Getting started

with Active
Learning
Cambridge International Education
Teaching and Learning Team

What is active learning?

Active learning is a process that has student

learning at its centre. Active learning focuses
on how students learn, not just on what they
learn. Students are encouraged to ‘think hard’,
rather than passively receive information from
the teacher. Research shows us that it is not
possible to transmit understanding to students
by simply telling them what they
need to know. Instead, teachers need to make
sure that they challenge their students’
thinking. With active learning, students play an
important part in their own learning process.
They build knowledge and understanding in
response to opportunities provided by their
teacher.

What is your definition of active learning?

Listen to these teachers giving their personal
definitions. How
do their definitions compare with yours?

01:48

Transcript

In the rest of this unit we will look at the basics

of active learning in more detail. We will look at
the theory behind active learning, discuss the
benefits of an active learning approach
and discover some practical examples. We will
also hear from experienced teachers, who will
be sharing their ideas.

Throughout the unit we will ask you reflective

questions that will help you to think about how
you can apply active learning in your lessons.

At the end of the unit there is a glossary of key

words and phrases.

What is the theory behind

active learning?

Active learning is based on a theory

called constructivism. Constructivism
emphasises the fact that
learners construct or build their own
understanding. Constructivists argue that
learning is a process of 'making meaning'.
Learners develop their existing knowledge and
understanding in order to achieve deeper levels
of understanding. This means that learners are
more able to analyse, evaluate and synthesise
ideas (thus achieving the higher order skills
of Bloom’s Taxonomy). Skilled teachers make
these deeper levels of understanding more
possible by providing learning environments,
opportunities, interactions, tasks and
instruction that foster deep learning.

The theory of 'social constructivism' says that

learning happens mainly through social
interaction with others, such as a teacher or
other students. One social constructivist, Lev
Vygotsky (1896–1934), developed the idea of
the Zone of Proximal Development. This zone
lies between what a learner can achieve alone
and what a learner can achieve with their
teacher’s expert guidance. Skilled teachers
focus learning activities in this zone. Skilled
teachers sca!old learning by providing
guidance and support that challenges students
based on their current ability. This helps
students to develop their understanding in
stages.

Skilled teachers also provide rich feedback

using Assessment for learning (AFL). Skilled
teachers use AFL to help students to understand
two things: firstly their current strengths and
weaknesses and secondly what they need to do
to improve. AFL activities are sometimes based
on formal assessments. However, AFL can also
be based on many types of informal assessment
which can include peer assessment, where
students assess each other.

Active learning also links to other theories of

learning:

Learning should be relevant and within

a meaningful context.
This idea was developed by the
philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–
1778). It influenced numerous educators in the
early 20th century such as John Dewey (1859–
1952) and Maria Montessori (1870–1952). The
main idea is that we learn best when we can see
the usefulness of what we learn and connect it
to the real world.

Learning is developmental.
Learning experiences for young people should
be appropriate to their level of development.
Some of this is linked to their age, although
development level and age are not always the
same thing.

What are the benefits of

active learning?

Active learning helps students to become

'lifelong learners'
In an active learning approach, learning is not
only about the content, but is also about the
process. Active learning develops students’
autonomy and their ability to learn. Active
learning gives students greater involvement and
control over their learning. This means that
students are better able to continue learning
once they have le" school and college.

Active learning encourages success

Cambridge examinations do not simply test
recall of knowledge. Successful candidates
draw on their understanding in order to
evaluate and synthesise ideas. Therefore,
Cambridge programmes and qualifications are
best taught using an active learning approach.
Encouraging active learning helps students to
achieve higher grades, based on their enhanced
skills and understanding.

Because active learning encourages students to

take a central role in their own learning, it
prepares them better for both higher education
and for the workplace. Analytical skills also help
students to be better at problem solving and
applying their knowledge. Universities and
employers value this.

Active learning is engaging and intellectually

exciting
An active learning approach encourages all
students to stay focused on their learning,
which will o"en give them greater enthusiasm
for their studies. Teachers also find that they
enjoy the level of academic discussion with
their students which an active learning
approach encourages.

Listen to these educators giving their views on

the benefits of active learning for their students.
Which of the benefits are most relevant to your
students?

02:59

Transcript

Seven misconceptions about

active learning

1. 'Active learning is all about doing a

particular activity'
Active learning is about encouraging students to
engage actively with their studies. The learning
objective is more important than the task itself.

For instance, many people think that a small-

group task is automatically an active learning
task. People also o"en think that a whole-class
discussion cannot be an active learning task. In
fact, whether something is an active learning
task or not depends on the teacher's planning
and style. Skilled teachers ask themselves
questions such as:

In a class discussion am I using open-ended

questions to get my students thinking?
In a group task do the students know what the
learning aims are?
In a seminar activity do the students have
e!ective resources to support them?

All activities must be relevant to what you want

the students to learn. Some learning objectives
might lend themselves best to students
engaging in small-group seminars or a
collaborative project. Other objectives might be
better with a more lecture-style approach.

2. 'Active learning is the same as enquiry-

based learning'
Enquiry-based learning is also known as
problem-based learning. In enquiry-based
learning, the student learns by exploring a
series of questions. Sometimes these questions
are set by the teacher, and sometimes by the
students themselves. Students will then decide
how they can answer these questions most
e!ectively. Teachers will be on hand to help, but
students lead the process. Enquiry-based
learning can be an excellent technique for
encouraging active learning. However, as we
will see later in the 'Active learning in practice'
section, it is only one of many techniques.

As with all teaching, the focus needs to be on

the learning not the task. Ask yourself:

Is a student-led enquiry the most e!ective way

for my students to achieve their learning
objectives in this lesson?

3. 'Active learning means taking away the

teacher’s influence'
Active learning does not mean reducing the role
of the teacher. The teacher is still the director of
their students’ learning. Skilful planning is very
important. For example, you need to consider:
what your students are going to get from an
activity, what resources you need to provide
and how you are going to assess your students’
progress.

4. 'Active learning means a complete change

of teaching style and classroom layout'
Active learning does not have to mean a
complete change to classroom practice. You
should think about how your students will learn
in each activity. Occasionally, you might need to
design a completely new activity or major
classroom change. However, the changes
required will o"en only be small ones. You
might even realise that you are already
promoting active learning but you did not
recognise it.

5. 'Active learning will cause bad behaviour'

If students are actively engaged in a group
discussion, the classroom will be noisier than if
you are the only one talking. However, as with
any activity, you will still be in charge of the
class. You will need to decide what levels of
noise you are happy with.

One of the exciting things about active learning

is that students will want to engage with you in
discussion. Sometimes they will want to discuss
your interpretations and ideas. Healthy
discussion is beneficial for students and
teachers. However, you are still in charge of the
class, and need to decide when things are
available for discussion, and when the class
needs to move onto the next topic or task.

6. 'Students have to be physically active'

Active learning is about making the brain active,
not the person. Active learning does not mean
that students have to move around the room.
While students can move around the classroom
if appropriate, they can also remain seated at
their desks.

7. 'Active learning makes students less

respectful'
A student who is engaged in thinking for
themselves might not always agree with their
teacher. However, healthy discussion in a
respectful environment does not mean that the
students will respect their teacher less. Healthy
discussion means that students are engaging
with their teacher as a partner in their learning.

Which of these seven misconceptions do you

think you will hear from parents, students or
colleagues? What will you say to them?

An active learning checklist

If you are new to active learning, it will help to

ask yourself the following questions:

What do the students in my class need to

learn?
Try to think about skills as well as subject
content.

How will the task that I have chosen help my

students to learn?
Di!erent learning outcomes need di!erent
types of task. You know your own students’
strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, you can
think about what your students particularly
need to help them to achieve.

How am I using questioning?

It is easy for teachers to ask lots of factual-recall
questions and other closed questions. On the
other hand, open-ended questions help
students to think for themselves, and to
develop their ideas. It is also helpful to ask
follow-up questions that will prompt your
students to say (and think) more, such as ‘Tell
me more about that’, or ‘Why do you think
that?’.
Make sure that all students are involved in a
discussion. Consider choosing students to
answer, rather than inviting them to raise their
hands. This way, every student has to think,
because every student might be asked to
contribute. Also consider pausing before letting
your students answer. Leaving three seconds,
rather than one, before you allow students to
answer gives everyone more time to think
about what they want to say.

How far am I creating a positive classroom

environment where it’s fine to take
intellectual risks?
Students need to be confident in trying out new
ideas. They need to know that they will not be
laughed at, and that there are high levels of
mutual respect.

If I need to focus on content, can I encourage

the development of a skill at the same time?
For instance, if a teacher wants their students to
learn important factual information that they
can use in an essay, he/she could try the
following activity:

(i) Ask the students to think of five key facts

which they could use as evidence for a
particular essay question.

(ii) Ask the students to use at least one of these

facts to write a short paragraph as part of an
answer to this question.

(iii) Ask how the five facts could be re-used for a

di!erent essay question on the same topic. The
teacher could either give them these questions,
or could get them to think of their own
questions.

(iv) Ask the students to write a paragraph as

part of an answer to one of these new
questions. They should use at least one of their
five facts to support their point.

In this way, the students are learning the factual

information and also the analytical application
of this information. The same is also true the
other way around – skills development work
usually leads to more high-level thinking if it is
linked to meaningful content.

How will I present the task to the students?

Students can be a little nervous about being
encouraged to take more responsibility for their
learning. It will help to explain briefly to your
students why they are doing the task and what
they will learn from it. If possible, explain any
connection between the task and what your
students need for their final examination, so
that they understand why it will be useful.

How will I know that every child in my class

has learned something?
If you build in assessment tasks, you can check
your students’ learning. E!ective assessment
will give you a good idea of what to focus on in
the next lesson, and will also help you to find
out which tasks are most helpful for which
students. Assessments do not have to be formal
(or marked). They are a diagnostic tool to help
you and your students to find out what has
been learned and understood.