FLOSS Workshop #5�Active Learning

What does “active learning” mean to you?

• https://www.menti.com/xec15b148g
• Use 1-2 word phrases.
• Add as many answers as you wish! You can continue to add new responses after submitting.
• “Upvote” a word by re-entering it as a response

Mentimeter results

What active learning strategies do you remember from prior workshops?

• Unmute to share or put in chat

What is “active learning”?

• "Active learning engages students in the process of learning through activities and/or discussion in class, as opposed to passively listening to an expert. It emphasizes higher-order thinking and often involves group work.“ (Freeman et al. 2014)

Why use active learning?

Active learning (and other learner-centered strategies) benefits students and helps reduce achievement gaps

​

​

​

Why Does This Matter?

• Equity gaps persist for STEM enrollment and completion

STEM Degree Completion Rates

Why Does This Matter?

“Achievement gaps are important because underrepresentation in STEM majors results from disproportionately high attrition—not from lack of interest.”

Why use active learning?

• Scientific Teaching: “[T]eaching is approached with the same rigor as science at its best.”
• “Scientific teaching involves active learning strategies to engage students in the process of science and teaching methods that have been systematically tested and shown to reach diverse students”

​

​

​

Handelsman et al. 2004. Scientific Teaching. Science 304: 521-522.

Active Learning increased self-efficacy and sense of belonging for students from underrepresented minorities, leading to academic performance gains

Why should we use active learning?

How do we justify NOT using active learning?

In summary…

“If the experiments analyzed here had been conducted as randomized controlled trials of medical interventions, they may have been stopped for benefit—meaning that enrolling patients in the control condition[lecturing] might be discontinued because the treatment being tested [active learning] was clearly more beneficial.”

(Freeman et al. 2014)

However…

• Not all “active learning” is the same!

​

​

Active Learning and Metacognition

• Practicing techniques, checking knowledge, getting feedback
• Clicker questions
• Think-pair-share
• Peer instruction
• Frequent, low-risk assessment 🡪 Increasing metacognition
• Formative assessment

​

Active learning and Inclusion

“Inclusive pedagogy necessarily involves active teaching practices, but active teaching practices are not necessarily inclusive”

“Instructors considering adopting active learning techniques should necessarily look to the literature for tools that have been effective but should ultimately look to their students to understand which tools to use”

​

Dewsbury, B. 2017. Context determines strategies for “activating” the inclusive classroom. J. of Microbiology and Biology Education 18:3 1-5.

Centering the Student in the Learning Process

• Self-as-Scientist
• Sense of Belonging
• Self-Efficacy
• Student choice and agency
• Know Your Students – what are their interests? What potential barriers are they facing? What are their strengths? What do they want to do after your course?

​

https://lo.unisa.edu.au/mod/book/view.php?id=610988&chapterid=102030

Intro to Active Learning Strategies

Flippity Board

Flippity Board

• Partner #1 share-screen with the Flippity Board
• Partner #2 opens the Active Learning Strategies Google Doc

​

• Please do NOT close the Flippity window until someone in the group takes a screen shot

Results 1

Results 2

Results 3

Results 4

Active Learning Small Discussion Groups

• Getting Started with Active Learning
• Active Learning Share Fair
• Focus on Equity & Inclusion

​

• Each group will report out for ~2 min after the discussion
• Group reporter is the person wearing the darkest color shirt

Post Workshop Assignments

1. Exit Ticket 

2.  There are a wide range of active learning strategies ranging from simple to complex, taking only a minute of class time to spanning the range of the whole term.  Think about one active learning strategy that you have NOT yet used, and consider how you might incorporate it into a future course.

- What strategy did you choose and why?

- How would you implement this strategy in your course?

- What concerns do you have about implementing this strategy, and how could you address those concerns?

Post your response to the Discussion Board

​