Helping Passive Learners to Become Active Learners n

Helping Passive Learners to Become Active Learners

n n n what is active learning why use active learning active vs. passive learning strategies active vs. passive learners steps that can be taken to help passive learners become active learners.

What is Active Learning? Discussion

Two Basic Assumptions that learning is by nature and 1) 2) that different people learn in different ways Meyers & Jones (1993)

Putting it simply… n What I hear, hear I forget n What I see, see I remember (demonstration) n What I do, do I understand (hands on / learner -centred) (lecture approach)

What is Active Learning is NOT? n Learning is not merely the acquisition of knowledge where students receive information from teachers and regurgitate it • this is memorization

What IS Active Learning? n Learning in which students, “by acting on objects and interacting with other people, ideas, and events, construct new understanding” (Luckner & Nadler, 1997, p. 13) n “Learning is conceived of as something a learner does, not something that is done to a learner. ” (Johnson, & Smith, 1991, p. 7)

Goal of Active Learning – construct their own knowledge about a subject area – discover relationships that exist among items of information – organize subject matter themselves so that it is meaningful

Why Active Learning? n n n Simply, it is a more effective learning approach and one that is more longterm Learning in the information age demands students to develop a process for encountering new information “The transmission model of teaching fails to prepare individuals for the future” Luckner & Nadler, 1997, p. 12

Obstacles in Implementation TIME RISK

Compare/Contrast Passive Learning n poorer retention n lower-order thinking n teacher-centered: same info/same pace n lower attention-level n student isolation n emphasis on memorization Active Learning n better retention n higher-order thinking n student-centered: prior knowledge and pacing n High attention ofstudents is involved n encourages collaboration n emphasis on process