Prepare for active learning

Active learning is an instructional practice that engages students to be active participants in their learning and provides opportunities for them to use higher order thinking skills such as analysis, synthesis and evaluation (Krathwohl, 2002). It is an approach that moves the focus away from what the educator is doing, to what the student is doing. Basically, the key is to get students to do something (write, read, discuss, create) and think about what they are doing (reflect, analyse, synthesis, evaluate).

The broad definition of active learning identified in the literature is:

As an educator, you play an important role in fostering a learner-centred environment by providing opportunities for students to read, write, create, reflect, discuss, and problem solve through the activities and resources you develop for your unit or course (Lumpkin, 2017). Active learning requires students to engage at a higher level of cognition and understanding since they are thinking about what they are learning as they go. Rather than being passive consumers of knowledge, they are builders of knowledge too (Michael 2006, Zepke 2013).

This resource will support you in integrating active learning into your synchronous (in person or online) and asynchronous classrooms (Self-paced online activities).

Role of the educator

As an educator you wear many hats and play various roles when it comes to educating your students. As you implement active learning strategies, you will find that your role moves from the delivery of information to a facilitator, mentor, guide and designer.

You need to consider not only what content or learning outcomes are important for the unit, but also how students will best learn them. When planning your unit you will need to design activities or resources that will enable students to take a more active approach to learning. This means getting students to reflect, question, hypothesise, evaluate and make connections between ideas and experiences and knowledge of others.

As you can’t control all the variables that may affect learning, it is important to have a variety of strategies and techniques under your belt to build engagement that also meets your and the students' learning requirements.

Know the content and how to teach it

Teaching in a higher education context requires you to not only have content knowledge expertise, but also pedagogical content knowledge (Zepke, 2013). This means that you are responsible for the course content but also coordinating the learning environment.

Students also play an important role in learning the content and engaging with the content through the designed activities. Part of your role is to keep communication open with your students and get feedback on the learning process so that you can adapt your teaching and resources to meet the needs of students and optimise the learning experience.

Set expectations with your students

As you shift from the delivery of information to active learning, students need to adapt their mindset. It helps to have a conversation with students early on in the unit to get them to think about the expectations for their learning and how they can take more ownership.

Educate students and guide them to take on a more active role, by explaining what that looks like and what you expect from them. By reminding students of the rationale for the activities you have designed and the role they play in learning, you may also help avoid potential disengagement.

Make students accountable for their learning

Think how students might be motivated and how you can build their sense of competence, autonomy and belonging. Integrating accountability by setting up clear expectations and actionable tasks that you will take the time to review and provide feedback on will demonstrate to students that you are holding them accountable for their learning and participation. This enables students to feel a sense of achievement and increases their engagement.

Create a safe learning environment

Students need challenge and safety to take academic risks, otherwise they will resist or disengage to protect themselves. One way of creating a safe environment is by building relationships with your students, being approachable, respectful and sensitive to students' learning needs. This in turn will lead to students feeling valued and more committed to working harder.

In addition, creating a safe space where students can also interact with their peers without fear of being judged harshly will also add to a better quality of ongoing interaction between students. You can do this by setting up guidelines for these types of interactions and moderating discussions to ensure students remain positive and professional with their peers.

Remember that relationship dynamics are complex and there is no one size fits all approach. Each cohort may require different strategies to help them engage in active learning.

Design in opportunities for reinforcement

Reinforcement means the student needs time and multiple opportunities to master new knowledge and skills. Students practice using the content during – and after – the learning event. The manner in which students practice will help them transfer their understanding from the point of learning, to their contexts outside of the classroom (work, home, assessment). Design into the unit different activities, scenarios and question types for students to apply their knowledge to, thus developing mastery. Refer to Design active learning for ideas on how to do this.