A Conversation about Active Learning
A few years ago when teaching Software Engineering in Asia, I had a discussion about “Active Learning” with students there. On the second days of teaching using the “Active Learning” method, one student suddenly said out loud in class: “Professor, why don't you teach something.” In Asia, disrupting the professor in class was a serious issue. Suddenly the class was quiet as students were waiting for my reaction. I understood the concern because these students were used to the traditional of listening to a lecture in class but when a professor did not lecture but asking many questions they were confused. They do not distinguish between "teaching" and "lecturing."
However, to me, this is a chance to have a conversation about active learning. I asked: “Do you want to listen to a lecture about software engineering then you will have to learn everything on your own, or you can learn by reading the materials before coming to class and spend the class time to discuss things that you do not understand. Which way would you prefer? The student was surprised because I was not upset by his disruption but answered: "I like to learn by listening to a lecture." I continued: “Then can you explain to me how do you learn?” The student hesitated for a moment: “I guess …. I learn by listening … to a lecture.”
Most students believe that “listen to a lecture” is the way to learn because they do not know of other choices. They have listened to lectures from elementary school to high school and passed many exams to go to college so it must be the “only way” to learn. Of course, many high school teachers and university professors also believe “lecturing” is the “only way” to teach.
I raised another question: “Then can you explain to me how do you learn to program in Java? Do you just learn by listening to a lecture? Since I wanted the class to participate in this conversation, I asked: “Let us discuss this question “Can students learn to program by listening to a lecture?” The whole class began to discuss and after a few minutes the obvious answer was: “We learn by the implement, by practice, by write codes.” No students said that they can learn Java programming just by listen to a lecture. But one student seemed upset: “If we do not learn by listening to a lecture then why do we need teacher?.” I did not answer him directly but raised another question: “Then why are you here? Why do you go to school?” The class got into another discussion, but by this time, some students began to understand what I was trying to do. Some explained to their friends: “Now we understand it! We are responsible for our learning, we can learn by ourselves.” But there were students who did not feel comfortable with that idea. One of them raised another question: “Then why do we need professors if we can learn by ourselves without listening to a lecture?”
I began to explain that in “Active learning” method, students should learn the basic concept by themselves before coming to class. By reading the assigned materials, they may learn something or may not understand something, and they go to class to ask questions and get the answers from the professors. It is easy to misunderstand that students can learn by themselves without the professor but they need the professor to correct their misunderstanding and help them to deepen their level of learning. When students understand the concept, I begin to ask the question of “Why” and “How” to challenge them to think further and deeper.
In “Active learning” students learn by asking a question to discover the concept at a deeper level because the knowledge they learn should come from inside, from their discovery, from their understanding. When they think, when they organize, when they structure the concept, they will learn and understand it totally. The professor is the guide who helps them to learn and support them in the “learning journey.”
Student goes to college to learn by discovering, by experimenting, by developing and preparing for their career and personal growth. By actively learning, they develop their characters of wanting to learn more and discover more and eventually develop a lifelong learning. That is why today students need to change their learning habit from being passively listening to actively discovering. When they can learn by themselves, they will develop more confidence in their ability to learn because learning should NEVER stop. In this fast changing time, their career, their life, their success are all depending on their ability to learn and adjust to the changing condition.
As professors, some of us may feel uncomfortable when students voice their opinion about the way that we teach. But in fact, they are only seeking information to clarify something that they do not understand. It is a chance for us to guide them and explain to them the new teaching method and the new learning approach that can help them to develop a lifelong learning habit.
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
