Active Learning
Learning is an active process.
The basic teaching principle I am trying to apply in this course is active learning- the notion that one cannot understand a concept simply by hearing about it or reading about it, but must actually apply it to a novel situation.
Listening passively to a lecture about education is about as effective as listening to a lecture about basketball- you might learn some terminology, but you will not learn how to play the game- that happens through actual gameplay.
Learning does not take place primarily in the online synchronous sessions, but rather in the assignments, through effort, feedback, and revision. The assignments are examples of work that both students and teachers in a K12 classroom would be expected to do.
University of Minnesota- Center for Educational Innovation
https://cei.umn.edu/active-learning
What does it mean to teach?
Basic principles:
Teaching does not equal talking.
Talking does not equal learning.
Learning is an active process on the part of the learner.
A lesson has not been taught until the learner is able to actively apply the concepts in the lesson to a new situation.
Lessons should be evaluated on how much the learners can demonstrate that they are able to apply the concepts of a lesson to a novel situation.
This assessment can take many forms- a traditional quiz, a project-based assessment, a video, discussion questions, etc.
From "Make It Stick- The Science of Successful Learning"
Learning is deeper and more durable when it requires effort.
Learning styles debunked; there is no empirical research that supports the idea that learning is more effective when instruction caters to the learners preferred style of learning, e.g. auditory, visual, etc.Learners are susceptible to the ‘illusion of knowing’. It’s not uncommon for learners to ‘not know what they don’t know’.
Learning requires a foundation of knowledge,
The following tips section is a summary of concepts presented in the book:
Create ‘desirable difficulties’ where learners struggle with material, make mistakes and even fail, yet do ultimately receive corrective and constructive feedback from the instructor.
Provide constructive feedback — once learners have wrestled with the concepts and material (as above). This method not only strengthens learning but creates an open and challenging learning climate
Incorporate frequent, low stakes testing.
Provide opportunities for elaboration, reflection.
Explain to students how learning works
Practical Applications for Course/Curriculum Designers:
Create frequent and varied active learning exercises — focus less on content that students consume through reading and watching, and more on doing. Active learning in online courses, though more challenging to create, supports effective and dynamic learning experiences (Austin & Mescia, n.d.).
Use quizzes as exploratory, reflective learning exercises with the primary purpose to help students learn. This means creating quizzes that provide immediate feedback, even during the quiz, where students can check their answers. In order for this to be effective the feedback needs to be specific, describing why an answer is correct or incorrect. The feedback is an opportunity to reinforce concepts and can prompt students to dig deeper into a subject area. If using the quiz feature in a LMS, it’s possible to provide customized feedback, even include Web links to further resources.
Incorporate concepts frequently throughout the course in a variety of contexts by creating learning exercises and assignments that require students to draw upon concepts from previous modules/units of learning. Do not approach learning modules or units as independent ‘chunks’ of learning, but fluid and porous ‘blocks’ that draw upon previous concepts that interlock and build a structure. It’s a common term in online course development to ‘chunk’ learning into segments, yet it’s critical to thread concepts consistently throughout the modules/units.
Don’t make it too easy — make students work at learning, e.g. by posing more questions and opportunities for discovery through discussion and interaction with other students. Though structure and outline of purpose for activities is the framework, students need to find solutions and solve problems wrestling with concepts and ideas. This last component is perhaps the most challenging to structure within an online course.
Examples of Methods Applied from ‘Make it Stick’:
Interleaving in an online course: As mentioned earlier in the post, I applied the idea of interleaving in an online course I recently created. Rather than topics introduced as separate units of instruction within independent modules, I threaded concepts from previous modules into the new ones.
Generative learning is a method discussed in the book. It’s a process where students are given a problem to solve before being taught the concepts or method. The idea is that learning is stronger when students invest more energy and effort looking for a solution. Critics of this teaching method say it’s more time-consuming and not as effective as direct instruction. In Ontario, Canada this method of generative learning is introduced in select public schools to teach Mathematics.
“He (the math teacher) presents a problem at the start of class, and lets the students try to figure it out. Hopefully, he says, the students will struggle. “That initial moment of struggle prepares them for what they’ll learn later,”