6 BENEFITS OF ACTIVE LEARNING

Developed by Dr. Olga Kozar

Increasing Staying Identifying Going Fostering Fostering

relevance focused on confusion deeper social reflection/
learning learning assessment
literacy

Benefit 1: Increasing relevance

Student perception of relevance and meaning has a significant impact on their engagement with
learning resources and activities (Mayer, 2002). The more relevant/meaningful students perceive
their learning to be, the more effort they seem to expand, which results in better learning outcomes.
One of the easiest ways to increase relevance is to use real-life examples and case-studies in content
presentation/explanations. Ideas for student activities are provided below.
SAMPLE LOW-TECH TECHNOLOGY-MEDIATED
TECHNIQUES Mq-supported tools
Locating Prior and/or post sessions students are asked to find examples and share with
examples/ others.
case studies
Students share examples Students share examples digitally via
instructor effort
▪ Orally ▪ iLearn forum
▪ On paper /whiteboards ▪ Active Learning Platform
▪ Zoom chat
▪ VoiceThread/text function for real
time
▪ Mq-external tools
Case-studies Students form pairs/groups and work on provided case-studies/ real-life
and real-life challenges.
challenges
(best done as a Results are presented Results are submitted digitally, e.g, via
collaborative ▪ Orally or ▪ Active Learning Platform (text
task) ▪ Written on paper/whiteboards. response),
▪ Zoom chat,
instructor effort
▪ iLearn forum
▪ Assignment tool in iLearn
▪ Mq-external tools

Simulations Students are provided with simulation scenarios and are asked to act in
instructor effort specified roles.

Outcomes are presented Outcomes are submitted digitally, e.g, via

▪ Orally ▪ Active Learning Platform (text
▪ or response),
▪ Written on paper/whiteboards. ▪ Zoom chat,
▪ iLearn forum
▪ VoiceThread
▪ Mq-external tools

Interested in L&T scholarship on relevance and meaningful learning?

- Kember, D., Ho, A., & Hong, C. (2008). The importance of establishing relevance in motivating student learning. Active Learning in
Higher Education, 9(3), 249-263.
- Mayer, R. E. (2002). Rote versus meaningful learning. Theory into practice, 41(4), 226-232.
- Vallori, A. B. (2014). Meaningful learning in practice. Journal of education and human development, 3(4), 199-209.
 Increasing Staying Identifying Going Fostering Fostering
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learning learning assessment
literacy

Benefit 2: Keeping attention on learning

Multiple studies show that students minds tend to wander, especially in lectures, but other learning
contexts too (Smallwood, Fishman, & Schooler, 2007; Wammes et al., 2019; Wammes, Seli, Cheyne,
Boucher, & Smilek, 2016). It is therefore important to include activities to prevent and/or minimize
mind-wandering and keeping students’ minds focused on learning.

SAMPLE LOW-TECH TECHNOLOGY-MEDIATED

TECHNIQUES
Instructor purposefully includes blunders in slides and/or speech and
Spot a students are to call them out.
mistake/blunder ▪ Any agreed word or gesture, ▪ Chat in Active learning platform
e.g., hand-raising ▪ Zoom chat
instructor effort
▪ Mq-external tools

Brief poll Students are asked easy questions to check that they are following the
or session.
quiz
Results submitted via low-tech tools, Results submitted digitally, e.g. via:
instructor effort ▪ Poll in Active Learning Platform
e.g.:
▪ Hand signalling (e.g., 1,2 fingers, ▪ H5P
etc) ▪ iLearn quiz
▪ Total physical response, e.g., ▪ Zoom chat
standing up- sitting down -moving ▪ Mq-external tools
around the room

Fill in the gap Students are provided with lecture slides that exclude some key points and
(e.g., in a lecture are instructed to fill in the gaps during the session.
slide)
instructor effort
▪ Students take individual notes ▪ Note-taking in Active Learning
and share with partners Platform
▪ Text-response in Active
Learning platform
▪ Zoom chat or non-Mq tools
▪ H5P

Interested in L&T scholarship on mind-wandering in higher education?

- Smallwood, J., Fishman, D. J., & Schooler, J. W. (2007). Counting the cost of an absent mind: Mind wandering as an underrecognized
influence on educational performance. Psychonomic bulletin & review, 14(2), 230-236.
- Wammes, J. D., Ralph, B. C., Mills, C., Bosch, N., Duncan, T. L., & Smilek, D. (2019). Disengagement during lectures: Media
multitasking and mind wandering in university classrooms. Computers & Education, 132, 76-89.
- Wammes, J. D., Seli, P., Cheyne, J. A., Boucher, P. O., & Smilek, D. (2016). Mind wandering during lectures II: Relation to academic
performance. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology, 2(1), 33.
 Increasing Staying Identifying Going Fostering Fostering
relevance focused on confusion deeper social reflection /
learning learning assessment
literary
Benefit 3: Identifying and resolving confusion
Confusion is integral to learning, but not addressing it may lead to serious consequences for student
progress, especially in online/blended learning environments (Zeng, Chaturvedi, & Bhat, 2017). It is
therefore important to include activities that help to identify and resolve the points of confusion.

SAMPLE LOW-TECH TECHNOLOGY-MEDIATED

TECHNIQUES
Trick Students are asked trick questions with multiple-choice answers.
questions
Results submitted via low-tech tools, e.g.: Results submitted digitally, e.g., via
▪ hand signalling (e.g., 1,2 fingers, etc) ▪ Polling in Active Learning Platform
instructor effort or ▪ iLearn quiz
▪ other physical responses ▪ Zoom chat
(e.g., standing up- sitting down - ▪ H5P
moving around the room) ▪ Mq-external tools

Muddiest Students are asked to identify the least clear part of the session so far.
point
instructor effort
Responses submitted via low-tech tools, e.g. Responses submitted digitally via:
▪ Individual hand-written notes and/or • Text-response in Active Learning
▪ Discussion with partners platform
• Zoom chat
• Forum
• Text submissions in Voicethread
• Mq-external tools
Pair or mini- Students are provided with questions covering the key content and asked to
group discuss with peers.
discussion on
provided Students document the summary of their Students post the summary of their discussions
questions discussion on digitally via
▪ Paper ▪ Text-response in Active Learning
instructor effort or Platform
▪ Whiteboards ▪ Zoom chat
▪ Forum in iLearn
▪ Mq-external tools
Students are asked to pause, review content, and ask questions.
Pause and ask
questions Students review notes and formulate their Students review notes and write their questions
questions digitally as
instructor effort ▪ Orally ▪ Text-response OR Q&A in Active
or Learning Platform
▪ Write them on paper and pass to the ▪ Zoom chat
instructor. ▪ Text function in Voicethread
▪ Mq-external tools.
Quiz Students are given a quiz with multiple-choice answers

Results submitted via low-tech tools, e.g.: Results submitted digitally, e.g., via:
instructor effort ▪ Hand signalling (e.g., 1,2 fingers, etc) ▪ Polling in Active Learning Platform
▪ Total physical response, e.g., standing ▪ iLearn quiz
up- sitting down -moving around the ▪ Zoom chat
room ▪ H5P
▪ Mq-external tools
Interested in L&T scholarship on confusion in higher education?
- Lodge, J. M., Kennedy, G., Lockyer, L., Arguel, A., & Pachman, M. (2018). Understanding difficulties and resulting confusion in
learning: an integrative review. Paper presented at the Frontiers in Education.
- Zeng, Z., Chaturvedi, S., & Bhat, S. (2017). Learner Affect through the Looking Glass: Characterization and Detection of Confusion in
Online Courses. International Educational Data Mining Society.
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learning learning assessment
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Benefit 4: Going deeper
Arguably, the biggest potential of active learning is its ability to encourage deep learning.
Times and times again, studies show that students in interactive and student-centred courses
outperform students in more ‘traditional’ settings (Michael, 2006), sometimes by as much as
2 standard deviations (Hake, 1998).
SAMPLE LOW-TECH TECHNOLOGY-MEDIATED
TECHNIQUES Mq-supported tools
Pair or mini- Students form pairs/groups and discuss provided questions/prompts.
group
discussion Students present the summary of their Students sumbmit the summary of their
discussions discussions digitally via
instructor effort ▪ Orally ▪ Text-response in Active Learning
▪ On paper /whiteboards Platform
▪ Zoom chat,
▪ iLearn forum or
▪ Mq-external tools
Task-based Students form pairs/groups and work on a provided task.
learning
(collaborative) Results are presented Results are submitted digitally, e.g, via
▪ Orally or ▪ Active Learning Platform (text
instructor effort ▪ Written on paper/whiteboards. response),
▪ Zoom chat,
▪ iLearn forum
▪ Group Assignment tool
▪ VoiceThread
▪ Mq-external tools
Worksheet Students are provided with worksheets of problems and first solve them
instructor effort
individually and then compare with peers.

Students work on Students work digitally, e.g., via

▪ Paper ▪ iLearn forum
▪ Whiteboards

Find a mistake Students are provided with a sample work that contains an error. Their task is
instructor effort
to identify it (individually OR collaboratively)

Responses submitted via low-tech tools, e.g. Responses submitted digitally via:
▪ Individual hand-written notes and/or • Text-response in Active Learning
▪ Discussion with partners platform
• Zoom chat
• Mq-external tools
Interested in L&T scholarship on deep active learning?
- Hake, R. R. (1998). Interactive-engagement versus traditional methods: A six-thousand-student survey of mechanics test data for introductory
physics courses. American journal of Physics, 66(1), 64-74.
- Matsushita, K., Matsushita, K., & Hasebe. (2018). Deep active learning: Springer.
- Michael, J. (2006). Where's the evidence that active learning works? Advances in physiology education. 30, 159-167
- Mizokami, S. (2018). Deep active learning from the perspective of active learning theory Deep active learning (pp. 79-91): Springer.
- Yew, T. M., & Dawood, F. K. (2016). Stimulating Deep Learning Using Active Learning Techniques. Malaysian Online Journal of Educational
Sciences, 4(3), 49-57.
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relevance focused on confusion deeper social reflection/
learning learning assessment
literacy
Benefit 5: Fostering student’s ability to work with others
The potential of social and collaborative learning to improve the quality of tertiary education has been
demonstrated by multiple studies. Specifically, social and collaborative learning has been shown to positively
impact student achievement, effort, persistence, and motivation (for reviews, see Slavin, 1990; Webb and
Palinscar, 1996; Barron,2000; Johnson et al., 2007). In addition to groupwork that is usually done outside of
the class, consider using these collaborative ‘in-class’ techniques.

SAMPLE LOW-TECH TECHNOLOGY-MEDIATED

TECHNIQUES Mq-supported tools
Think-pair- Students are given a question and instructed to (i) think/work on it first, then
share (ii) discuss it with a partner and (iii) share insights with the class.
instructor effort
Students share their insights: Students share examples digitally via
▪ Orally ▪ iLearn forum
▪ Written on paper /whiteboards ▪ Active Learning Platform
▪ Zoom chat
▪ VoiceThread/text function for real-
time
▪ Forum in Ilearn
▪ Mq-external tools
Peer feedback Students review drafts of their peers and provide feedback using an assignment
instructor effort rubric.

Feedback is provided: Feedback is provided digitally

▪ Orally ▪ Track changes and comments
▪ Written on paper ▪ Voice comments, e.g, VoiceThread
▪ Comments in iLearn workshops
▪ Peer mark in TurnItIn
▪ Assignment tool in iLearn

Jigsaw Students are allocated topics/resources to become "experts" in a particular topic.

technique They share that knowledge with their peers and synthesize and apply knowledge.
instructor effort Students share their knowledge: Students share their knowledge digitally, e.g.,
Orally (e.g., presentation) ▪ iLearn forum
▪ In Zoom break-out rooms
▪ iLearn Workshop tool
Team-based A structured course-based approach where students (i) prepare for the class; (ii)
learning are first tested individually with an assurance of learning task and/or
instructor effort application task and then (iii) given a chance to work as a team on the same task
and submit a team response.

Results are presented Results are submitted digitally, e.g, via

▪ Orally or ▪ Active Learning Platform (text
▪ Written on paper/whiteboards. response)
▪ Zoom chat
▪ Assignment tool in iLearn
▪ iLearn forum or
▪ Mq-external tools
Interested in L&T scholarship on social and cooperative learning?
- Al‐Zahrani, A. M. (2015). From passive to active: The impact of the flipped classroom through social learning platforms on
higher education students' creative thinking. British journal of educational technology, 46(6), 1133-1148.
- Barron B. Achieving coordination in collaborative problem-solving groups. J Learn Sci. 2000;9:403–436
- Johnson DW, Johnson RT. An educational psychology success story: social interdependence theory and cooperative
learning. Educ Res. 2009;38:365–379
- Slavin, R. E. (1980). Cooperative learning. Review of educational research, 50(2), 315-342
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relevance focused on confusion deeper social reflection/
learning learning assessment
literacy
Benefit 6: Fostering student reflection and self-assessment
Student’s ability to reflect on their work and self-assess using provided instruments ( e.g.,
assessment rubrics) is an important element in developing self-regulated learning and assessment
literacy. It is therefore beneficial to include reflection-prompting and self-assessment activities in
one’s classroom teaching.
SAMPLE LOW-TECH TECHNOLOGY-MEDIATED
TECHNIQUES Mq-supported tools
Pre and post- Students are asked to reflect on their expectations of a task/assignment, and
task/assignment subsequently on their experiences/feelings about this task/assignment.
reflection
Students respond Students respond digitally via
instructor effort ▪ Using pen and paper ▪ Online documents, e.g., Google doc
▪ Orally ▪ Portfolium
▪ Active Learning Platform
(anonymously)
▪ Assignment tool in iLearn
▪ Turnitin
▪ Non-Mq tools (anonymously)

Peer feedback Students review drafts of their peers and provide feedback using an
instructor effort
assignment rubric. Instructor facilitates and provides comments.

Feedback is provided: Feedback is provided digitally

▪ orally ▪ Track changes and comments
▪ with a pen and paper ▪ Voice comments, e.g, VoiceThread
▪ Comments in iLearn workshops
▪ Peer mark in Turnitin

Self-assessment Students self-asses their work using an assignment rubric. Instructor facilitates
instructor effort
and provides comments.
Students self-assess Students’ self-asses digitally, e.g.,
▪ Using pen and paper ▪ Online documents (e.g. Google docs)
▪ Portfolium

Interested in L&T scholarship on reflection and self-assessment?

- Boud, D. (2013). Enhancing learning through self-assessment: Routledge.
- Black, R. S., Sileo, T. W., & Prater, M. A. (2000). Learning journals, self-reflection, and university students' changing perceptions.
Action in Teacher Education, 21(4), 71-89.
- Yan, Z., & Brown, G. T. (2017). A cyclical self-assessment process: Towards a model of how students engage in self-assessment.
Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 42(8), 1247-1262.