Moving Towards Active
Learning in 100+ Lecture
Courses
Dr. Kate Larson
What is Active Learning?
 Engages beyond listening
 Requires students to do meaningful learning
activities & THINK about what they are doing
 Greater emphasis on exploration of attitudes & values
“As a teacher, you cannot give meaning to
another; the learner’s brain must construct the
meaning ” (Jensen, 1998)
Challenges of Large Lecture
 Giving prompt feedback (or feedback at all)
 Classroom management
 Focus
 Noise
 Students leaving
 Accountability
 Physical environment
Setting the Stage with 100+
 Set expectations early
 Share definition of Active Learning process with
supporting research
 Display directions on a slide/overhead
 Circulate while students work on the task
 Establish a signal to redirect attention to you (lights
or sounds work well)
 Always debrief
Successful Strategies
 iClicker:
Classroom poll (values clarification)
Questions
 Small group work:
Project (commercials), discussion of articles,
presentations of content
 Minute Papers: assess prior knowledge, comprehension
Notecard shuffle activity
Always summarize content to connect to students
Use as a discussion starter or for review
Successful Strategies
 Share notes & ask clarifying questions
 Develop exam questions based on lecture content
just covered
 Video clips