\/teaching-excellence\/any-questions\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">assessment<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/content.principia.edu\/teaching-excellence\/sometimes-you-just-need-to-stop-and-check-in\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">reflection<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li><\/ul><p><a href=\"http:\/\/content.principia.edu\/teaching-excellence\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/handout-interactive-techniques.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This document<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, containing hundreds of ideas for different types of active learning strategies was shared with our learning community by\u00a0 Principia Educational Studies professor Carol Burbee. She describes active learning as \u201cmaking students\u2019 thinking visible.\u201d There will be more from Carol on this topic posted soon.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One final note: active learning strategies engage students in the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">act of learning<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. It\u2019s worth a try since that is what we are all about! I encourage you to share your experiences with active learning in the comments section below.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bean, J.C. (2011).<i> Engaging Ideas: The Professor\u2019s Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom. <\/i>(2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bowen, J. A., &amp; Watson, E. C. (2017). <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Teaching Naked Techniques: A Practical Guide to Designing Better Classes<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (1st ed.). Jossey-Bass.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Felder, R. M., &amp; Brent, R. (2016). Active learning. In <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Teaching and Learning STEM: A Practical Guide<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (p. 95). Jossey-Bass.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-48e3468\" data-id=\"48e3468\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d0672f9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-spacer\" data-id=\"d0672f9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"spacer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer-inner\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-43423e8 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"43423e8\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kristin Halsey is an instructor in the Center for Teaching and Learning. She teaches WRIT 120 Reading Words and the World remotely, and strives to incorporate the use of these types of strategies as much as possible to engage students in active learning.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e39940d elementor-widget elementor-widget-spacer\" data-id=\"e39940d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"spacer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer-inner\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9de70fe elementor-widget elementor-widget-wp-widget-blog_subscription\" data-id=\"9de70fe\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"wp-widget-blog_subscription.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h5>Subscribe to Blog via Email<\/h5>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__container\">\n\t\t\t<form action=\"#\" method=\"post\" accept-charset=\"utf-8\" id=\"subscribe-blog-wp-widget-blog_subscription\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-blog=\"83346007\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-post_access_level=\"everybody\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div id=\"subscribe-text\"><p>Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p id=\"subscribe-email\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<label id=\"jetpack-subscribe-label\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"screen-reader-text\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfor=\"subscribe-field-wp-widget-blog_subscription\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEmail Address\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/label>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"email\" name=\"email\" autocomplete=\"email\" required=\"required\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tvalue=\"\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tid=\"subscribe-field-wp-widget-blog_subscription\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tplaceholder=\"Email Address\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<p id=\"subscribe-submit\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"action\" value=\"subscribe\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"source\" value=\"http:\/\/content.principia.edu\/teaching-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4424\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"sub-type\" value=\"widget\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"redirect_fragment\" value=\"subscribe-blog-wp-widget-blog_subscription\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" id=\"_wpnonce\" name=\"_wpnonce\" value=\"6eb0e6be44\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wp_http_referer\" value=\"\/teaching-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4424\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t<button type=\"submit\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"wp-block-button__link\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tname=\"jetpack_subscriptions_widget\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/form>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__subscount\">\n\t\t\t\t\tJoin 61 other subscribers\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-e4c0ed7 elementor-section-stretched elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"e4c0ed7\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;stretch_section&quot;:&quot;section-stretched&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-ebb50ec\" data-id=\"ebb50ec\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-86bf9d1 elementor-shape-rounded elementor-grid-0 e-grid-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-social-icons\" data-id=\"86bf9d1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"social-icons.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-social-icons-wrapper elementor-grid\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-grid-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-icon elementor-social-icon elementor-social-icon-instagram elementor-repeater-item-2708056\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/prin_writes\/\" target=\"_blank\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-screen-only\">Instagram<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"fab fa-instagram\"><\/i>\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f937654 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"f937654\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Check out our Instagram!<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Active Learning Strategies \u2013 the act of learning The last two sessions of the New and Visiting Faculty Learning Community have focused [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[110],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-teaching-tips"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5DI6r-19m","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/content.principia.edu\/teaching-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/content.principia.edu\/teaching-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/content.principia.edu\/teaching-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/content.principia.edu\/teaching-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/content.principia.edu\/teaching-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4424"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/content.principia.edu\/teaching-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4428,"href":"http:\/\/content.principia.edu\/teaching-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4424\/revisions\/4428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/content.principia.edu\/teaching-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/content.principia.edu\/teaching-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/content.principia.edu\/teaching-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}