Active vs. Passive Learning
Before defining “active learning,” it’s helpful to describe passive learning. A common form of passive learning? The traditional college lecture. Now, not all lectures are passive, but those that feature the instructor talking at students for extended periods of time, and reading from PowerPoint slides dense with text, are examples of passive learning. Not only that; they’re also inauthentic learning (Eyler, 2018).
In contrast, active learning can be defined as “learning through activities and/or discussion…that emphasizes higher-order thinking and often involves group work” (Freeman et al, 2014, pp. 8413-8414). Having achieved greater clarity about the term “active learning,” it’s time to consider strategies (sometimes called “protocols”) that support active learning.
What Strategies Can You Use To Support Active Learning?
What’s the strategy?
Mapping
How does it support active learning?
Whether it’s brainstorming or a concept map, mapping can support active learning by having students create a visualization of their knowledge organizations for peer and instructor feedback. Read more about brainstorming and concept mapping.
Silent discussion
A silent discussion brings together students and instructors alike and challenges them to engage with one another’s observations and questions in simultaneous discussions. Read more about silent discussions.
Flipped Learning
By making what students typically do in the traditional classroom into homework, flipped learning provides more time for students to collaborate and apply their new knowledge during in-class sessions. Read more about flipped learning.
There are many more strategies available and we encourage the exploration of additional activities that enable active learning. Here is more background information and individual activities from the Center for Educational Innovation at the University of Minnesota.
What’s the tool?
Whiteboards or Collaborative Documents – spaces where ideas can be shared
How does it support active learning?
Whiteboards, dry-erase markers, and erasers can support active learning practices such as individual and group brainstorming, formative feedback, and gallery walks (Bruff, 2019). In a digital situation, collaborative documents can fill this needRead more about teaching with gallery walks.
Top Hat – an interactive classroom response technology
Use Top Hat to make the class more interactive by polling students, which surfaces what they do and don’t understand, thereby allowing you to respond at the moment. Read more about teaching with Top Hat.
Adobe Express – a suite of multimedia tools
Instructors, staff, and students can use Adobe Express to create different types of multimedia in order to demonstrate and share their learning. Learn more about making an image, a video, and a webpage.
Hypothesis – a social annotation technology
Leverage the power of social learning so that students are building knowledge together through multimodal, collaborative annotation. Read more about teaching with Hypothesis. You can also read about collaborative annotation with good old paper and pen.
How can EHE Distance Education and Learning Design help you implement active learning?
The EHE Distance Education and Learning Design (DELD) team is ready to partner with instructors to implement active learning by:
- Visiting classrooms to imagine the possibilities for active learning
- Co-creating activities that support active learning in face-to-face as well as online classrooms
- 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
- Active Learning Classrooms: What We Know
- Active Learning Strategies in Face-to-Face Courses
- NSRF Protocols and Activities…from A to Z
References
Bruff, D. (2019). Intentional tech: Principles to Guide the Use of Educational Technology in College Teaching. Morgantown: West Virginia University Press.
Eyler, J.R. (2018). How humans learn: The science and stories behind effective college teaching. Morgantown: West Virginia University Press.
Freeman, S., Eddy, S.L., McDonough, M., Smith, M.K., Nnadozie, O., Jordt, H., & Wenderoth, M.P. (2014). Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 111(23), 8410-15.
