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Active Learning

Active learning is a student-centered pedagogical approach that emphasizes critical thinking and independent learning, encouraging students to engage deeply with the material. This method enriches the learning experience, enhances analytical skills, and prepares students for future challenges in education and the workplace. However, it is crucial to focus on the learning objectives rather than just the activities when implementing active learning strategies.

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2 views1 page

Active Learning

Active learning is a student-centered pedagogical approach that emphasizes critical thinking and independent learning, encouraging students to engage deeply with the material. This method enriches the learning experience, enhances analytical skills, and prepares students for future challenges in education and the workplace. However, it is crucial to focus on the learning objectives rather than just the activities when implementing active learning strategies.

Uploaded by

onlyson2017
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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CAMBRIDGE O LEVEL ENGLISH LANGUAGE: TEACHER’S RESOURCE

Active learning
What is active learning?
Active learning is a pedagogical practice that places student learning at its centre. It focuses on how students
learn, not just on what they learn. We, as teachers, need to encourage students to ‘think hard’, rather than
passively receive information. Active learning encourages students to take responsibility for their learning and
supports them in becoming independent and confident students in school and beyond.
Research shows us that it is not possible to transmit understanding to students by simply telling them what they
need to know. Instead, we need to make sure that we challenge students’ thinking and support them in building
their own understanding. Active learning encourages more complex thought processes such as evaluating,
analysing and synthesising, which foster a greater number of neural connections in the brain. Although some
students may be able to create their own meaning from information received passively, others will not. Active
learning enables all students to build knowledge and understanding in response to the opportunities we provide.

Why adopt an active learning approach?


We can enrich all areas of the syllabus by embedding an active learning approach.
In active learning, we need to think not only about the content but also about the process. It gives students
greater involvement and control over their learning. This encourages all students to stay focused on their
learning, which will often give them greater enthusiasm for their studies. Active learning is intellectually
stimulating and taking this approach encourages a level of academic discussion with our students that we,
as teachers, can also enjoy. Healthy discussion means that students are engaging with us as a partner in
their learning.
Students will be better able to revise for examinations in the sense that revision really is ‘re-vision’ of the ideas
that they already understand.
Active learning develops students’ analytical skills, supporting them to be better problem solvers and more
effective in their application of knowledge. They will be prepared to deal with challenging and unexpected
situations. As a result, students are more confident in continuing to learn once they have left school and are
better equipped for the transition to higher education and the workplace.

What are the challenges of incorporating active


learning?
When people start thinking about putting active learning into practice, they often make the mistake of thinking
more about the activity they want to design than about the learning. The most important thing is to put the
student and the learning at the centre of our planning. A task can be quite simple but still get the student
to think critically and independently. Sometimes a complicated task does not actually help to develop the
students’ thinking or understanding at all. We need to consider carefully what we want our students to learn
or understand and then shape the task to activate this learning.

Adapted from the Approaches to learning and teaching series, courtesy of Cambridge University Press and
Cambridge Assessment International Education: cambridge.org/approachestolearning

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