The evidence keeps growing that college students engage more, learn more and achieve more with active learning. A meta-analysis published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that active learning approaches enhanced 6% of student exam performance. Students in traditional classes were 1.5 times more likely to fail than those in interactive lessons (Chen, 2016)
It may feel easier to stick with what is familiar during uncertainty. Even if your lessons have shifted partially or entirely online, you are not limited to lecturing.
On the other hand, with the help of digitalization of learning methods, students get assistance from online resources. They can hire professional writers from educational service providers like “Essay Writers UK” website. Students hire experts to achieve the highest scores.
Students who are actively learning and engaged in their studies are less likely to become bored, tired, and uninterested in their studies.
Are you ready to try a different way of learning but need some ideas to get you started? Here are nine active learning ideas to try with students, whether your classes are offline, online, or somewhere in between.
There are almost an endless number of useful activities in both learning and teaching. Helpful learning ideas are ones in which students may use what they have learned while participating in enjoyable learning activities. Then they can put it to use in practical and cooperative ways.
Learning and understanding knowledge become an engaging and enjoyable experience for students in school or distance learning with fun-filled learning ideas.
Here are 9 learning ideas for students to help them keep up with their learning.
In this spin on think-pair-share, ask your class an open-ended question and encourage them to come up with their best solution. Then, team up with the students and ask them to agree on a response. Put two pairs together, and the foursome must do the same. Continue until half of the group faces off against the other half. If your students are online, virtual breakout rooms in your conferencing software help allow you to do the same thing.
Strategies like the think-pair-share method are small ways that you can bring unique learning experiences to your students.
2- Brainwriting
Have you ever tried brainwriting instead of brainstorming? With this approach, students are given time to come up with their ideas before sharing them aloud or putting them on an online whiteboard or other shared platforms. Creating room for individual reflection leads to better ideas and much less groupthink.
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3- One-minute paper
In one minute, how much could you explain? Set a timer at the end of class and ask students to record their greatest eye-opening revelation or most challenging query. This assignment allows students to reflect on their learning and practise writing skills while providing insight into their understandings and misunderstandings.
4- Reactions in real time
Allow students to share their real-time reactions while watching a video, a mini-lecture, or another student’s presentation. This helps students in identifying trends and considering new points of view. You can utilize a hashtag or the chat option in your conferencing software to enable live-tweeting.
5- Notes Chain
Write many questions on pieces of paper and distribute them to students. The first student adds a response (use a timer to keep things moving fast) and then passes the page to gather other responses. Multiple contributions help to a more comprehensive knowledge. A digital approach is to use shared documents that several students can edit. Your class will then examine the replies to detect patterns and missing pieces.
6- Mysterious quotation
Assess students’ ability to apply their knowledge of an issue or theoretical position. Show them a quotation about a topic they’ve never seen before after exploring it. Their task is to discover the viewpoint of the person behind the quote and justify it to the class. Before beginning a whole-class discussion, students can debate this issue in small breakout groups.
7- Peer Review
Peer review is as old as academics, and it is never too early to start. Students should exchange drafts of their essays, ideas, or reports and then provide feedback and questions to one another. Please make a point to be clear about your objectives (using rubrics helps). Students, for example, could identify convincing arguments, unsolved problems, and logical flaws.
8- Sketch noting
Instead of traditional lecture notes, have your students draw an image representing what they’ve learned during class. Remember that it is not the quality of the art that is important; it is how drawing inspires students to visualize their thinking and look at their learning from a different perspective.
9- Empathy mapping
Take a page from the designers’ handbook and encourage students to dig deeper by embracing a point of view. It sounds simple enough: write down what someone says, thinks, does, and feels. It is helpful to slow down and immerse yourself in another point of view. Empathy maps help in creating better products for people in design thinking.
However, this method can be helpful in analyzing literary characters, historical figures, or political viewpoints.
Final Thoughts
Learning firsthand involves deep critical thinking as well as problem-solving abilities. These ideas boost students’ learning power and engagement in study and speed up the retention level.
Finally, the study should be engaging. Interactive games and experiential learning activities for students in school can also be beneficial in the learning process. Everyone will find something to their liking!
Don’t be hesitant to try new strategies and new learning ideas to determine what works best in online and offline classrooms. Not everything will be a good fit, and that’s fine; keep connecting with your students, and you’ll create lifelong learners with a thirst for information.
Reference
BAW, 2018. Assignment writing helps securing good grades. Online available at https://bestassignmentwriter.co.uk/blog/assignment-writing-helps-securing-good-grades/
Chen, C., 2016. Effective learning strategies for the 21st century: Implications for the e-learning. In Developing effective educational experiences through learning analytics (pp. 143-169). IGI Global.
