Active Learning

Anything your students are doing other than listening to you lecture and taking notes.

"Classroom practices that engage students in activities, such as reading, writing, discussion, or problem solving, that promote higher-order thinking."

"Active learning engages students in the process of learning through activities and/or discussion in class, as opposed to passively listening to an expert. It emphasizes higher-order thinking and often involves group work."

Research indicate students learn more, achievement gaps shrink [Freeman et al, PNAS 111(23) 8410 2014].

Students need practice explaining their reasoning to others, using mathematical terminology appropriately

Knowledge is constructed, not delivered

You, the TA, need to hear students’ reasoning and watch their problem-solving to understand what they need help with. 

• In lectures, students are invited to enter the lecturer’s world...in tutorials, the tutor can take the opportunity to try to enter the students’ world. The aim is to see what your students are seeing, in the way that they are seeing it. – John Mason