Active Learning

Last Updated: April 2012

Table of Contents

• Active Learning
• Technology in Active Learning

Active Learning

• Active Learning: Creating Excitement in the Classroom
  By Charles C. Bonwell and James A. Eison. National Teaching and Learning Forum. 1991.
  "Research consistently has shown that traditional lecture methods, in which professors talk and students listen, dominate college and university classrooms. It is therefore important to know the nature of active learning, the empirical research on its use, the common obstacles and barriers that give rise to faculty members' resistance to interactive instructional techniques, and how faculty, faculty developers, administrators, and educational researchers can make real the promise of active learning."
• Active Learning for the College Classroom
  By Donald R. Paulson and Jennifer L. Faust. California State University.
  This paper sets out a number of helpful techniques for encouraging active learning, from one minute papers to flash cards.
• Knowledge Received/Knowledge Constructed: Principles of Active Learning in the Disciplines
  Doug Brent. University of Calgary. 1996.
  The University of Calgary has also put together a short hand-out [pdf] on "Active Learning Face-to-Face and in Online Course."
• Richard Felder's Education Related Publications: Active Learning
  North Carolina State University
  Richard Felder is an important voice in the active learning community. He has made many of his papers available online, including "Active Learning: An Introduction," "Learning By Doing," and "Death By Powerpoint."
• A Model of Active Learning
  By L.D. Fink. 
• Active Learning: Getting Students to Work and Think in the Classroom
  Speaking of Teaching. Stanford University. Vol. 5, No. 1. 1993.
  This issue of the "Speaking of Teaching" newsletter classifies instructional activities according to students' activity and the risk involved.
• Varying Your Teaching Activities: Nine Alternatives to Lecturing and Active Learning Activities
  Centre for Teaching Excellence. University of Waterloo.
  The CTE has assembled this useful list of potential active learning activities, such as think-pair-share, modeling analytical skills, and role playing.
• Assessing small-scale interventions in large-scale teaching [pdf]
  By Benjamin J. Dyson. Active Learning in Higher Education. Vol 9 (3): 265 - 282. 2008.
• Patterns for Active Learning [pdf]
  The Pedagogical Patterns Project. Edited by Joseph Bergin, Jutta Eckstein, Mary Lynn Manns, and Helen Sharp.
• Why Promote Active Learning?
  Skylight. The Science Centre for Learning and Teaching, University of British Columbia.
  Includes links to academic papers on active learning as well as resources on kinesthetic learning activities, interactive lecturing, using clickers, and more.
• The Center for Faculty Excellence at the University of North Carolina has published a series of papers on teaching techniques, including several on active learning:
  • Classroom Activities for Active Learning [pdf]
  • Active Learning Beyond the Classroom [pdf]
  • Writing to Learn [pdf]
• Making the First-Year Classroom Conducive to Learning
  Teaching and Learning Excellence. University of Wisconsin.
  Excerpted from Chapter 14 of the book Challenging and supporting the First-Year Student - A Handbook for Improving the First Year of College, by M. Lee Upcraft, John N. Gardner, and Betsy O. Barefoot.
• Active Learning Techniques: In-Class Activities
  Center for Teaching Excellence. Virginia Commonwealth University.
  Lists a great number of techniques that can be used in the classroom, such as fish bowl, stage setting, team troubleshooting, and more.
• Assignment Design: Alternatives to the Term Paper [pdf]
  Educational Development Centre. Carleton University.
  This one page tip sheet provides quick ideas for creative assignments, like "create a webpage" or "prepare for an interview with a top figure in the field."

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Technology in Active Learning

• Active Learning with PowerPoint
  Center for Teaching and Learning. University of Minnesota.
  This tutorial includes sections on Active Lecturing, Active Learning Strategies, Facilitating Classroom Assessment, Educational Games, Effective Handouts.
• Active Learning Classrooms
  Teaching and Learning Services. McGill University.
  "Active Learning Classrooms are spaces that are designed to support teaching and learning in an atmosphere conducive to engaging students actively in their own learning. McGill’s Teaching and Learning Spaces Working Group(TLSWG) has developed Principles for Designing Teaching and Learning Spaces that are based upon the benchmarks of good educational practice identified in the National Survey of Student Engagement."
• The Web: Design for Active Learning
  By Katy Campbell. Academic Technologies for Learning. University of Alberta. 1998.

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