Design classes so that they involve active learning.
Active Learning means that students are actively engaging with and thinking about the learning material through tasks or discussion, as opposed to passively listening or reading. This increases critical thinking skills and improves retention and student motivation (Prince, 2004).
- Examples
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- Examples of active learning activities include brainstorming, case studies, debating/discussion, peer feedback, quizzes or polls, and jigsaw activities. For zoom examples see Active Learning for Your Online Classroom: Five Strategies Using Zoom and scroll down to 'Active learning strategies'.
- Students with less confidence or who are more introverted, for example, may be uncomfortable contributing to a whole-class discussion - working in pairs might provide them with a way to get involved and share their ideas that is less intimidating. You could use a 'Think, Pair, Share' structure, for example. In a class about using the library search, you could give students two minutes to write a list of keywords they would search for ('Think'), then give them five minutes to talk about that list with the person next to them ('Pair'). Then you can ask for volunteers to 'Share' with the whole room. This structure also gives students who have learned English later in life enough time to think about and articulate their answers in English.
- Explore ways of making the most of the teaching space. If there are large whiteboards around the room, for example, they might provide a way to get students active during group work.
- Find ways to make database and software demonstrations interactive, to keep students involved and engaged. When demonstrating the use of Search, for example, consider having students volunteer topics or keywords - then get them involved in finding and combining search terms (as in the 'Think, Pair, Share' example above). Alternatively, ask the students to perform their own search on topics relevant to them, then ask them to discuss the problems they encountered in pairs.
Find out more about Active Learning
- Examples of active learning activities include brainstorming, case studies, debating/discussion, peer feedback, quizzes or polls, and jigsaw activities. For zoom examples see Active Learning for Your Online Classroom: Five Strategies Using Zoom and scroll down to 'Active learning strategies'.