Apathy, passivity, disinterest: oh my! How to create an active learning environment

 "Active learning." A phrase that either inspires you to plan a 'gold plated' lesson filled with buzzwords and a buzzy atmosphere or else it sends your eyes rolling to the sky and fills you with an inexplicable tiredness.

For a time, I thought Active Learning was what they did in PE. Or perhaps in drama or any subject that required students to be, well, active! Even when my understanding developed past that initial misjudgement, I still thought active learning was about getting to kids up out of their seats. 

I'm great at active learning, I thought. My kids get up and write on the board! They go around the class room, books and pens clasped in hands as they find the strategically placed information points I've blu-tacked to the wall! Never mind that it would be far quicker for them to have the information on the board or printed in advance, ready for them to summarise in their own words. Nope, better they be up and about; active!

It was only when I began studying for my NPQ that I finally grasped what active learning really is: an engaged mind - a kid who has a look of vague puzzlement on their face as they work. A student who says 'Is that the bell already? That lesson went so quick!'

In their influential 1991 study, Active Learning: Creating Excitement in the Classroom, Charles C. Bonwell and  James A. Eison defined active learning as "instruction activities involving students in doing things and thinking about what they are doing," focusing on developing higher-order thinking skills rather than just transmitting information. Essentially, it is student led learning, allowing them to make mistakes and figure out the answers, encouraging curiosity and taking the long path of experience to gain knowledge rather than spoon feeding students correct answers, which does occasionally have its place but which does not enhance retention. 

image from growthmentor.com

There are multiple benefits to active learning. One study found that active learners retain 93.5% of knowledge learned after one month compared with just 79% of passive learners. This is not a statistic to be sniffed at and I'm sure we'd all love it if our students were able to retain more information not only to better their grades but in order to instil self confidence in to our young people.

Cornell University have completed research in to the benefits of Active Learning based upon Freeman et al and Theobald et al's research (2014 and 2020 respectively) and they summarised further benefits of active learning as below:

• Opportunities to process course material through thinking, writing, talking, and problem solving give students multiple avenues for learning.
• Applying new knowledge helps students encode information, concepts, and skills in their memories by connecting it with prior information, organizing knowledge, and strengthening neural pathways
• Working on activities helps create personal connections with the material, which increases students’ motivation to learn
• Regular interaction with the instructor and peers around shared activities and goals helps create a sense of community in the classroom
• Instructors may gain more insight into student thinking by observing and talking with students as they work
• Knowing how students understand the material helps instructors target their teaching in future lessons

Some of the ideas and benefits we see here are not ground breaking but serve as an important reminder to include active learning within our lessons. 

So what sort of active learning strategies could you use in your classrooms?

Case studies:

Using real world case studies can help students to see the relevance of their learning and become more actively engaged in topics that may seem abstract to them. For instance, understanding percentages and ratios may seem like a remote skill for some students but when presented in a case study of calculating how much tax you might pay in a part time job, or what percentage of pocket money you'd need to save in order to afford a new video game, the problem becomes more relatable. Similarly, whilst we often study fiction in English, looking at how to use creative writing techniques in order to influence someone - such as breaking down how an instagram influencer uses persuasive language - can really help our students see real world benefits whilst simultaneously enhancing their digital literacy.

The Flipped Classroom:

6th form teachers will be seasoned pros at flipped learning by now but this is a skill that can be utilised by all key stages. Flipped learning is essentially handing the reigns over to the kids before teaching takes place. For instance, in history, before a module on the history of medicine, you may ask students to research this topic themselves or to take a strand of the topic and deep dive it. Give students links to specific online resources and give them parameters to work within but do allow them freedom of curiosity. This strategy encourages personal interest and independence and allows you to build on a foundation of knowledge. 

Gamification:

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that students love games! Several requests have been made over the year for kahoots games but one resource I've found to be useful and enjoyable for students is Blooket This is a learning resource disguised as competitive gaming! Teachers can design their own quizzes or select from banks of hundreds of subject specific quizzes (you can check them beforehand) and then challenge students to tackle the questions through one of several types of games ranging from pirate battles to land building games. Scoreboards are updated live and the teacher can see the progress of each individual student - this is one that my year 9 group have adored!

Active learning strategies abound at Douay Martyrs and any learning walk will reveal countless ideas so my advice is to join in on the frequent learning walks the Raising Attainment Team offer and to share strategies within departments and try some of the strategies listed above. Not only does it help students get in to a flow state but it also makes teaching a far more enjoyable experience for the instructor. Active learning = positive results, engaged students and happy teachers!

References:

• https://teaching.cornell.edu/teaching-resources/active-collaborative-learning/active-learning
  
• https://www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation?paperid=115292
  
• Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics - Freeman et Al, 2020
• Active learning narrows achievement gaps for underrepresented students in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and math - Theobald et al 2014
• Active Learning: Creating Excitement in the Classroom - Bonwell and Eison, 1991