A Framework for Active Learning
What It Is:
Engaging presentations are interspersed with a sequence of active learning activities to engage students and promote learning success.
How it Works:
- Be inclusive in your teaching. o Kick off lectures with an opening bookend, the first 5 minutes of class, in form of a quiz, a quick prediction activity, a provocative question or a naïve task.
- Implement engaging presentations. Provide students with guided notes to stimulate active listening.
- Break up lecture into segments.
- Use interactive techniques between segments to help students apply what they have just learned. o Wrap the lecture with a closing bookend; revisit opening bookend activities, the last 5 minutes of class, or implement a hotwash.
Evidence:
Interactive lecturing exemplifies evidence-based practices of active learning:
- A meta-analysis by Freeman et al. (2014) indicated improvement of student performance in active learning classes.
- Researchers at the University of Washington reported that switching from traditional lecture methods to active learning narrowed the achievement gaps of underrepresented students in STEM classes.
- Chunking learning content helps to facilitate transfer from working memory to long-term memory.