How To Engage Students In Active
Learning
Strategies for the College Classroom
Harvest Collier
Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies
209 Norwood Hall
Center for Educational Research and Teaching Innovation - CERTI
Office of Undergraduate Studies
Advising Office
Freshman Engineering
CERTI
LEAD/Tutoring/JAM
Physical Education
RPDC
SDELC
Speech Communication Center
Teacher Education
Writing Center
AGO
Hit the Ground Running
Critical Elements - Active/Cooperative Learning
Research Supports that students need to do more than
listen to learn1
A survey of U.S. professors found that lecturing is the
mode of Instruction in 89% of physical scientists and
mathematicians1
(1)Chickering, A., and Gamson, Z. (1987) "Seven Principles for Good Practice," AAHE Bulletin, 39:3–7, ED 282 491, 6pp, MF-01; PC-01.
Descriptions of Active/Collaborative Learning
•Active learning
–Activities that engage students in doing something besides listening to a
lecture and taking notes to help them learn and apply course material
–Students may be talking or listening to one another, writing, reading, or
reflecting individually
•Collaborative learning
–Subset of active learning
–Engage students in interacting with one another
•Cooperative learning
–Subset of collaborative learning involving students interacting with one another
under certain conditions (more structured activities)
National Effective Teaching Institute (ASEE Sponsored), 1998.
Descriptions of Active/Collaborative Learning
"When using active learning students are engaged in
more activities than just listening. They are involved in
dialog, debate, writing, and problem solving, as well as
higher-order thinking, e.g., analysis, synthesis,
evaluation.”
Bonwell, C., and Eison, J. (1991) "Active Learning: Creating Excitement in the Classroom," ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report No.
1
Descriptions of Active/Collaborative Learning
Cooperative learning is "the instructional use of small
groups so that students work together to maximize
their own and each other's learning. Five essential
components must be present for small-group
learning to be truly cooperative:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
clear positive interdependence between students
Face-to-face interaction
individual accountability
emphasize interpersonal and small-group skill
processes must be in place for group review to
improve effectiveness.”
Johnson, D.W., Johnson, R.T., and Smith, K. (1991) Active Learning: Cooperation in the College
Classroom, Edina, MN: Interaction Book Company
Descriptions of Active Learning
Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education*
Adopted by the UM Board of Curators for the UM Strategic Action Plan A Design
for the Future.
As passed by the UMR Academic Council (April 17, 2003), faculty are urged to:
Encourage Student-Faculty Contact
Encourage Cooperation Among Students
Encourage Active Learning
Give Prompt, Frequent, Informative Feedback
Emphasize Time on Task
Communication High Expectations
Respect and Encompass Diverse Talents and Learning Styles
* modified slightly from the original Seven Principles article by Chickering and
Gamson (1987)
http://lead.mst.edu/sevenprinciples/index.html
MS&T Student Expectations
74% of beginning students plan to study 6-15
hours per week
55% of beginning students expect to have a gpa
between 3.5-4.0 (45% 3.00-3.49)
On average 93% anticipate meeting with faculty
outside of the classroom/laboratory
Patty Frisbee, “2007 MS&T Entering Student Survey”, MS&T New Student Programs Office.
Examples of Useful Practices
ON COURSE
PERSONAL RESPONSE DEVICES (Clickers)
VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
(Instructor -Student Engagement)
Examples of Useful Practices
ON COURSE - A Focus On Student Success
COURSE OBJECTIVES: In this course, you will learn how...
1.TO TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR LIFE. You will learn how to take personal responsibility,
gaining greater control over the outcomes and experiences that you create both in college
and in life.
2.TO INCREASE SELF-MOTIVATION. You will learn to create greater inner motivation by
discovering your own personally meaningful goals and dreams.
3.TO IMPROVE PERSONAL SELF-MANAGEMENT. You will learn numerous strategies for
taking control of your time and energy, allowing you to move more effectively and efficiently
toward the accomplishment of your goals and dreams.
4.TO ENHANCE RELATIONSHIPS. You will learn how to develop mutually supportive
relationships that will support you to achieve your goals and dreams as you assist others to
achieve theirs.
5.TO HEIGHTEN SELF-AWARENESS. You will learn how to understand and revise your
self-defeating patterns of behavior, thought, and emotion as well as your unconscious
limiting beliefs.
Examples of Useful Practices
ON COURSE OBJECTIVES: In this course, you will learn how...
6.TO MAXIMIZE LEARNING. You will learn a powerful process of learning that will enable
you to get better grades in college and be an effective life-long learner. You will learn many
effective study skills as well.
7.TO STRENGTHEN EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE. You will learn effective strategies for
managing distressing emotions and increasing your inner sense of well being and
happiness.
8.TO RAISE YOUR SELF-ESTEEM. You will learn how to develop self-acceptance, selfconfidence, self-respect, self-love, and unconditional self-worth.
9.TO WRITE MORE EFFECTIVELY. You will learn how to improve your writing skills
through the extensive writing practice offered by your guided journal entries.
10.TO DEVELOP CREATIVE AND CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS. You will learn how to
enhance the thinking skills essential for analyzing and solving problems in your academic,
professional, and personal lives.
11.TO ACHIEVE GREATER SUCCESS IN YOUR CAREER. You will learn and develop the
personal qualities and skills that employers identify as essential for excelling in the world of
work.
Examples of Useful Practices
CLICKERS
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Examples of Useful Practices
CLICKERS
Integrating Clickers into Lecture Courses
Here are some basic ways to use clickers in lectures:
･Facilitate Class Discussion - Facilitate discussion by polling students' opinions
and discussing the reasons for their opinions.
･Guide Lectures - Collect immediate feedback about students' understanding of
lecture topics so confusion can be addressed quickly.
･Encourage Peer Instruction - Allow students to share, discuss, and change their
opinions before answering a question.
･Collect Data and Perform Formative Assessment - Collect data on course topics or
learning preferences throughout the cycle of a course.
･Offer Quizzes and Exams - Decrease grading time by using clickers to collect
student answers to quizzes and exams.
･Take Attendance - Record attendance in large lecture courses.
http://telr.osu.edu/clickers/
Examples of Useful Practices
Why Use Clickers?
Use of clickers in the classroom has been shown to increase students'
attention and interest and to increase retention of information
presented in lectures.
Using clickers to pose questions that require synthesis of information,
such as asking for an opinion on a complex social or ethical issue,
promotes critical thinking and helps make learning personal.
Additionally, clickers can
･Transform large group instruction into an active learning experience.
･Provide a "safe" way for shy students to participate in classroom
discussion.
･Allow anonymous, simultaneous, and fast response to instructor
questions on class material or learning preferences.
･Add a little fun to the classroom.
http://telr.osu.edu/clickers/
Examples of Useful Practices
VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
Learning Sessions by Distance Campus Resources
Webx
Wimba
Please visit with IT to gain insight about using these resources
Examples of Useful Practices
EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH (Instructor -Student Engagement)
It is imperative that teachers provide lectures that are as clear as possible so
that students can make sense of what is being presented. Understanding allows
students to retain, recall and apply material in other circumstances. Failure to
understand often leads students to incorrectly interpret material or, in frustration, to
ignore what has been said. In the past, many instructors believed that
comprehension was entirely the students' responsibility. As we become more
knowledgeable about cognitive research, however, it is apparent that much of that
burden is the responsibility of the instructor as well. The question, of course, is how
do we explicitly make our lectures more clear to students?
Abstracted from Chilcoat, G. W. (1989). Instructional behaviors for clearer presentations in the classroom.
Instructional Science, 18, pp. 289-314
Examples of Useful Practices
Making Lectures More Clear to Students
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Provide a preview of information prior to an explanation.
Organize information within a step-by-step lesson sequence.
Assess student learning when information is being given.
Signal transitions between information.
Use multiple examples to illustrate information points.
Stress important points during explanations.
Provide for brief pauses as appropriate times during the lecture.
Eliminate additional unexplained content nonessential to current explanation.
Review information frequently.
Aabstracted from Chilcoat, G. W. (1989). Instructional behaviors for clearer presentations in the classroom.
Instructional Science, 18, pp. 289-314 / http://www.active-learning-site.com/sum1.htm
CERTI Promotion of Faculty Learning
Communities Focused on Improving the
Learning Environment and Student
Learning Outcomes
Clicker - FLC (On-going)
Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) - FLC (On-going)
On Course - FLC (Starting F’08)
Blackboard - FLC (Starting F’08)
iPOD Applications - FLC (Starting F’08)
“101” Course Instructors (Starting F’08)
Useful Web References
Active Learning Resources http://www.acu.edu/cte/activelearning/resources.htm
Active/Collaborative Learning www.foundationcoalition.org/home/
keycomponents/collaborative_learning.html
On Course
http://college.hmco.com/collegesurvival/downing/on_course/4e/students/index.html
Clickers
http://www.turningtechnologies.com/
Many Other Places to Seek Insight
Websites
http://www.ncsu.edu/effective_teaching/ (Felder; NCSU)
http://www.asee.org
https://engineering.purdue.edu/ChE/News_and_publications/teaching_engineering
http://www.fie.engrng.pitt.edu
http://mazur-www.harvard.edu/talks.php
Many universities have course notes on-line (copyright)
Books and print
Silberman, Active Learning: 101 Strategies to Teach Any Subject
Wankat and Oreovicz, Teaching Engineering
Educational journals
Workshops
National Effective Teaching Institute (ASEE Sponsored)
New Faculty Teaching Scholars Program
ASEE
Discipline Specific Activities (IEEE, ACerS, others)
Networking at Technical Meetings
Active Learning Resources R. W. Swartz FFF presentation, MS&T, March 2007