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Active Learning

What is Active Learning?

Active learning is broadly defined as instructional activities that involve students doing things and thinking about what they are doing (Bonwell and Eison, 1991). Active learning seeks to engage students in activities that require higher-order thinking and lead to knowledge construction and understanding. These strategies often ask students to make connections between new information and their current mental model or they may lead students to discover misconceptions about their current understanding.

Why choose Active Learning?

Some of the benefits of Active Learning include:

  • Giving students a variety of ways to process and learn the content through thinking, writing, talking, and problem-solving.
  • Applying knowledge to help students organize and encode information for later recall and use.
  • Receiving immediate feedback through activities from instructors and peers.
  • Making course content relevant and connected to students.
  • Community building through the regular interactions of peers and instructors.
  • Insight for instructors on student thinking and comprehension.

Online Active Learning Strategies

Review the list below for online learning activities and ideas that can be implemented in your current online course.

Learning Objectives First

Remember: when selecting active learning strategies, instructors should first analyze their learning objectives to determine which active learning strategies will best accomplish these objectives.

Think-Pair-Share
  • Ease of Use: Easy
  • Learning Level: Application, Analysis, and Synthesis
  • Description: The Think-Pair-Share method is a low-risk, collaborative active learning strategy that can be easily used in any classroom, face-to-face or online. The instructor poses a challenging question, gives students a moment to think about it individually, then the student collaborates with a neighbor, and finally, they share their agreed-upon answer with the class.  This strategy helps with low participation, low motivation, and surface learning.
  • How it Works: Formulate a good open-ended question that could have several paths to an answer, and pose the question to the students. Give the students one minute to think about the question on their own and then have students discuss their answers with their collaboration partner for several minutes. Solicit student comments or take a classroom vote and then discuss the answers, soliciting defenses of right and wrong answers.
  • Online Methods of Use:
    • CarmenZoom: For synchronous delivery, use breakout rooms in Zoom to allow pairs of students to talk to each other. Have students chat or message each other in Zoom (but remind them that all chats are recorded if the session is being recorded.) Bring the breakout rooms back together to discuss as a class. Use Zoom Poll for simultaneous reports out and follow-up by asking them to defend their answers.
    • Discussion Board: For asynchronous delivery, put student pairs in Groups in Carmen and allow the pair to use the Group discussion board to consider the question. Have student pairs post an answer on the main classroom board. Follow-up by asking them to defend their answers.
  • Resources: Think-Pair-Share videos and planning materials
3-2-1
  • Ease of Use: Easy
  • Learning Level: Application, Analysis, and Critical Thinking
  • Description: 3-2-1 is a graphic organizer that allows students to capture important information from a lecture or reading assignment and give feedback on concepts that may be unclear. 3-2-1 can be used as a “knowledge check” after each lecture to ensure students are interacting with and understanding the content.
  • How it Works: In 3-2-1, students write about three things they learned from the lecture, two things they found interesting, and one question they have about the content.
  • Online Methods of Use:
    • Graded Quiz/Survey: create 3 open-ended essay questions, assign desired point value, or create total points for zero if grading for completion.
    • Assignment: provide directions and template to be downloaded, completed by the student, and submitted as an upload for instructor review.
    • Discussion Board: use questions as discussion board prompts.
  • Resources: 3-2-1 videos and planning materials.
Update A Classmate
  • Ease of Use: Easy
  • Learning Level: Remember, Understand, and Analyze
  • Description: Update Your Classmate is a task assigned to one or more students in which they are asked to write a memo to a classmate who is absent. The memo should cover the important points from the lecture and why they are important. The memo can be reviewed during a class discussion and then made available to students who were absent.
  • How it Works: Choose one or more students to write a memo to a real or fictional absent student. These students share their class notes for the day with an introductory memo to the absent student.
    • One Student Method: Have the student take notes and then review those notes in the class discussion.
    • 2+ Student Method: Have the students take notes separately and compare notes after class as a group or pair. Students work collaboratively and when they have agreed on the notes, will write up the memo and make it available to the absent students.
  • Online Methods of use:
    • Assignment: Create an assignment in Carmen and provide a memo template for students to fill out, upload, and submit. This can be set up as an individual or group assignment.
    • Discussion Boards: In Carmen, use the discussion board to post the memo and facilitate an asynchronous discussion for the class or Group to provide input on the memo. The instructor can function as a guide and correct any misinformation or confusion. A finalized document can be posted for all.
    • Collaborative Document: Create a collaborative document in Word using the Office 365 link in Carmen, and have students work together synchronously or asynchronously to create a final memo document.
    • Shared Drive Folder: Using Office 365 in Carmen, memos can be collected and shared in a folder and then viewed asynchronously by students or synchronously in Zoom for a class discussion.
  • Resources: Update Your Classmate videos and planning materials
Contemporary Issues Annotation
  • Ease of Use: Easy
  • Learning Level: Analysis and critical thinking
  •  Description: Students annotate content from current news articles to explore connections from recent real-world events or newly published research to their course material.
  • How it Works: Instructors provide the parameters for the assignment by creating questions that prompt the student to reflect on and analyze the article or media.
  • Online Methods of Use:
    • Individual: Use the student annotation option in Carmen (Canvas) to create an assignment (or weekly assignments) that includes reflection questions students can use to analyze the article. Students can answer the reflection questions and share their thoughts and comments as annotations directly on the uploaded media.
    • Groups: Use the e-learning tool Hypothes.is as an integration into the Carmen assignment. Hypothes.is, is a social annotation tool that allows students to annotate an uploaded document and comment on other students’ annotations allowing for engaging asynchronous discussions while working directly with the course content.
  • Resources: Assignments: Student Annotation Submissions
Active Reading Documents
  • Ease of Use: Easy
  • Learning Level: Foundational Knowledge, Application, and Integration
  • Description: Active Learning Documents guide students through the required reading by asking questions to support critical thinking. This is a good tool to use in introductory classes and to help students read through course materials carefully.
  • How it Works: Put together a list of questions based on the reading that tackle different levels of learning. Have your students answer questions as they read.
  • Online Methods of use:
    • Word or PDF: Create an assignment in Carmen and provide a Word document or PDF for students to fill out, upload, and submit.
    • Hypothesis Annotation: Use the e-learning tool Hypothes.is in a Carmen assignment to allow students to annotate readings. Instructors can add questions as annotations to the online document and students can reply to these questions.
    • Collaborative Document: Create a collaborative document in Word using the Office 365 link in Carmen, and have students work together synchronously or asynchronously to create a final reading document that expands on each student’s idea. The result could be a set of notes more robust than what they could have done on their own.
  • Resources: Active Reading Documents videos and planning materials
Collaborative Note-Taking
  • Ease of Use: Easy
  • Learning Level: Remember, Understand, and Analyze
  • Description: Students collaborate on note-taking, with everyone in the class contributing, refining, and editing the notes in order to get a complete picture of the lecture or class material.
  • How It Works:
    • Classes under 10: Create a collaborative document using One Note, Office 365, or Google Docs. Assign one or two people in the class to be the primary note-takers. Other students should take notes as usual and can act as editors or contributors in the final ten minutes of class or outside of class to fill in gaps, correct errors, and ask questions. Rotate primary note-taking duties throughout the course.
    • Groups: In larger classes assign students to groups of 3 – 7 students. Create one document per group and share a link with each group that takes them to their designated document. Assign one person in each group to be the primary note-taker. The rest of the group can act as editors or contributors in real-time, or you can opt to provide the final ten minutes of class for note review.
  • Online Methods of Use:
    • Synchronous: as described above
    • Asynchronous: for written content that can be uploaded into Carmen as an assignment, students can use the e-learning tool Hypothes.is (a social annotation tool) to add notes and comments to the content. Students can also reply or comment on each other’s annotations.
  • Resources:  Jubain, Lin. “Using collaborative note-taking to promote an inclusive learning environment.” SoTL snapshot: A synopsis of a scholarship of teaching and learning journal article (2020). University of Guelph, Canada
Jigsaw
  • Ease of Use: Medium
  • Learning Level: Remember, Understand, and Analyze/ Analysis & Critical Thinking
  • Description: Students work in small groups to develop knowledge about a given topic before teaching what they have learned to the larger group. The puzzle analogy is used to describe this technique, with each subcategory representing a puzzle piece that comes together to complete the whole puzzle (topic).
  • How It Works:
    • Select a subject and divide it into four to six subcategories ( puzzle pieces).
    • Students form groups for each subcategory and each group is responsible for becoming an expert on their topic
    • After each subcategory group has mastered their topic, the instructor will create new “jigsaw” groups that include one expert from each of the four to six subcategories.
    • Once in their new groups, each subcategory “expert” will teach the rest of the group about their topic.
    • Groups: this activity is designed for groups, but the size of the group is limited to the subtopics.
  • Online Methods of Use:
    • Select the types of tools and methods students will use to learn and teach about the topics (i.e texts, webpages, discussion boards, breakout rooms)
    • Identify your topics and label them (A-D for example). Create “expert” discussion board groups for each topic. Instruct students to work together in these expert groups to learn about their topic
    • Asynchronous: create new jigsaw discussion board groups that contain an expert from each of the topics. Students will use the discussion board groups to share their knowledge of their subtopics with each other.
    • Synchronous: if meeting synchronously on Zoom, breakout groups can be created for the jigsaw groups and each expert can teach their content to the group.
  • Resources:  Jigsaw Technique videos and planning materials
Background Knowledge Probe
  • Ease of Use: Easy
  • Learning Level: Recall
  • Description: Students can interact with a survey, poll, or online discussion to respond to questions to determine how familiar they are with the course subject matter. 
  • How It Works: Ask students questions to get a general idea of where your students fall. If most of your students understand the concept at a high level, then you can adjust your coursework to be more challenging. If they fall more on the lower levels of understanding, then you can adjust your course to cover the basics before diving into more challenging work. 
  • Online Methods of Use: You can also ask background probe questions as a discussion forum. You can ask a question similar to the following example: “What is your experience with critical race theory? Have you read books, attended talks, or taken other courses related to this course?”
    • Synchronous: Set up a poll in Zoom to use during your live sessions and ask questions about students’ prior knowledge or experience with key terms and concepts in your course. 
    • Asynchronous: Set up a survey in the Carmen Quizzes tool and ask questions like, “What is your understanding of the concept of intersectionality and how it relates to social issues and identity?” 
  • Resources:  Background Knowledge Probe videos and planning materials
Fish Bowl
  • Ease of Use: Medium
  • Learning Level: Synthesize and Analyze
  • Description: Students conduct a class discussion, with a twist. The students sit in concentric circles, the inner circle participates in the discussion, and the outer circle observes and evaluates the discussion.
  • How It Works:
    • Classes under 25: This exercise is configured in two circles: the inner circle where the discussion will take place, and the outer circle where the discussion will be observed.
    • For the inner circle: Choose 5-7 participants or ask for volunteers. Develop a discussion prompt for the inner circle that will spark a lively or deep discussion. Set a time limit for the discussion and remind everyone that only the inner circle may speak.
    • For the outer circle: Create a handout for them to record their observations of the inner circle. Create spaces for 1) the order of participation, 2) the type of participation (new information or reinforcement), and 3) the duration of participation. In addition, outer circle students will take notes on the content discussed (questions, comments, etc.) and the group dynamic (how the group functioned in the discussion.)
    • Follow-up with a whole class discussion: Unpack the previous discussion with the outer circle. Ask them to limit their commentary to comments and questions about content, to help solidify understanding and clarify unclear points. You will discuss the group’s operation, to help students discover what makes a group work well and poorly. During this discussion, the inner circle should only respond if asked for clarification.
    • Groups:  In larger classes, you can make more than one set of circles using the same or related prompts. When you come back together as a class, follow the directions for Follow-up with whole class discussion above.
  • Online Methods of Use:
    • Synchronous: Very much as you would in the classroom, set up a group of 2-3 students to discuss the topic/prompt. You will use a smaller group for the inner circle because discussions can become unwieldy with too many contributors over Zoom. Have the rest of the students observe as indicated above, and then conduct a whole class discussion as described above.
    • Asynchronous: Use a discussion board for the inner circle and for the outer circle. Allow the outer circle to read, but not comment on, posts on the inner circle board and set a specific time limit on participation in the inner circle discussion. If the discussion fades out or hits a snag, you can privately email the participants to kick-start it. When the inner circle has finished, open the outer circle discussion board for discussion and observations about content and the group’s dynamics.
  • Resources:  Teaching Technique 44: Fishbowl, K. Patricia Cross Academy © 2014, John Wiley & Sons. Accessed 7/5/2023.

Large Class? Set up Groups in Canvas

Do you have a large class that makes active learning ideas seem difficult or unwieldy? Setting up your class into Groups in Carmen can simplify the process and give students in large classes an engaged active learning experience.

How can the DELD team help you?

The EHE Distance Education and Learning Design (DELD) team is ready to partner with instructors to implement active learning by:

  • Identifying active learning strategies to transform your course.
  • Creating implementation strategies for effective application.
  • Evaluating the benefits of applying active learning to your course.
  • Providing feedback with ideas on how to transform current activities and assignments into more active learning experiences 

Contact the DELD Team through the service portal to set up a consultation.

Additional Resources

References

Bonwell, C. C., and Eison, J.A. (1991). Active learning: creating excitement in the classroom. ASH#-ERIC Higher Education Report No. 1, Washington, D.C.: The George Washington University, School of Education and Human Development.

Freeman, S., Eddy, S. L., McDonough, M., Smith, M. K., Okoroafor, N., Jordt, H., & Wenderoth, M. P. (2014). Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(23), 8410–8415.

Theobald, E. J., Hill, M. J., Tran, E., Agrawal, S., Arroyo, E. N., Behling, S., Chambwe, N., Cintrón, D. L., Cooper, J. D., Dunster, G., Grummer, J. A., Hennessey, K., Hsiao, J., Iranon, N., Jones, L., Jordt, H., Keller, M., Lacey, M. E., Littlefield, C. E., … Freeman, S. (2020). Active learning narrows achievement gaps for underrepresented students in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and math. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(12), 6476–6483.