Active Learning

While many faculty are most comfortable using a lecture format in their traditional face-to-face classes, there is a significant and almost undeniable body of research that suggests that student outcomes improve when faculty utilize active learning strategies over lecture (Deslauriers, L., et al., 2019; Freeman, et al, 2014; see also What's the Buzz on Active Learning?). Incorporating active learning strategies in a normal face-to-face class may seem straightforward enough to many, but how do you do some of these things in a physically distanced sort of way when some students may not even be in the classroom, but instead might be participating through Zoom? Ugh! We have identified some excellent resources to help you incorporate active learning strategies into these alternative delivery models as well as a physically distanced classroom.

• Active Learning while Physical Distancing from Louisiana State University

• Active Learning: Applying UDL Principles to Active Learning from the University System of Georgia

• Active Learning in hybrid and Physically Distanced Classroom from Vanderbilt University

• Active Learning in Remote, Virtual Hybrid, Online and Physically Distanced Classrooms

• Implementing Active Learning When Masked and Social Distancing from Lafayette

• Creating Community Online with Interactive Teaching Using Online Meeting Software

A few key things to note from these articles include:

• Take the time to reimagine how you will do the activities you used to do (barring lecture) in a hybrid, synchronous online or distanced fashion. Just about everything can be rethought and restructured to achieve the same learning goals.

• Think it through and plan out your new activities in advance. Have a plan B or some contingency ready - just in case.

• Look for technology tools to help you solve problems or achieve the learning goals. There are so many great tools available - many of the ones mentioned in the articles are available at Wilkes, are free to use, or very low cost. Technology and pedagogy go hand-in-hand so make sure that what ever you choose supports the learning goals and vice versa.

• Be kind, be flexible and be patient - with yourself and with your students. Remember, none of us signed up for this pandemic!

Two more excellent resources about active learning under normal circumstances (not socially distanced) include this full list of active learning strategies and Examples of Active Learning Activities.

One important point about active learning that is often overlooked... Explain its benefits to your students. When students understand why you are having them do group work and collaborative learning activities and how it will benefit them they will be more open and understanding to the whole idea. It sounds a bit obvious or maybe even silly to explain such things, but it makes a difference (Terada, 2019).

The best thing any faculty member can do is plan, test out your ideas in advance, particularly if there is technology involved, and then adjust. Testing out the technology to make sure you know how to set everything up is critical to a smooth operation when class time comes, but even that is no guarantee. Practicing with the tools you plan to use is really the best approach because as you become more comfortable, troubleshooting when something goes wrong will be easier and less likely to cause major distress for you and your students. Then, always have a plan B and even a plan C!

You will also want to think about how the activity you are planning will work in the room you are assigned. In most, if not all, cases classrooms will be set for one way and you won't have the ability to move things around. Plan out how you will work within the constraints. This is where technology tools can really help. Embrace them! Don't worry about students using their devices for non-academic stuff during class. If you are keeping them actively engaged, it won't matter because they won't have time and they will be more focused on the activity at hand. Set the ground rules and expectations and it will be fine.

References:

Deslauriers, L., McCarty, L., Miller, K., Callaghan, K., Kestin, G. (2019). Measuring actual learning versus feeling of learning in response to being actively engaged in the classroom. Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences of the United States of America. September 24, 2019. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1821936116

Freeman, S., Eddy, S., 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 the Sciences of the United States of America. June 10, 2014. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1319030111

Terada, Y. (2019). Students think lectures are best, but research suggests they're wrong. Edutopia. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/article/students-think-lectures-are-best-research-suggests-theyre-wrong