Introduction to
Active Learning
Energizing the Classroom
Brian Rybarczyk, Ph.D.
UNC Chapel Hill
Department of Biology
Objectives
• Introduce concept of active learning
• Demonstrate techniques & activities
• Incorporate active learning into your
future teaching
da Vinci and the Renaissance
Embodies essence of the
Renaissance
‘Rebirth’ of learning
Thinking outside the box
Ideas
Discovery
Experiment
Change is good
Brainstorm Activity
Write down ways that your professors
taught you
Effective methods
Ineffective methods
Brainstorm Activity II
What are some ways you learn best now
as a scientist?
What is Active Learning?
% Retained
100
active learning
lecture
50
0
10
20
30
40
50
Time of class (min)
From: McKeachie, Teaching tips: Strategies, research and theory for
for college and university teachers, Houghton-Mifflin (1998)
60
What is Active Learning?
What is Active Learning?
students solve problems, answer questions,
formulate questions of their own, discuss,
explain, debate, or brainstorm during class
ProblemBased
Learning
Learn By Doing
Active Learning
Cooperative
Learning
Inquiry-based
learning
What is the purpose?
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Increase student participation
Increase student engagement
Increase student retention
More student ownership in course
Less lecturing by instructor
More exciting classroom experience
Higher level thinking
Improving Lectures
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Plan objectives
Include graphics, charts, graphs, etc
Plan what you want to annotate
Learn students’ names
Cue important points
Give short activities
Give students time to generate questions
Have students summarize major points
Examples of Active Learning
• Dr. Robert Beichner – NCSU
– SCALE-UP – researching effectiveness of
active learning in physics and chemistry
– http://scaleup.ncsu.edu/
– Example of SCALE-UP Activity
Active Techniques
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Think-pair-share (pair-share)
Role playing, simulations
Muddiest point/clearest point
Group quizzing
Generate lists
Cooperative learning
Minute papers and writing assignments
PBL and case studies
Concept maps
Reading Primary Literature
• Provide one figure/table to each student
group
• Propose a title for the paper
• Delete abstract and have students write a
summary
Case Studies
Case Studies
Concerns & Issues
What are your concerns
about using active
learning activities &
techniques?
Suggestions
• Describe to the students what is
happening and why
• State expectations
• Incorporate assessments with activities
• Start off simple (low risk)
• Ask questions, walk around classroom, be
attentive to student questions
• Have students rely on each other
Resources
National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science (case
study collection):
http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/projects/cases/case.html
Problem Based Learning (U of Delaware):
http://www.udel.edu/pbl/
MERLOT – (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and
Online Teaching
http://www.merlot.org
Journals of Interest:
Innovate: www.innovateonline.info/index.php
CBE Life Science Education – www.lifescied.org/
Journal of College Science Teaching – www.nsta.org
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education –
www.bambed.org
Brian Rybarczyk, Ph.D.
brybar@unc.edu