Most of us think we know what active learning is. The word engagement quickly comes to mind. Or, we describe what it isn’t: passive learning.
Active learning can be an intimidating concept for educators. Many educators have heard the term but struggle to understand the true meaning of active learning
With active learning practices on the rise, educators are seeking pedagogically sound information about the best ways to integrate and execute active learning techniques within
I once started a speech performing the motions for Itsy Bitsy Spider, and one-by-one, the business men and women joined in, first with the motions
In the previous two articles, I shared ideas to address student accountability and student preparation in the flipped classroom. Based on your feedback and emails, getting students to come to class prepared is an ongoing challenge for many of us! In this article, I’d like to keep the conversation going by zeroing in on the importance of the first five minutes of class.
When a family gathers around the table to share a meal, the one who prepared and served the fare most likely spent time pondering the recipes, considering the meal’s consumers, and selecting the right balance of protein, carbohydrates, fruits, and vegetables. As in the kitchen, so it is in the classroom. Faculty also ponder content, consider the lesson’s recipients, and select the right balance of lecture, group processing, and independent demonstration of competence. We decide upon our objectives for the lesson and we build our processes around the objectives, seeking to ensure that we reach everyone in our classrooms, online or face to face.
The proliferation of low-cost, easy-to-use technology has opened the door for students to discover new ways of acquiring and constructing knowledge and representing their thinking (Bene 2015, iv). After attending an educational technology conference last year, I opted to extend my classroom pedagogy to better incorporate technology and promote active learning.
Those who teach in the health disciplines expect their students to retain and apply every iota of learned material. However, many students come to us having achieved academic success by memorizing the content, regurgitating that information onto an exam, and promptly forgetting a good portion of it. In health, as well as other disciplines where new material builds upon the material from the previous semesters, it is critical for students to retain what they learn throughout their coursework and as they begin their careers as a nurse, engineer, elementary teacher, etc.
We all know the classic thought experiment involving a tree falling in the woods, but have you heard the one about online lecturing: If a faculty member posts a microlecture video to the LMS, and students view it, has learning occurred? While we may never know if a falling tree makes a sound, we can determine whether students are engaging with our microlectures by applying the principles of pause procedure.
What would happen if you were to arrive to your classroom, unplug the devices, turn off the projector, and step away from the PowerPoint slides … just for the day?
What would you and your students do in class?
