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What is Active Learning?

Active learning strategies are “instructional activities involving students in doing things and thinking about what they are doing” (Bonwell and Eison, 1991). Active learning approaches promote skill development and higher order thinking, rather than just conveying information. Active learning requires students to do something, such as read, write, and/or discuss. They also tend to focus on students’ examining their own values and opinions.

Active Learning in the Virtual Classroom:

Have you ever been or led a virtual meeting where you used the typical strategy of asking a question and waiting for an answer, only to be met with silence? As we get more used to the virtual environment, how can student engagement be enhanced with active learning strategies?

To help, we have developed a list of active learning activities and how they can be used in the virtual classroom.

In-Person:

Instructors provide students with concepts or terms. Students are asked to determine the relationships between the terms/concepts by drawing arrows between the concepts and labeling the arrows with a word or short phrase to describe the relationship. This activity can be done individually or small groups.

Virtual Setting (Synchronous):

Use breakouts rooms to create small groups. Students can use tools such as Google Jamboard or Zoom Whiteboard to work simultaneously in breakout rooms to create concept maps and then share them with the instructor.

In-Person:

Games can be used to engage students and increase learning outcomes.

Virtual Setting (Synchronous):

You can create virtual games using different educational technology. Here is a great Jeopardy Template you can use in a zoom lesson by sharing your screen.

In-Person:

The instructor assigns small groups. Each group is assigned a topic to specialize in. After students have mastered the material of their topic, they return to the larger group. The original student groups break up and form new groups, where each student is an expert in a different topic. Each student teaches the other group members about their specialized topic.

Virtual Setting (Synchronous):

The specialized groups and the mix groups could meet via breakout rooms. It might be helpful for the instructor to assign groups ahead of time in order to make the process of breakout rooms smoother.

In-Person:

Ask students a question that requires them to reflect on their learning. Have them write for 1 minute. Ask students to share responses to stimulate discussion.

Virtual Setting (Synchronous):

Ask students to write in a blank word document, google doc, or by hand. You could also set up a Google Form or use the Journal Activity in Moodle. Instructor poses a writing prompt via a powerpoint slide or the zoom chat. Students can have cameras off when they write their responses. After the minute is up, the instructor can ask students to volunteer responses or collect the minute papers at the end of the zoom session.

In-Person:

Instructor pauses every 12 to 18 minutes to encourage students to write down what they have just learned/summarize the content and then discuss in pairs or small groups.

Virtual Setting (Synchronous):

Instructor pauses during the virtual lecture, students take a couple of minutes to summarize what they have learned or any questions they may have. (Students can turn their camera off during this time). After the reflection, have students join breakout rooms and discuss in pairs their notes and identify any questions they still have. When students return to the main room, they can share their responses via the zoom chat or use the raise hand feature.

In-Person:

An instructor poses a question that students respond to using an audience response system. Once the students have voted, with the peers around them they can discuss their explanation for their answer. After the discussion ends, the instructor can re-ask the poll question and let students answer again to see if after the discussion their answer changes. Instructor can share class results, this can be used to start a discussion.

Virtual Setting (Synchronous):

Instructors can pose polling questions using the Polling feature in Zoom or a Google Form. After students submit their answers, peer discussion about the choices made can happen in breakout rooms. After the discussion ends and breakout rooms are closed, instructors can share their screen to share poll results and generate a discussion.

In-Person:

The instructor creates different groups of students and gives them a topic and the learning goals associated with that topic. Challenge the groups of students to create test questions corresponding to the topic materials. In order to encourage them to think more deeply about the course material, share with them Bloom's Taxonomy list of action verbs.

Virtual Setting (Synchronous):

Use breakout rooms to create small groups. You can assign these groups before the zoom session or randomly assign them during the session. In the breakout rooms, students can meet in small groups to discuss test questions for the given topic and learning goals. Students can record their questions by working in a collaborative shared document, which they can share with the instructor.

In-Person:

Instructor puts students in pairs. Once in pairs, the instructor gives a series of problems and assigns specific roles to each person in a pair (problem-solver and listener), these roles will change after each problem. The problem-solver thinks aloud about his/her problem and how to solve it. The partner listens and offers suggestions if there are missteps.

Virtual Setting (Synchronous):

Students can work in breakout rooms during this activity. Instructors can check in on the different pairs by joining different breakout rooms. Another way to track student progress is by having students respond or take notes on a shared document.

In-Person:

Think - Students briefly work on a question or a formative assessment given by the instructor.

Pair- Students are asked by the instructor to turn to a peer to discuss their responses.

Share - Instructor asks students to share responses and follows up with any instructor explanation.

Virtual Setting (Synchronous):

Think - Students briefly work on a question or a formative assessment given by the instructor. The instructor can use a powerpoint slide, shared document, or activity page in Moodle to pose the question/assessment.

Pair - Instructors open breakout rooms for students to discuss.

Share - Students can share via zoom chat, shared document, or depending on the class size the raise hand feature.

In-Person:

Instructor poses a question or prompt to discuss. Then have students turn to their peers and discuss the assigned question or prompt. You can set an assigned time limit for the discussion. When it is time to bring the class back together, ask partners to share out thoughts and ideas from their discussion.

Virtual Setting (Synchronous):

Provide students with a question or prompt to discuss. Use breakout rooms to place students in groups of two. Set a time limit and when the time is up, close the breakout rooms. When all students are back in the main room, ask students to discuss what they talked about in their breakout rooms.