This methodology places a greater degree of responsibility on the learners than passive approaches such as lectures, but instructor guidance is still crucial.
Learning increases when participants are involved actively in the learning process interacting with the instructor, tutor, coach, others in the class, or with the learning tools and resources. Additionally, individuals who are encouraged to work co-operatively in order to learn, to create, and to explore the world around them grow intellectually through these active learning experiences, and they grow socially and collaboratively by working as an interdependent team.
Active learning activities may range in length from a couple of minutes to whole class sessions or may take place over multiple class sessions.
Here are some strategies to increase the amount of active learning in your workshops, training sessions, or classroom:
One of the more interesting ways to set up an active learning experience is to integrate discussion into your classes. You can be prepared to allow for spontaneous discussion when a issue presents itself. Otherwise, initiating and sustaining a lively, productive discussion can be quite challenging and does require some planning. You will need ground rules to keep the discussion focus, encourage participation and keep it from deteriorating into a heated argument.
The goal is to encourage students to develop their own ideas and to respond to one another.
Prepare ahead:
Basic Guidelines:
Make it Challenging
Think, Pair and Share
Pose a question. Give your participants a reasonable amount of time to form an idea or answer. After thinking independently, participants are grouped in pairs to discuss their thoughts. This step allows individuals to articulate their ideas and consider another perspective. Allow time for the paired participants to refine their ideas before they present them to the group. The pair are generally more comfortable presenting ideas to a group because they have the support of a partner.
Fishbowl Discussion
This is a motivating and appealing way to set up an active learning experience. It works effectively for discussing controversial issues or difficult topics. The fishbowl discussion format is one in which a portion of the group forms a discussion circle and the remaining participants form a listening circle or fishbowl around the discussion group.
while students standing outside listen carefully to the ideas presented.
The discussion group pursues asking questions and sharing opinions on a prearranged topic or question. The listening group does not speak. The must listen carefully and scrutineze the ideas presented. They take notes in preparation for reporting to the whole group. Their notes should include:
The listening group can separate into smaller groups, with each group given the responsibility to report on one of the three different aspects of the discussion.
Hot Spot Discussions
This is a structured activity. Compose questions based on previous learning. Alternatively your participants can design the questions. Each question should prompt a brief 1 to 3 minute discussion. Someone draws a question from a hat or bowl at random and reads the question aloud. All participants are required to spend two minutes considering the question and writing notes in response. Then, the teacher randomly selects two students to sit in the two “Hot Spots” in front of the group.
The individual in Hot Spot #1 one is encouraged to answer the question and to include details that relate to the learned material. if they are unable to answer the questions directly, he or she is expected to say something related to the question . For example, a student who is asked to share whether he or she thinks a character acted morally may say that he or she isn’t sure whether the action is moral but that the action was consistent with the character’s attitude and previous behaviours so it was not surprising, etc. No other participant is allowed to speak during this time.
Then the second person in Hot Spot #2 is now the speaker, answering the same question but with an additional challenge: to supplement and expand upon what has already been said by Hot Spot #1. In other words the second student has the responsibility of clarifying or commenting on the first response, adding an opinion or two, and also providing extra information that might support of refute what the first person said.
When both "Hot Spots" have finished, a new question is drawn. Participants spend a couple of minutes contemplating their own response and the instructor randomly selects two other students who have not yet spoken to sit in the "Hot Spots".
Those individuals that are not selected to sit in a "Hot Spot" are expected to listen, take notes, and prepare a report about what is said, what is not said, and what they are thinking.
When all questions have been answered all the participants should be given an opportunity to discuss what they heard. Usually by that time, many are eager and excited to say something that they have been thinking about.
The instructors can choose to remain silent throughout the oral presentations, but may prompt a student where necessary or correct information that is misleading or inaccurate.
This is the kind of activity that prevents one or two individuals from dominating a discussion. It helps individuals to gain confidence in speaking in from of others.
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