International TA welcome

• In ILC 401, 3:45-4:30 PM
• Tim Randall from International Student Services will be there to answer your questions
• We’ll have a panel of experienced international TAs to share their experiences

• We’ll draw THREE winners
• Each can choose from among the prizes

TA orientation evaluation

Please provide feedback about the program. This also serves to register your attendance for the afternoon.

bit.ly/TAO26eval

Active Learning for

Student Engagement

Logan Steele

Assistant Professor of Management

Today’s Outcomes

By the end of this session you will be able to:

• Explain the value of using active learning strategies
• Describe at least three active learning strategies
• Create a plan for using active learning in your own teaching context

Think of a time when you “learned a lot”

Write a description of the context in which this learning happened. For example:

• What did you do?
• Were others involved? How?
• What did you NOT do?
• What factors helped your learning?

5 Minutes

Think of a time when you “learned a lot”

Share your learning context with a neighbor or two.

• Are there any common themes or contexts?
• Be prepared to share an idea or two with the room.

5 Minutes

Around the room sharing

What strategies, activities, contexts, etc. help you learn?

• Share one idea per group
• If you don’t have a new idea to share you can “pass”

Traditional learning vs. active learning

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Figure from Lombardi et al. (2021) https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1529100620973974

Traditional Learning

Traditional learning vs. active learning

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Figure from Lombardi et al. (2021) https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1529100620973974

How would you modify this figure to make the learning active?

Traditional learning vs. active learning

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Figure from Lombardi et al. (2021) https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1529100620973974

Active

Learning

Traditional learning vs. active learning

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Figure from Lombardi et al. (2021) https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1529100620973974

Have you experienced learning that uses this model?

What did you do?

Why is active learning important? Students learn more

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Deslauriers et al. (2011)

“We found increased student attendance, higher engagement, and more than twice the learning in the section taught using research-based instruction.”

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Controlled experiment in a large-enrollment physics class

Why is active learning important? Students learn more

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From Laws et al. (1999)

From Freeman et al. (2014)

Students learn more … but they don’t necessarily like it better

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Reminder/disclaimer:

Active learning is just one element of effective course design.

Think-Pair-Share

• Ask students to think and/or write independently about a question
• Students discuss their response with a peer
• Pairs share their ideas with the class

Gallery tour

• Questions or tasks are posted on large pieces of paper around the classroom (“stations”).
• In groups, students spend a few minutes at the first station and respond to the question or task by recording their answer on the large piece of paper.
• Then they rotate to the next stations until they �wind up back at their first station.
• There is often a report-out at the end of a �gallery tour where each group summarizes �the responses at their original station.

Jigsaw

• Students are divided into teams (1, 2, 3, and 4 below)
• Each team completes a different task, all related to each other
• Students are re-divided into groups with at least one member from each team
• Students 1, 2, 3, and 4 teach each other, and the group addresses a problem together that requires everyone’s input

Image: Barb Tewksbury

Discussing controversial topics

• Students consider a controversial statement and move to a designated corner of the room depending on whether they strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree with the statement.

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• Once in their corner, they discuss their opinion�with other like-minded people. Then, different� corners of the room justify their position.

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• Students may move to a different corner of the �room if they are compelled to change their �opinion as a result of the whole-group discussion.

Controversial topic

Strongly agree

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Agree

Strategies for making your class more active:

Ask students questions:

• Do ALL students have a chance to think and answer?
• Do students talk with each other?
• Do you ask open-ended questions that leave room for discussion?

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Strategies for making your class more active:

Give students something to work on together:

• What can students practice during class?
• What could you ask them to do to assess their understanding?
• How can students communicate their ideas?
• Can you make connections between between class activities and life outside of school?

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Strategies for making your class more active:

Provide opportunities for student to reflect:

• What questions might help students reflect on their learning process?
• How has their thinking changed? What was most challenging? How might they approach a problem differently in the future?

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Using AI to build active learning

Active learning works because it takes effort. AI removes effort.

• Put the thinking where AI can’t reach it: out loud, in pairs, at the board
• Ask for the process — a wrong turn, a defended choice, a reply to a peer
• Make AI output the object of study: what did it get wrong, and how do you know?
• Name the paradox for them: learning more can feel like learning less

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What is your teaching context?

• Lecture?
• Lab?
• Discussion section?
• Practicum?

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What will you be doing in your TA-ship?

What might you ask students to do to make their learning active?

Small-group discussions

With others who teach in a similar context discuss:

• What active learning strategies might you use?
• Be prepared to share 1-2 ideas with the whole class

10 Minutes

Individual Planning

• Describe three active learning strategies or practices you can use in your teaching context this semester.
• What might be challenging about using these strategies?
• What preparation work do you need to do or what resources do you need?

5 Minutes

Promoting and balancing student participation

• Select deliverables that require input from all group members
• Have distinct roles for each member of a group
• Keep groups consistent for multiple class meetings and asking different group members/different groups to report out
• “Around the room” sharing (smaller classes)
• Give students time to reflect before discussion starts
• Ex. Think-Pair-Share
• Ex. ask everyone to jot their initial response to a prompt

References

Deslauriers, L., Schelew, E., & Wieman, C. (2011). Improved learning in a large-enrollment physics class. Science, 332(6031), 862-864 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1201783

Freeman, S., Eddy, S. L., 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 Sciences, 111(23), 8410-8415. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1319030111

Laws, P., Sokoloff, D., & Thornton, R. (1999). Promoting active learning using the results of physics education research. UniServe Science News, 13, 14-19.

Lombardi, D., Shipley, T. F., & Astronomy Team, Biology Team, Chemistry Team, Engineering Team, Geography Team, Geoscience Team, and Physics Team. (2021). The curious construct of active learning. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 22(1), 8-43. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1529100620973974

Sinatra, G. M., Heddy, B. C., & Lombardi, D. (2015). The challenges of defining and measuring student engagement in science. Educational Psychologist, 50(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2014.1002924

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