Active Learning: Why and How
Can Akkan
Agenda
• Some findings from research on learning.
– Disclaimer: I am not an expert...
• Methods of active learning
– I do have experience ...
• Learning physically changes the brain
– Learning  Microsurgery!
John D. Bransford, Ann L. Brown, and Rodney R. Cocking. How People Learn: Brain Mind, Experience, and
School, p.103
An Experiment
List 1
List 2
List 3
100%
50%
40%
t
Source: Jernstedt, G.C., TMS Workshop 2004.
t
t
Interference Causes Loss of Learning
• In the classroom: all mechanical tasks
– Clerical, logistical, maintenance
• “Where do I write my name”
• “When is the assignment, where will I submit it”
• Other learning tasks
Source: Jernstedt, G.C., TMS Workshop 2004.
Amount
remembered
100%
Anesthetic
Sleep first 4 hrs
4 hrs
Source: Jernstedt, G.C., TMS Workshop 2004.
time
• Most learning occurs in the subconscious
– Need time for consolidation
• “growth in the neurons become permanent”
• Need retrieval and targeted practice
Source: Jernstedt, G.C., TMS Workshop 2004.
What to do?
• Can’t let them sleep to allow for consolidation!
• Solution: Modulate the cognitive load during
class
– As little cognitive load as possible: anectodes, stories
– As different tasks as possible
• Load allow consolidation  reiterate/exercise
Source: Jernstedt, G.C., TMS Workshop 2004.
Amount
remembered
100%
Time after
learning
1 hour uninterrupted learning
20 min x 3 with some time in between for consolidation
Source: Jernstedt, G.C., TMS Workshop 2004.
When to Practice?
Amount
remembered
100%
1 hr delay
30%
1 day delay
7 day delay
10
Source: Jernstedt, G.C., TMS Workshop 2004.
20
30
40
50
Days after
reading
An Experimental Study
% retained
70
20
0
10
50
t
t: time in lecture when information was presented
Source: Jernstedt, G.C., TMS Workshop 2004.
Summary –
Essential Elements of Learning
• Interactive
– Active learner
• Don’t give the answer, let them struggle and put the pieces
together
– Positive response
• Move to the speaker
• Use rewards for engagement
• Meaningful
– Related to and accessible to learner; “contextually
relevant”
• Collaborative
– Design a social classroom
Source: Jernstedt, G.C., TMS Workshop 2004.
“It is not what the teacher does but what the
student does”
• Focus on behavioral outcomes
– Express goals in terms of what the students
can do
Active Learning
Definition
• “Promot[ing] conceptual understanding
through interactive engagement of
students in heads-on (always) and handson (usually) activities which yield
immediate feedback through discussion
with peers and/or instructors.”
Richard Hake,
Professor of Physics
Indiana University.
How to Encourage Participation?
• Ask a question
– Volunteer
– Cold call
• Warm call: give prior warning
– “Talk to your neighbor”
• Give an exercise
• ....?
First Class – First Question
• Turn to your nearest neighbor whom you
don’t know and find out
– Where he/she is from?
– What program he/she is in?
– Etc
• Tell them you will chose a couple of
students afterwards and ask them to
introduce their neighbors.
– “Ice breaker”
In-Class Exercises
• Form teams of 2-4
• Give teams 30 sec to 2 minutes
– 5 min absolute maximum
– If too long ...
• Don’t ask for volunteers
• Collect some or all answers
EXERCISE
In-Class Exercises
• Types of exercises
– Recall prior material
– Answer a question
– Start a problem solution
– Work out the next step in a derivation
– Think of an example or application
– Figure out why a given result may be wrong
– Brainstorm (objective: quantity)
– Generate a question
Think-Pair-Share
• Students think answers individually
• Then form pairs to synthesize a response
• More time-consuming
• More instructive then immediate group
work
Cooperative Note-Taking Pairs
• Pairs summarize and compare what they
have in their notes
• Goal: more accurate and complete notes
• Period for “consolidation” and identifying
questions
Talk six minutes less and students learn more!
Guided Reciprocal Peer Questioning
• Each student prepares questions on the lecture
using generic question stems, such as
– What is the main idea of _____?
– What conclusions can I draw about _____?
– What is the difference between ____ and ____?
• Groups of 3-4 students take turns answering
their questions.
• Whole class comes together to discuss
unanswered or interesting questions.
• More generic question stems...
– How are ____ and _____ similar?
– How does ____ affect ____?
– What is a new example of ____?
– What if ____?
– Explain why _____?
– Explain how _____?
– How would I use ____ to ____?
Writing Assignments
• Assign frequent, short writing assignments
• Students “write to learn” gaining deeper
understanding of course material
• May be kept in a learning log
Minute Paper
• Stop the lecture with two minutes to go
• Ask the students to write
– The main points
– The muddiest (least clear) points
• Collect all the responses
– anonymous
• Use responses to plan next lecture,
recitation or assignment
Mosteller, F (1989), "The ‘Muddiest Point in the Lecture’ as a Feedback Device," On Teaching and Learning.
Mosteller is a statistics professor at Harvard
Sense of caring covers all the “sins” of the
teacher
Implementing Active Learning
• Explain what you are doing and why
– Not an experiment, there is research ...
• Do not rely on volunteers
– Call randomly on individuals while working and after
work is complete
• Vary
– Format
• Pairs, groups, think-pair-share
– Time between exercises
• Put some course material in handouts to save
time for active learning
Source: Felder, R., TMS Workshop 2004.
• More information/material on Active
Learning on my personal web site
http://people.sabanciuniv.edu/~canakkan/ActiveLearning.htm
References
• R.M. Felder and R. Brent (2003) “Learning by
Doing”, Chem. Engr. Education, 37 (4), 282-283
www.ncsu.edu/felder-public/Columns/Active.pdf
• R.M. Felder (1994) “Any Questions?” Chem.
Engr. Education, 28 (3), 174-175.
www.ncsu.edu/felder-public/Columns/Questions.pdf
• R.M. Felder (1991) “It Goes Without Saying”
Chem. Engr. Education, 25 (3), 132-133.
www.ncsu.edu/felder-public/Columns/WithoutSaying.pdf
• Bransford, J.D. et al. (2000) How people
learn.
– Available at
• I.C. as a e-book
• http://books.nap.edu/html/howpeople1/
(national academy of science)
• Light, Richard (2001) Making the Most of
College. Harvard University Press.
– Good for advising, ordered it for the I.C.
• Hake, R. “Interactive-engagement versus
traditional methods: A six-thousandstudent survey of mechanics test data for
introductory physics courses," American
Journal of Physics, 66, 64-74, 1998.