Active Learning for Beginners

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Active Learning for Beginners

• Elijah R. Swift, Jr.
• Mathematics Faculty

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Tell me, I forget. Show me, I remember. Involve
me, I understand.
Chinese Proverb
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Objectives

• By the end of this session, you will be able to
• Define active learning.
• Identify, develop, and brainstorm activities and
  techniques that you may use in your discipline.

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Agenda

• Creed
• Introductions
• Think Pair Share
• What is Active Learning?
• Discussion
• Benefits of Using Active Learning

• Discussion
• Benefits of Using Active Learning
• Help/ Therapy Session
• What do you want to know about using Active
  Learning in your Classroom?
• Follow Up
• Active Learning Professional Learning Community
• Creed

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Creed
I AM LARGER THAN LIFE I WILL LEAD NOT FOLLOW I
WILL BELIEVE NOT DOUBT I WILL CREATE NOT
DESTROY I AM A FORCE FOR GOOD I WILL DEFY THE
ODDS I WILL SET A NEW STANDARD I WILL STEP UP I
AM WHAT I CHOOSE TO BE AND EVERY DAY, IN EVERY
WAY, I GET BETTER AND BETTER (Large, 2002)
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Introductions Round Robin

• Round Robin is one of the simplest, yet most
  flexible, team building structures. In a Timed
  Round Robin, each teammate takes a turn sharing
  for a preset amount of time.
• For the objective of getting acquainted, each
  teammate individually prepares, then shares
  something about themselves.

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Introductions Round Robin

• Think about this prompt
• What is your greatest fear in incorporating
  Active Learning in your classroom?
• After exactly one minute of thinking time, you
  will be asked to share your response with your
  group mates.

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Introductions Round Robin

• Share responses and introduce yourselves.
• Each person gets exactly one minute.

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Introductions Round Robin

• Change groups and repeat the process.

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Introductions Round Robin

• Change groups and repeat the process.

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• The best answer to the question,
• What is the most effective method of teaching?
• is that it depends on the goal, the student, the
  content, and the teacher.
• But the next best answer is, students teaching
  other students.
• Wilbert J. McKeachie
• Author of Teaching tips Strategies,
• research and theory for college and
• University teachers, Houghton-Mifflin
• (1998)

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Active Learning
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What is Active Learning?
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Think- Pair ShareWhat is Active Learning?
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What is Active Learning?

• Active learning is anything that students do in
  a classroom other than merely passively listening
  to an instructors lecture (Paulson Faust,
  2008).

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What is Active Learning?

• Active learning is organized chaos.
• (Bell, C.,2008)

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What is Active Learning?

• Active learning involves more than students
  working together on a lab or field project.
• It requires instructors to structure cooperative
  interdependence among the students.
• (Johnson, Johnson, Johnson, Holobec, 1998)

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Jigsaw DiscussionActive Learning for the
College Classroom Handout

• Each person reads a selected portion of the
  article. Then, each person in the group shares
  their part with the entire group. At the
  conclusion of the activity, the entire reading
  assignment should have been discussed.

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Help/ Therapy Session

• What questions/ concerns/ testimonies do you have
  about using Active Learning in your Classroom?

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Wrap Up

• Active learning helps promote a positive learning
  environment (Johnson, Johnson, Smith, 2007
  Kagan, Kagan, Kagan, 2000 Kagan, 1994).
• Teachers should focus instructional methods on
  ways to actively engage students in the learning
  process (Greenberg Walsh, 2008).

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Learning can be fun!!!
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Active Learning Professional Learning Community
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Evaluation
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Creed
I AM LARGER THAN LIFE I WILL LEAD NOT FOLLOW I
WILL BELIEVE NOT DOUBT I WILL CREATE NOT
DESTROY I AM A FORCE FOR GOOD I WILL DEFY THE
ODDS I WILL SET A NEW STANDARD I WILL STEP UP I
AM WHAT I CHOOSE TO BE AND EVERY DAY, IN EVERY
WAY, I GET BETTER AND BETTER (Large, 2002)
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References

• Greenberg, J, Walsh, K. (2008). No common
  denominator The preparation of elementary
  teachers in Americas education schools.
  Washington, DC National Council on Teacher
  Quality.
• Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T., Johnson, E. H.
  (1998). Cooperation in the classroom. Edina, MN
  Interaction Book Company.
• Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T., Smith, K.
  (2007). The state
• of cooperative learning in postsecondary and
  professional settings. Educational Psychology
  Review, 19(1), 15 29.
• Kagan, S. (1994). Cooperative learning. San Juan
  Capistrano, CA Kagan Cooperative Learning.
• Kagan, S., Kagan, M. Kagan, L. (2000). Reaching
  mathematics standards through cooperative
  learning Providing for all learners in general
  education classrooms. Port Chester, NY National
  Professional Resources, Inc.
• Large, R. (2002). Creed. On Larger than life
  CD. Belle Isle, FL Larger Than Life, Inc.