Active Learning

Please note that although the "Learning Pyramid is often quoted, there is very little research to substantiate the model.

Active Learning

Active learning typically draws on combinations of these principles: 

Think it through

• Deep Processing - think beyond "face value"(Craig et al., 2006; Craik & Lockhart, 1972)

• Desirable difficulty - either too easy nor too hard (Bjork, 1988, 1999; VanLehn et al., 2007)

• Require recall of relevant information (Butler & Roediger, 2007; Roediger & Karpicke, 2006)

• Learn from errors(Brown, Roediger, & McDaniel, 2014; Ericsson, Krampe, & Tesch-Romer, 1993)

• Mix different problem types

• Present information both verbally and visually (Kosslyn, 1994; Mayer, 2001; Moreno & Valdez, 2005)

• Generate feelings to enhance recall (Erk et al., 2003; Levine & Pizarro, 2004; McGaugh, 2003, 2004)

Make and use associations

• Chunking: information in organized units (Brown, Roediger, & McDaniel, 2014; Mayer & Moreno, 2003)

• Connect new information to previous information (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000; Glenberg & Robertson, 1999; Mayer, 2001)

• Build on foundational material (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000; Wandersee, Mintzes, & Novak, 1994)

• Give examples of the same idea in multiple contexts (Hakel & Halpern, 2005)

• Relying on principles that underlie a phenomenon (Kozma & Russell, 1997; Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000)

• Using spaced practice: spreading learning out over time (Brown, Roediger, & McDaniel, 2014; Cepeda et al., 2006, 2008; Cull, 2000)

• Associate material with a variety of settings (Hakel & Halpern, 2005; Van Merrienboer et al., 2006)