1. Incorporating Active
Learning into Your
Classroom
Tony Sindelar & Victoria Wallace
Instructional Designers, Office of the Provost
MGH IHP
2. Goals
1) Develop an understanding of the value and intent of
active learning
2) Explore a range of active learning strategies
3) Consider how you would incorporate Active Learning into
your own courses.
3. Agenda
1:00-1:50 Basic Active Learning Strategies and Techniques
2:00-2:50 Team Based Learning
3:00-4:00 Overcoming Challenges in adopting Active Learning
4. For a minute or two, think
of a lecture that has
always stayed with you
Share that idea with the people at your table
Adapted from Mary Zedeck's presentation on "Create an active classroom through technology" May 25, 2010 Seton Hall University
5. Now, think of a learning
experience you had that was
not a lecture, that you have
always recalled. Why has it
stayed with you?
Share that idea with the people at your table
Adapted from Mary Zedeck's presentation on "Create an active classroom through technology" May 25, 2010 Seton Hall University
10. Cone of Learning adapted from Edgar Dale (1946) http://www.studygs.net/activelearn.htm
11. Learning is not a spectator sport.
Students do not learn much just by
sitting in class listening to teachers,
memorizing prepackaged assignments,
and spitting out answers. They must talk
about what they are learning, write about
it, relate it to past experiences, apply it to
their daily lives. They must make what
they learn part of themselves.
Chickering, A & Gamson, Z. F. (March 1987) Seven
principles for good practice. AAHE Bulletin 39: 3-7.
12. Examples of Active
Learning Activities
Read 7-8 and discuss which could be the
most applicable/useful in your teaching.
http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/tutorials/active/strategies/index.html
16. Components of Team-Based Learning
Team Formation
Assessments (Readiness Assurance Tests)
Team Activity or Project
Peer Evaluation
Team-Based Learning as described by Larry Michaelsen (2002).
Further reading: The Essential Elements of Team-Based Learning http://medsci.indiana.
edu/c602web/tbl/reading/michaelsen.pdf
18. Marshmallow Tower Challenge
Your task: Using the materials provided, build
the tallest freestanding structure that can
support a single marshmallow.*
Materials: 20 pieces of spaghetti, string,
masking tape, and a single marshmallow.
You have 18 minutes!
*Use a much or as little of your materials as needed. You can't use the bag. You can't alter the marshmallow. The
marshmallow has to be at the top. The structure has to be freestanding.
25. Some Challenges
Student resistance to active learning
Student complaints about active learning
Classroom under control during active learning
Managing class time and content
Students having difficulty working together
Ensuring peer reviews are taken seriously
University of Minnesota
Center for Teaching and Learning
26. Challenge #1: Student Resistance
New experience
Uncomfortable, resentful, resistant
Resistance might be seen as challenge to authority
27. Activity One
University of Minnesota
Center for Teaching and Learning
http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/tutorials/active/scene1/index.html
See handout for Activity related to videos
28. Observations from Videos
New concept and format to the students
Roles have changed
Outside the comfort zone
Clearly explain WHY using active learning
Confidence and positive attitude
29. Overcome Student Resistance
● Set expectations early in the term.
● Use active learning frequently and commit.
● Give clear instructions.
● Explain benefits and why you're using active learning
● Commit to using active learning.
● Manually break students into groups.
● Start small and simple. Use low-impact strategies
30. Challenge #2: Student Complaints
Student and instructor roles shift
Why pay to teach myself?
Teacher has lack of knowledge
Why learn from other students when expert is in the room?
31. Activity Two
University of Minnesota
Center for Teaching and Learning
http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/tutorials/active/scene2/index.html
See handout for Activity related to videos
32. Observations from Videos
New role
Don't wait or ignore complaints
Use as a ‘teachable moment’
Explain why you have chosen active learning
33. Overcome Student Complaints
● Address student complaints immediately, confidently.
● Keep your comments positive.
● Explain why you're using active learning.
● Highlight what students have to gain.
● View complaints as "teachable moments" that offer
students opportunities to reflect on how they learn and
how to improve those learning skills.
34. Challenge #3: Keeping Control
Students are the primary focus not the the instructor
Instructor’s role becomes mentor, facilitator
Loss of instructor control over the class
Chaotic classrooms
Students who stray off task
35. Activity Three
University of Minnesota
Center for Teaching and Learning
http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/tutorials/active/scene3/index.html
See handout for Activity related to videos
36. Observations from Videos
Told students to ‘pair up’ before she finished directions
Could not make herself heard
Clearly articulate purpose,procedure, time limits, etc .
37. Overcome a Chaotic Classroom
● No need to devote your entire session to active learning.
● Keep it short and simple at first.
● Use low impact strategies.
● Activities must be well planned and executed.
● Communicate goal, the outcomes, procedures, time limit.
● Use strategies to keep control ; ringing a bell or flashing
the lights.
39. Activity Four
University of Minnesota
Center for Teaching and Learning
http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/tutorials/active/scene4/index.html
See handout for Activity related to videos
40. Observations from Videos
● Not adequately addressing current material or questions
● Show sensitivity to the mood of the class
● Present alternatives for addressing remaining content
● Create support structures
41. Overcome time constraints
● Consider your learning objectives carefully.
● Prioritize content
● What students complete outside of class?
● Try one or two low stakes activities during lectures.
● Use classroom assessment techniques (CATs) to
assess learning and make adjustments.
● Avoid racing through material to "finish it all" by the end
of the period.
● Just because you say it, doesn't mean they learn it.
42. Keys to Success
● Be creative! Invent new strategies and adapt existing.
● Start small and be brief.
● Plan it, try it, collect feedback, revise it and try it again.
● Start from the first day of class and stick with it.
● Be explicit with students.
● Vary student seating arrangements to increase their
chances to work with different people.
● Develop a signal for students to stop talking.
● Randomly call on pairs to share.
● Collaborate with colleagues.
● Do not give up! Continue learning through workshops,
reading, sharing, and practice. University of Minnesota
Center for Teaching and Learning
