Engaging students to learn
A teacher wrote to me: “I like Active Learning method because it does not require me to lecture, but I do not know how to engage students during class? They are very passive and do not want to participate in the discussion. What should I do to encourage them? Please advise.”
Answer: Active learning requires the teachers to plan class activities and learning experiences so students can focus on applying and analyzing the course materials during the class. You may NOT have to lecture a lot DURING class, but you HAVE to plan the activities BEFORE the class so students can interact with the material and engage with others to learn more deeply.
For example, to encourage students to participate, I ask them to write what they are confused or unclear about the course materials on a piece of paper. I divide the class into small groups and distribute these paper randomly and ask each group to analyze the confusing or unclear points and be ready to explain it to the class. The key is to challenge students to learn deeply then be able to explain it to their friends, instead of relying on the teachers to do the explanation.
Every few weeks, I assign three students a case study or a technology report to read and ask them to give a summary for the class. They have to explain it and answer any question that their friends are asking. The activity helps students to learn well and develop the public speaking ability skill. This often leads to the vibrant class discussion since three students may understand the case study or the report differently and may have contrasting viewpoints.
Sometimes, I assign a question or problem that each group can solve in ten minutes, after that, I ask them to compare and contrast different solutions and let them vote on which ones have the best answer. By letting them see several solutions, they learn more about divergent views since there are more solutions to a problem.
I hope these activities will inspire you to be creative in your own way in encouraging your students to participate in your class. It is important to note that in Active learning, not just students have to be actively learning, participating, analyzing and applying but the teachers also have to be actively designing, creating, and inspiring to make students learn. No Active learning classroom may look the same. There is no “one right way” but many different ways to teach and it depends on both the students and teachers to make it a good learning experience.
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
